Cardboard coyote startles jogger in Sarnia, Ontario; police called out

April 1, 2009 A startled jogger asked construction workers for help after spotting a coyote in downtown Sarnia and hearing it bark. Sarnia police responded to the 911 call at Centennial Park in southern Ontario, Canada and surrounded the coyote.

It was then that it was discovered that the coyote was a cardboard cutout of a coyote placed in the park to ward off Canada geese. Police confiscated the coyote following the incident.

City officials installed the cardboard coyote last summer, and hope to erect them this summer as well.

“They do look pretty real. We don’t want to embarrass anyone, the police or the jogger. It’s an easy mistake to make. Maybe they look too real” said Terry McCallum, Sarnia’s director of community services, “We just figured vandals took them. You can't put up any really fancy signs in the park because they usually disappear.”