Live in a suburb just north of Phoenix, and I've noticed an increase in coyote traffic the past six months. Have a wide wash behind our house, and over the three years here, wasn't uncommon to see a pair of coyotes loping by right after sunset. Now four or five in the group and see them more frequently. But no reports in the area of "marauding" coyotes.

Despite the six-ft wrought iron fence across the back yard, my wife is paranoid about our Sh*tzu becoming coyote food.