Officials at the Cape Cod National Seashore posted the following on Facebook (emphasis mine):

Don’t Feed the Coyotes

There have been several recent incidents of people feeding coyotes in the Herring Cove North Parking Lot, and along the Province Lands Road. On October 24 there were nine coyotes wandering among the parked cars at sunset looking for handouts. On the 26th and 27th there were 3 and 4 coyotes. In addition, piles of dog food and fish heads have been dumped, and food scraps have been left behind after cook-outs, contributing to this gathering of coyotes. Rangers are working to deter this activity to protect both coyotes and people. Feeding wildlife is illegal. Wild animals that associate humans with food can lose their fear of people. This can lead to unpredictable and aggressive behavior by coyotes and injuries to people and their pets, resulting in the need to destroy the aggressive animals. This pattern has been observed at other national park areas where humans feed wild animals, such as bears and deer. Let’s keep it from happening here at Cape Cod National Seashore. Please help us keep wildlife wild by not feeding them–intentionally or inadvertently–and by observing them from a distance.

This is undoubtedly related to the CWN report of coyotes at Herring Cove Beach surrounding cars and reportedly trying to eat someones cell phone.

So listen up, DO NOT FEED WILD ANIMALS. Especially predators that can injure or kill you.

When predators lose their fear of people, people become prey…