People passing by LIC Bar on Monday morning were in for a surprise when an apparent coyote was spotted on the rooftop of the establishment. DNAinfo reports that the animal was on the roof for over an hour, before heading to a paint factory nearby.
“It got a little nervous and kind of hunkered down underneath my air conditioning unit,” said bar owner Brian Porter. “You could see that he was afraid.”
Birk O’Halloran, who saw the animal, explained why he believed it was a coyote and not a dog, “I grew up in Colorado and I’ve seen a lot. People say, ‘Oh that’s a dog.’ No, that’s a coyote. They look like a German shepherd, but grayer and more pointy,” he told CBS.
LIC Post, the site that broke the story, reports that a Citi Vet veterinarian attempted to determine whether the animal was a “wild dog or coyote.” After the climbed to the rook, she “took a look and made a hasty retreat.”
By the time animal control got to the scene, according to CBS, the coyote was gone — but, as incredulous as it sounds, he did run into a jazz musician whose first name is Coyote.
Coyote sightings, while rare even in New York’s parks, have increased in recent years. In 1999, one was spotted in Manhattan, and in 2010 one was seen at the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel, the New York Times reported.
(Photo: Matt Quigley)
