{"id":477033,"date":"2026-02-19T03:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/477033\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T03:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T03:12:09","slug":"increased-coyote-sightings-in-longview-lead-to-growing-caution-for-public-safety","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/477033\/","title":{"rendered":"Increased coyote sightings in Longview lead to growing caution for public safety"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"text | article-text\">LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) &#8211; East Texans are reporting shrieking sounds in the night as coyote breeding season continues through early March.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Wildlife officials are urging residents to keep pets and small children safe during this active period.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"figure-img img-fluid mx-auto d-block\" alt=\"Increased coyote sightings in Longview lead to growing caution for public safety\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/4PWZ56F64BCKJBTVPYJBKQILZY.jpeg\" width=\"980\" height=\"509\" \/>Increased coyote sightings in Longview lead to growing caution for public safety(KLTV Viewer)<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Steve Falconer, who lives near the Pine Tree area in Longview, says he often sees packs of coyotes near his backyard.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cYou would be surprised how loud they get when they get in groups,\u201d Falconer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Falconer caught several black coyotes on his security footage. Gregg County Game Warden Todd Long says the dark-colored pigment is rare.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIt\u2019s called melanistic, but we do have them from time to time,\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Long says people call about wildlife injured by coyotes this time of year. He says if you come across an injured animal, it\u2019s best to leave it alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cMany times, they have good intentions. They\u2019re creating a ripple effect because now we have to find a rehabilitator to accept that injured or orphaned wildlife,\u201d Long said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Jenna George with the Longview Animal Care and Adoption Center says keep a close eye on your small dogs and cats.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cIf they are going to go outside, go outside with them. Don\u2019t leave them unattended,\u201d George said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Falconer says he caught a coyote with a Boston terrier in its mouth a year ago. His dog ran off the coyote, and the Boston terrier survived.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">\u201cI can see that it would be a danger to pets if you let your pets run loose. There\u2019s quite a few cats that run loose here, and I would be afraid for them,\u201d Falconer said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">George says extra food and water sources left outside can be an invitation for wildlife, so it\u2019s best to keep them inside.<\/p>\n<p class=\"text | article-text\">Experts say some fences may not keep a coyote from your backyard. Coyotes can jump six to eight feet in the air.<\/p>\n<p>Coyote sightings have increased in Longview during the animals\u2019 mating season<\/p>\n<p class=\"copyright |\">Copyright 2026 KLTV. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LONGVIEW, Texas (KLTV) &#8211; East Texans are reporting shrieking sounds in the night as coyote breeding season continues&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":477034,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[220638,220637,79,201],"class_list":["post-477033","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-gregg-county-animal-sightings","tag-longview-coyote-sightings","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477033","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=477033"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/477033\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/477034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=477033"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=477033"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=477033"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}