Coyote continues to roam Longboat Key

The saga of Longboat Key’s wily coyote continues.

It seems as though the coyote has taken a liking to Longboat living, and it seems to be particularly interested in golf.

At 7:05 a.m. Aug. 9, Karen Coltun saw a coyote right before the 2000 block of Gulf of Mexico Drive near the Harbourside Golf Course.

The night before, it was spotted not far from there.

Shortly before 5 p.m. Aug. 8, Katie and Michael Moulton saw the coyote on the third hole at the women’s tee of the blue course on Harbourside.

“I had just gotten out of the cart to get on the tee box and he was walking on the path toward us, and then he kind of moved off to the side and looked at us for a little while and we looked at him for a little while and then he kept on walking and made his way between two homes,” Katie Moulton said.

Moulton said the coyote looked hungry but left them alone as the Moultons “did not seem to be his type.”

“He really looked pretty mangy, but he was very calm and minded his own business and we minded ours,” she said.

Moulton said she has never seen a coyote in the Sarasota area, which made her knees “a little wobbly” as she got up to tee off.

Around 1 a.m. Aug. 5, Paula Steptoe spotted the animal crossing Gulf of Mexico Drive onto the golf course just down from Publix. Steptoe first saw the coyote July 15 on the Harbourside Golf Course.

Originally, reports of the coyote sprouted July 12 from the Country Club Shores neighborhood. Since then, the coyote has ventured to the former property of the Colony Beach & Tennis Resort, the Harbourside Golf Course and the parking lot of St. Mary, Star of the Sea, Catholic Church.

Following the sighting at the church, police were notified and said the animal showed no signs of being in fear when in close proximity to bystanders.

Longboat Key Police Chief Pete Cumming said police believe it’s one coyote on the island and that trapping the animal is not in the plan.

“We’ve got some recent reports, but the whole idea of capturing or euthanizing this animal is just not something that is on our calendar right now,” Cumming said.

Instead, education will be the focus.

Due to the various sightings, the town of Longboat Key, in conjunction with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission, will host a coyote workshop at 1 p.m. Aug. 30, at Town Hall, 501 Bay Isles Road.