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Denver7 producer spots coyote near Capitol Hill

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A typical drive to work turned a wild Thursday morning for a Denver7 staff member. (Forgive the pun.)

Digital producer Erin Powell spotted a coyote a few blocks away from the station, in the Capitol Hill area of Denver.

Just after 3 a.m., the coyote darted out from Cherry Creek and went onto the road. It continued down the middle of Speer Boulevard but eventually walked into a neighborhood near Speer and E. 4th Avenue. Erin slowly followed in her car but the coyote ran in and out of yards, where she eventually lost the animal.

Earlier this week, a group of Colorado State researchers told Denver7 they have just began a three-year study on coyotes. The Denver Coyote Project will focus on a recent rise in attacks on pets and some humans.

According to the Colorado Division of Parks and Wildlife, about 25 coyote bites have been reported around Denver since 2007. Parks and Wildlife told Colorado Public Radio that the department expected one coyote bite per year before 2008. The rate has climbed in the last decade. The department has recorded an average of 9 per year instead.