Coyote wily on Pine Hill

LYNN – The police officers and anxious neighbors who converged on Jim and Rose Nalesnik’s home on Monday were concerned about the couple’s welfare, but more interested in events unfolding in the Pine Hill residents’ backyard.A coyote showed up on the Nalesniks’ Ontario Street property just before 9 a.m. and quickly lay claim to a spot under one of their yard shrubs before heading for their tool shed.”I said, ?Oh my God, it’s a wolf, then, after it walked around a bit, I realized it was a coyote,” Rose Nalesnik said.With its locations within sight of Gallagher Playground and Pine Grove Cemetery, animal sightings on Ontario Street are not unusual. Turkeys and deer make frequent visits, but the street is also home to Sewell-Anderson School, and the coyote report was enough to send officers to the hilltop street.Ontario Street resident Crystal Smith prepared to walk her dogs, Brock and Toto, Monday afternoon when she spotted officers in front of her home and learned about her new, four-legged neighbor.”It’s a little bit scary,” she said.Ontario Street resident Evan Reddick lives a few houses down the street from the Nalesniks and the coyote report surprised him.”I’ve heard about them being spotted in the cemetery,” he said.The Nalesniks lost sight of their visitor during the afternoon and concluded the coyote burrowed into a secure spot under the backyard shed. Police assured them Animal Control Officer Keith Sheppard would head for Pine Hill if the coyote made a move short of running away from the Nalesniks’ property.Jim Nalesnik offered what might be described as a “lone wolf” theory about the coyote’s visit to Pine Hill.”He probably got kicked out of his pack and he was looking for another place to bed down,” he said.