For the past month Tracey Popkiss of Sparks has noticed something unusual on garbage night in her neighborhood - a coyote.
"It's huge, the biggest coyote I've ever seen! Probably 65-70 pounds like the size of a small German Shepherd," Popkiss says.
And she's concerned for small animals in the neighborhood.
"We've seen it run down the road from O'Callaghan and Desert View. We seen it rummaging through the garbage looking for food and we've even seen it just walk through other dogs walking in the street like it was no big deal."
So she called for help. But Animal Control sent her to the Nevada Department of Wildlife and they said this is just the tip of the iceberg of wildlife heading this way.
"We are seeing rabbits and mice coming down here looking for food," said Chris Healy with NDOW. "Coyotes are smart and because of the drought, the litters in the spring were likely born closer in to town than in years when we have lots of water. So they are used to being closer in and they are looking for food. So don't leave out any pet food or scraps they may want. And keep small animals inside to keep them safe. But if he isn't causing a huge problem there isn't much we can do about it."
He does say, however, that once they stop finding food they will naturally move on.
