NPS staff have confirmed that a coyote has taken up residence on Alcatraz Island, and the details of how it got there are raising eyebrows. The prevailing theory? The animal likely swam across the frigid San Francisco Bay to reach the island — a feat that even the prison's most notorious inmates couldn't reliably pull off. (Looking at you, Frank Morris.)

As one SF resident put it: "Never clicked on an article faster."

Fair. A lone coyote establishing itself on the most famous prison island in American history is the kind of nature-meets-history crossover event that San Francisco was built for.

Here's the thing worth appreciating: the National Park Service appears to be handling this with a refreshingly light touch. Rather than launching some expensive wildlife management operation or convening a multi-agency task force with a six-figure consulting contract, NPS staff are largely monitoring the situation and letting nature do its thing. The coyote isn't bothering visitors, it's managing the island's rodent population, and it seems to be thriving on its own terms.

This is actually how government should work more often — observe, assess, and resist the urge to spend taxpayer dollars solving a problem that doesn't exist. The coyote isn't a crisis. It's an ecosystem adjustment. Alcatraz has long been home to diverse bird colonies and other wildlife, and a coyote joining the mix is more ecological rebalancing than emergency.

Of course, there's a metaphor lurking here that's almost too perfect: a resourceful creature crosses impossible barriers, finds a way onto an island everyone else abandoned, and makes it home. That's not just a coyote story — that's a San Francisco story.

Let's just hope city hall doesn't try to zone the coyote out or charge it a business permit fee for pest control services rendered.