If it seems like there are a lot more coyotes mingling in human spaces these days, it’s because…well, there are.

“When we look at abundance trends, the population of coyotes has increased three-fold since the fur market crashed in the late 1980s,” said Drew Ricketts, a wildlife management specialist with K-State Research and Extension.

Depending on time of year, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks estimates between 150,000 and 300,000 coyotes live in Kansas alone. Coyotes are found in every U.S. state, except Hawaii.

They are also being seen increasingly in more heavil...