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Coyotes' bold behavior worries Washington County dog owner

CECIL TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Like most mornings, Trish Mann let her rescue pup, Mya, out back in her fenced-in backyard in Cecil Township.

“I went to the door to check on her and, just as I got there, she started barking hysterically,” Mann said. “So I looked out and I thought it was just neighbors’ dogs that were running loose, initially.”

But as she looked closer, she realized it was actually a pair of coyotes encroaching on her fence, a confrontation she quickly captured on camera.

“As (Mya) was running back and forth along the fence line, the two coyotes were on the outside of the fence line running back and forth, charging at the fence line, almost like they wanted to play, but almost like she was breakfast,” Mann said.

Channel 11 sent the video to state game warden Dan Sitler, who says coyotes can be territorial, but he doesn't see this as an act of aggression.

He believes they're a male and female pair who were possibly roaming the property as Mya was let out.

“I normally am not fazed by coyotes,” Mann said. “We hear them almost every night in a pack howling around here and it's kind of cool.”

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But now Mann feels a bit nervous, because this happened during broad daylight, and even when she came outside, the coyotes didn't flee.

“One of them hung along the border of the woods there,” she said. “The other one just went out to where I have the small garden there, and stood there and watched us for a little bit and then walked down into the middle of the field and laid down, all the while keeping eyes locked with (Mya).”

Now, Mann has her eyes locked on Mya, too. She says the pup's seemed a little rattled since the encounter.

“She’s been pacing the house quite a bit, looking out the windows, but she'll be alright,” Mann said.