‘They were like big wolves’: Swampscott dog owner speaks out after being swarmed by nine coyotes

Dan Meyers was walking his dog on Rockyledge Road in Swampscott Saturday night when a pack of coyotes surrounded him.

“They were big, they weren’t like dogs, they were like big wolves or something like that,” said Meyers. “So I took out my iPhone and I shine my light on them and when they started coming closer, I growled at them.”

When the coyotes wouldn’t back down, he called 911.

A neighbor also came out to help stop them with a spotlight.

“I would have kept going with the dog and just got out of here, but they started to march on me, and they were forming like a half circle or something like that, I mean they were coming out of everywhere,” said Meyers.

Swampscott Police say they noticed at least 9 coyotes in the pack, and when they arrived with their cruisers, they used strobe lights to finally scare them away.

Neighbors say they see coyotes here all the time.

“I see them in the front yard, I see them in the backyard, I see them walking down the street,” said Matthew Bergeron, who lives nearby.

Bergeron keeps his golf club in his front yard to scare them away from his dog just in case.

“Our neighbor down the street, she was walking her dog and the coyote came right behind it, picked up the dog right off the street on a leash,” said Bergeron.

Police say if you see coyotes, try to scare them off by yelling at them, waving your arms, using noisemakers, or even throwing something towards them.

Never run away from a coyote.

Meyers says he’s beyond thankful to Swampscott police for responding and scaring away those coyotes, but he says something more needs to be done so that people in his neighborhood feel safe.

“If somebody thinks that kids are safe, they’re not safe,” said Meyers. “Their predatory response and the look in their eyes, I felt really endangered.”

Meyers says he’ll now start walking with a flashlight, knife and pepper spray, and he hopes his neighbors will stay on alert for the coyotes as well.

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