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Coyote Sightings On The Rise In North Charlotte

CHARLOTTE, N.C.,None — A north Charlotte woman said a group of coyotes is coming right up to her door.

Victoria Webber told Channel 9 that she is too scared to let her 8-year-old son play outside anymore because of them.

Webber said sees the coyotes often on Reames Road, not far from Interstate 77 in north Charlotte.

Webber's son, Victor, showed Channel 9's Ken Lemon where he came face-to-face with a growing problem.

"It was a coyote right here", Victor said. "They got big eyes."

Last week Victor saw a coyote in the back yard of his home.

He said he was scared "because they are wild."

Victor ran inside and his mother now watches him every time he is in the backyard.

"I don't know coyotes existed in North Carolina," said Webber.

WATCH: Coyote Sightings On The Rise In North Charlotte

Experts said people brought coyotes here hoping to make pets, but now their numbers are growing in Mecklenburg County.

Last week, police in Cornelius warned people there to watch out for these 4-legged hunters.

Webber told Channel 9 that three months ago she saw only one or two of them. Two weeks ago, she saw five of them at her dog's cage.

"They didn't run away when I came out exactly," she said. "I had to pick up a stick and then they ran away."

Schiele Museum wildlife expert Sandy Jordan said, "Their numbers will definitely, probably increase."

Jordan said they are reproducing and they have no predators to thin the population.

Jordan said the coyotes are not a threat to Victor and his mother. There has never been a report of a coyote attacking a human in North Carolina.

"They are usually trying to hide from us," Jordan said. "They are not going to approach us, but just stay your distance."

Wildlife officer Chad Arnold said the coyotes are not welcome. "The state does not want them here," he said.

Wildlife officials said it is legal to kill coyotes but there are two limitations: you cannot hunt them at night and you cannot shoot them with a firearm on Sundays.