Betsy Turgeon isn't happy.
A scrawny, sick-looking creature is prowling her Mount Laurel neighborhood, where she is raising two young children and two small dogs, a Pomeranian and a poodle mix.
"The animal is obviously ill," she said this morning of the reddish creature that has been roaming yards for weeks in her suburban Countryside Farms development. "It's very skinny, and it almost looks like a dog."
She believes it's suffering from mange - a parasitic disease that, while not dangerous to humans, can be picked up by pets.
At first, she thought it was a fox.
But at least two people who saw a picture suspected it might be a sick coyote.
That photograph was taken July 17, by neighbor Tina DeFilippo, who came home to check her mail around 1 p.m. - and saw the beast - probably a fox, she said - brazenly standing in her yard.
Someone else must have called the police, because soon officers were attempting to corner the critter, but it got away, she said. They said that firing shots near houses isn't safe.
"Everybody's worried about this thing," she said. "It's out all hours of the day. It's weird."
Any victims yet? Dead bunnies, for example?
"Not yet," she said.
Mount Laurel manager Debra Fourre said this morning that local officials were trying to contact a state wildlife control officer to find out what actions are permitted under state regulations.
She said the sprawling suburb, which has its share of wooded areas, does have some foxes, but she's never heard reports of coyotes.
Mount Laurel police have gotten about 10 calls from people saying they have seen the animal, according to Sgt. Corey Jones.
The police would prefer to hear from residents during a sighting, he said, so officers could corral it and call in the township's animal control service, he said.
It's almost certainly a red fox with mange, not a coyote, said Michael Ginder, director of the Woodford Cedar Run Wildlife Refuge in Medford, after looking at a photograph from Turgeon.
By reducing the amount of fur, mange makes a fox's legs look surprisingly long, he said.
"It looks like all of the others foxes that we get in that have mange," he said.
The refuge currently has two foxes being treated for mange, he said.
Generally, after the animals recover, they're released near where they were found, since foxes are rarely dangerous to humans or pets, he said.
He advised home owners, however, to avoid feeding pets outdoors in areas with foxes, because the food can attract the animals, he said.
"Healthy foxes pose virtually no danger to humans," according to the website for the state Division of Fish and Wildlife. "... People uncomfortable with the presence of foxes should remove attractants, exclude foxes with fencing and employ scaring techniques. In many cases, homeowner's perceptions of problems are unfounded."
Sick foxes, though, are another story.
If a fox appears to be ill, people should stay away, and contact officials for help, as Turgeon did, according to the website.
Coyotes, on the other hand, the website says, "have occasionally attacked small pets. ... Although attacks on humans are extremely rare in eastern states, as with any predatory animal they can occur."
The discussion ends with this warning: "If you observe coyotes in the daytime that show no fear of humans or if a coyote attacks a person, immediately contact your local police and the Division of Fish and Wildlife at 908-735-8793; outside of normal business hours call the DEP Hotline at 877-WARN-DEP."
Whatever the animal is, Turgeon wishes somebody would catch it and treat it - not kill it.
Some neighbors have less humane ideas, said the special education teacher.
They've talked about using poisoned hot dogs or b-b guns, she said.
"I'm trying to help the animal, but also our community," she said.