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Coyote Captured On San Francisco SoMa Roof

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A wayward coyote who became stranded on a first story roof of a commercial office building in San Francisco's South of Market neighborhood Wednesday has been captured by animal control.

Coyotes have become more brazen and are an increasingly common sight in some San Francisco neighborhoods. But Wednesday's sighting and capture was in an industrial and commercial area far from the animal's native habitat.

Over the last few months, coyotes have been spotted on Telegraph Hill, in Buena Vista Park, in the Ingleside neighborhood, in the Presidio and near Lake Merced.

Some dog owners have lost their pets in coyote attacks. Among those is a woman name Jodi whose 13-year-old Shih Tzu named Bella was killed in July.

Jodi told KPIX 5 that a coyote raced up the front steps of her Ingleside home and grabbed her dog while she was getting her keys to enter her house

She said the coyote attack was swift and completely unexpected. Once the coyote had her small dog firmly in its jaws, it took off down the side of the house, jumped over a fence and ran down an alley.

That was where Jodi and her husband later found Bella's body.

In June, coyote threats to dogs and their owners forced two popular trails in San Francisco's Presidio to be closed.

Kathryn Lasater lives next to the Presidio and a coyote attacked her dog, Oscar. She said a pack of coyotes surrounded her and started moving in until she started screaming.

"They were aggressive and they weren't afraid…that's scary," Lasater said.

She and Oscar escaped injured, but the incident let her shaken up.

In Telegraph Hill's Pioneer Park coyote sightings have been commonplace. A KPIX 5 photographer ran into a coyote that has already earned a reputation for not being camera shy.

Some in the area around Coit Tower revere her.

"We like having her here," said area resident Ryan Rudin.

But others speak of the animal who has become known as Callie the Coyote and regard her with fear.

"We have friends that are like afraid to go out at night," said neighbor Karen Gemmill.

In the Buena Vista Park neighborhood, Carl the Coyote has even become the subject of a Facebook page.

But San Franciscans who cultivate friendships with coyotes should also be warned: feeding coyotes on park land can result in being fined $196. Feeding a coyote on a city street could lead to a fine of more than $1,000.

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