Where Did the Convention Center Coyote Come From?

By now, you've heard about the coyote that got into the Music City Center Sunday night. It's wonderful, and we've added it to the Pith Animal Hall of Fame alongside the Bellevue Beaver, the Stuck Ducks and the Brentwood Bobcat. 

Here's what we know: Music City Center officials tell The Tennessean that a coyote ran past the Music City Center security checkpoint where a boat show was loading out at approximately 10:20 p.m. Sunday night. This was near Seventh Avenue and Korean Veterans Boulevard. The coyote went into an exhibit hall, and, the paper reports, security was able to trap it in a bathroom. 

According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, Central Precinct Officer Brenna Hosey and Metro Animal Control led the coyote to Hosey's police car using catch poles. Hosey drove the coyote to a wooded area and safely released it.

But where did the coyote come from? Coyote sightings are not uncommon in and around Nashville, and there are a number of wooded areas near downtown that could have been home to this one. Here are our working theories:

A couple Scene staffers feel strongly that the coyote must have come from Shelby Bottoms, trotting toward downtown and eventually crossing either the Korean War Veterans Memorial Bridge or the John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge and making its way to the convention center. The pedestrian bridge seems like it would've been the safer option. That also means the coyote might've passed some human pedestrians. If you think you saw it, let us know!

Another theory puts the coyote's origin at Mount Olivet Cemetery and, generally speaking, following I-40 toward the downtown core. That could've brought it into contact with more automobile traffic, but at a quick glance, some drivers might've thought it was simply a stray dog. 

Or did it come from the north? The industrial areas of North Nashville near the Cumberland River include some wooded areas where a coyote could hang out without much interference.

Then there's another theory — shared by me and Scene staffer Amanda Haggard — which is that the coyote has been living on the roof of the Music City Center. The MCC's green roof is made up of 14 different types of vegetation. And since the bees that were housed up there died in 2016 (they may or may not have returned?), it could be more hospitable now. How did the coyote get down from the roof to walk into the convention center, you ask? Let the investigation run its course, I say.

No word on whether city officials plan to count this as a room night. Could we see more displaced predatory wildlife downtown as their habitats are replaced by unsightly condos?

We'd love to hear your theories about from where the coyote originated, and what path it took to the convention center. Better yet, hit us up if you think you saw this coyote roaming the streets at some point Sunday night.