Coyote in a backyard in California (photo from Wikimedia)

12 September 2026

Coyotes have been in the City of Pittsburgh for at least 10 years but we usually don’t see them until autumn when the youngsters disperse from their birthplace and travel as much as 120 miles to find a new home. Pups are born in a well-hidden den in a “wild” place without humans and cars and densely packed buildings. When they disperse at around four months old they’re naive about the urban setting. That’s probably how a coyote got stuck between two walls on Atwood Street in Oakland.

Atwood Street in Pittsburgh, looking northwest toward Forbes & Fifth, 26 Dec 2019 (photo from Wikimedia)

Atwood Street is so densely packed that the gaps between houses are usually only wide enough for a human to walk in. A few of the gaps are even smaller, making maintenance on those facing walls nearly impossible. Coyotes are used to den openings only 1 foot in diameter so this one was probably tempted by a narrow opening. He got in but he couldn’t get out.

After the coyote’s rescue he was “relocated outside the city to a wooded area.” No problem. He was going to travel far anyway.

Read more about Pittsburgh’s urban coyotes, what they eat, where they are, and what to do if you encounter a coyote in this vintage article from October 2017: Coyotes In Town.