Take a walk in Griffith Park and this is the view:
One gets a very good impression of how this huge area of unchanged natural habitat nestles right here into the city. One can observe a wide variety of wildlife – from woodpeckers to Red-Tailed Hawks, from lizards to snakes, from bunny rabbits and deer to – yes, coyotes.
Coyotes have been here forever. It’s their land, so to say. They live and thrive and multiply. That’s what coyotes do. They also leave the park now and then and wander down into residential regions. First of all, it is their land and second, food is quite easy to find. The odd small pet gets caught and taken away. Ever since I saw the spectacle of two coyotes trying to round up a cat in a residential street, I know. Granted, the coyotes were young and somewhat inexperienced and the cat was a true city cat, thus thumbing its nose at the intruders while making a clean getaway. Interesting was that this happenend on a Thanksgiving afternoon. Maybe the two young coyotes wanted to have a barbeque – and there are more cats in LA than turkeys.
So, yes, they do come down from the park for food. Lately however, they seem to become more sophisticated. Coyotes have been seen on Melrose. For a spot of shopping? Where would they go? To “Aardvark” for some retro fashion or to “Urban Outfitter” for the latest in city chic?