Typically, friends of the four-legged variety are embraced on the Peninsula, but that hasn’t been the case over the last month. Coyotes have been spotted regularly near Point Loma Community Park, raising concerns for residents and their pets living in the surrounding area. “It is surreal. It is kind of amazing to see them, but on the other hand it is a little scary to have them out there,” said Laurie Randerson, who lives one house to the north of the park. “It seems to me that right now we have more than we’ve had for a long time.” Randerson said she hears coyotes frequently yipping in the canyon behind her house that borders the park. Within the last two weeks, she has also seen them on her front driveway, seemingly not bothered by her presence. “One morning, I came out of my house and there were two of them in my driveway,” Randerson said. “One of them took off and ran into the field and the other one stood its ground and stood there and watched me. I threw something at it to make it run.” In addition to her own safety, Randerson is concerned for the welfare of her five cats that are out and about in the neighborhood. Her coyote sightings haven’t been daily, but have been regular enough to cause concern. “My experience is that they are pretty brave and that there are quite a few of them in the canyon right now,” Randerson said. On the west side of the park, Santa Barbara Street resident Carrie Noe has seen coyotes almost every evening over the last month. Earlier this month, Noe had a coyote tail her home — an experience she found frightening. “I sprayed pepper spray on it, it made a U-turn and came right back toward us, still in the middle of the street,” Noe said. “It didn’t come lunging at me, but it was toe to toe. As I moved faster, it moved faster. It was very, very frightening.” Noe works with Animal Rescue and typically fosters a couple dogs at a time at her She is afraid to let her dogs out because of the coyotes, she said. “You just wouldn’t think [of it being prevalent in] Point Loma. It’s reall, really bizarre,” Noe said. Beverly Roth, who lives near Cañon Street and Liggett Drive, hasn’t seen a coyote but hears them quite often. On Nov. 3, Roth was awakened to the presumed sound of a coyote attacking a small animal. “I heard an animal being attacked — it sounded like a little dog — and a big commotion went on for about half an hour. It was awful,” Roth said. Roth recently put up a flier in her neighborhood to alert her neighbors about the recent uptick in coyote sightings. She has left a message with the county trapper but hasn’t yet received a response. “I’m concerned for all the little animals in the area,” Roth said. According to a website for The Fund for Animals’ Wildlife Rehabilitation Center, residents should not feed coyotes, keep pet food indoors and make trash cans inaccessible, among other things. Residents with small animals living near Point Loma Community Park should be aware and keep pets in the house where possible, experts advise. “All they [coyotes] do is cause havoc,” Noe said. “I’m never one to want to disrupt an animal, but they’re just getting too comfortable in this environment.”