A wildlife biologist from the Department of Environmental Conservation addressed residents in a Greenburgh town hall on the topic of how to deal with coyotes.

An increase in coyote sightings in the Hudson Valley area had residents interested in how to handle the sometimes aggressive animals.

The biologist, Kevin Clarke, said, “Westchester coyotes live around people. They hear people yell, people fighting. That's what we do - we fight with our spouse, we fight with our kids, we fight with everybody. They hear people screaming all the time, they are aware of the presence of people, so making yourself look big and tall and scary is not always effective."

Experts say it’s best not to leave small pets outside with invisible fences and to avoid leaving out food like seeds or veggies that could attract the animals.