A coyote in the San Fernando Valley has been caught mid-play, tossing an old soccer ball into the air, shaking it around, and even rolling in it at a local park. The animal is reportedly known to residents in the neighborhood.
Photographer Shannon Sommer snapped the images on September 22, capturing the coyote in the act, according to KTLA. Sommer declined to disclose the coyote's exact location, saying only that the photos were taken somewhere in the San Fernando Valley. Describing the scene, Sommer said the coyote would “toss this ratty ball up into the air, shaking it and even rolling in it!” — Sommer said the coyote is a familiar presence to residents in the area.
The sighting isn't the first time a Southern California coyote has been spotted showing off some soccer skills. Back in June, a coyote in the San Bernardino County mountain community of Running Springs made headlines after Ring security camera footage showed it repeatedly flipping a soccer ball into the air in a homeowner's backyard, per the same account from that report. Homeowner Dan Bartlett said the coyote would throw the ball up, chase after it, then bring it back to the grass, and he estimated he had captured roughly two hours of the coyote's solo practice sessions over several weeks.
A Valley With No Shortage of Coyote Sightings
The soccer-loving coyote is just the latest in a string of notable coyote encounters around Los Angeles. KTLA also notes that a bird watcher recently photographed a coyote that had captured a roadrunner in the Chatsworth area, another glimpse of the wildlife activity playing out across the region's parks and neighborhoods.
Not every recent coyote story has had such a lighthearted edge. In August, a beloved Studio City coyote was euthanized after veterinarians discovered that its injuries had been caused by a pellet gun, according to KTLA. That coyote was later identified in a separate report by the Los Angeles Times as Wendy, a young coyote described as a fixture in the San Fernando Valley community for years. Wendy had been shot twice in the head with a pellet gun, and a severe infection tied to those injuries ultimately destroyed part of her jawbone before she was euthanized. Southern California Pit Bull Rescue has since offered a $21,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of whoever was responsible for shooting her.
Coyote Reports on the Rise Countywide
The contrast between a coyote playfully chasing a soccer ball and one gunned down with a pellet gun underscores the varied nature of human-coyote encounters across Los Angeles County. A 2024 investigation by NBC Los Angeles reported that calls to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife about coyotes in the county had increased across all categories compared with the prior year.
That same investigation found that the most reports involving coyote run-ins with pets or livestock since 2017 have come from ZIP code 91745 in Hacienda Heights, while the largest number of potential human-conflict calls came from ZIP code 90027 in Griffith Park, closely followed by ZIP code 91364 in Woodland Hills. Against that backdrop, the San Fernando Valley coyote's soccer-ball play is another example of wildlife activity in the region.
