HAMPDEN –  Hampden residents have been spotting coyotes in residential neighborhoods in town.

Brian Hembdt caught a coyote on video harassing his chickens on July 7. While most of the birds were in the coop, the coyote can be seen chasing a chicken across the yard at the beginning of the video.

“At least these coyotes weren’t the smartest,” Hembdt’s post read, “but there were at least two harassing our chickens today on [South Road].”

Hampden resident Gretchen Warner has also come into contact with coyotes. She described them as “[gray] and bigger than a fox,” and said one crossed in front of her on Wilbraham Road near Echo Valley. She said other people have mentioned seeing different types of wild animals, too.

That doesn’t mean there’s been an increase in coyote numbers, said Dave Waddles of Massachusetts Fisheries and Wildlife. He said different “family groups” move and change the boundaries of their territory. It is more likely that they have moved from one area into different neighborhoods.

Waddles said there are several things residents can do to discourage coyotes from visiting their yards.

“First, with livestock, maintaining good cages with tops,” Waddles said. While coyotes can jump pretty high into an open pen, they wouldn’t be able to break into an enclosure the way a bear could.

Waddles also said, “if people don’t want them, they need to remove the bird feeders.” He said bird feeders attract squirrels and mice, and those small animals attract the coyotes. He also recommended keeping cats indoors and small dogs on a leash. “All those things are drawing coyotes into yards.”

Coyotes don’t normally attack people. Waddles said there had only been 12 incidents of a coyote attacking a person since 1998. Unless the animal is rabid, it shouldn’t attack a person. If an animal is suspected of having rabies, he said, residents should call the police department for assistance.     Otherwise, it should be easily scared away, he said.

“Be really aggressive. Yell, scream, physically chase them out of the yard,” Waddles said. He said they’ll learn that the area is not a good place to get food.

In fact, Waddles said the best way to keep coyotes away in the first place is not to feed any wildlife. He said 99 percent of negative experiences are due to people who feed wildlife and draw them into neighborhoods.