Once regarded as a symbol of the American West, the coyote has been quietly moving east since the early 20th century. In recent decades, it has colonized such far-flung places as Cape Cod, and in 1999 one was captured in New York City's Central Park.

The sprawling suburbs of the East, which represent a kind of last frontier for the coyote, have been especially hospitable, ecologically speaking. Coyotes do well in habitat where wooded and cleared areas merge, and suburban settings can be rife with prey such as deer and small mammals.

Although it is now ubiquitous in the United States, the coyote, like many larger predators, remains a mystery to many people, and it has been much maligned, usually out of