What to do about coyotes

Contents

• A comprehensive plan
• Why is there a coyote in my yard?
• Do coyotes eat cats, dogs or other pets?
• What should I do if I see or encounter a coyote?
• What keeps coyotes away? How can I deter or haze coyotes?
• Do coyotes attack people?
• Should we trap, relocate or kill coyotes?
• Why coyote killing doesn't work
   

If you spot a coyote in your neighborhood, relax: Most coyotes avoid people. 

“Seeing a coyote out during the day is not a cause for alarm, especially in the spring and summer when they’re looking for food for their pups,” says Lynsey White, Director of Humane Wildlife Conflict Resolution at Humane World for Animals, formerly called the Humane Society of the United States.

Coyotes most often eat rodents, but they’re also happy to eat trash, fallen fruit or bird seed if left unsecured. If a coyote displays no fear of people, they’ve probably been fed by or around humans, and you’ll need to re-teach them to be afraid of you. We can help debunk coyote myths and share some humane techniques that are proven to drive coyotes away.

A comprehensive plan

Communities often respond to the presence of coyotes by calling for lethal control, but trapping and killing coyotes is rarely effective - it’s costly, often fails to remove the individual coyotes causing concern, and most importantly, fails to address the root causes of conflicts with coyotes. A more humane and lasting solution is to adopt a comprehensive, non-lethal plan that addresses these root causes of coyote conflicts.

• Download Coyote Conflict Management Plan [PDF]

Jaymi Heimbuch/Minden Pictures

Why is there a coyote in my yard? 

Coyotes generally avoid humans, even when their home range encompasses largely urban or suburban habitat. 

However, the presence of a free buffet in the form of pet food or garbage can lure coyotes into suburban yards and create the impression that backyards are bountiful feeding areas.

Without the lure of food or other attractants, their visits will be brief and rare, but a coyote who finds food in one yard may learn to search for food in others. 

Food

Deliberately feeding coyotes is a mistake. You may enjoy hand-feeding animals, but this is a surefire way to get them accustomed to people and will ultimately lead to their demise. Here are some other general rules about feeding:

• Avoid feeding pets outside. If you must, feed them only for a set time during the day (for no more than one hour) and remove the food bowl as soon as your pet has finished his or her meal.
• In dry conditions, water can be as alluring as food, so remove water bowls set outside for pets and make watering cans unavailable.
• If you compost, use enclosed bins and never compost meat or fish scraps.
• Good housekeeping, such as regularly raking areas around bird feeders, can also help discourage coyote activity near residences.
• Remove fallen fruit from the ground.
• Keep trash in high-quality containers with tight-fitting lids. Only place the cans curbside the morning of collection. If you leave them out overnight, they are more likely to be tipped and broken into.
• Bag especially attractive food wastes such as meat scraps or leftover pet food. If it is several days before garbage will be picked up, freeze temporarily or take to a dumpster or other secure storage container.

Shelter

Coyotes are secretive animals, and studies have shown they can live for a long time in close proximity to dense human settlements without ever being noticed. Such coyotes are “abiding by the rules” and should be left alone.

In the spring, when coyotes give birth and begin to raise young, they concentrate their activities around dens or burrows in which their young are sheltered. At these times, the parents may become highly defensive and territorial, and challenge any other coyote or dog that comes close to the pups. People walking their dogs in parks and wooded areas may run into these coyotes and even be challenged by them to back off.

Rarely, fights occur, probably most often when a dog is off its leash and chases a coyote. It’s important to recognize such incidents for what they are: Defense of space and young, not random attacks. If you encounter a coyote when walking your pet, do not run away; scare off the coyote with the techniques described in our coyote hazing guidelines.

Free-roaming pets

Free-roaming pets, especially cats and sometimes small dogs, may attract coyotes into certain neighborhoods. The best way to minimize risk to your pets is to not leave them outside unattended.

Other domestic animals kept outside, such as chickens and rabbits, may also be viewed as prey by coyotes. Protect poultry or other outdoor animals from coyotes (and other predators) with protective fencing (both structural and electric) and by ensuring that they are confined in sturdy cages or pens each evening.

Charles Wood

Do coyotes eat cats, dogs or other pets?

Many people assume that coyotes don't live in suburban or urban neighborhoods because they don't see them. But that assumption can be dangerous for your animal companions.

Coyotes typically hunt small mammals such as mice, voles and rabbits. If given the opportunity, they will also make a meal of a cat, tame or feral.

Dogs, especially smaller breeds, are also at risk, although attacks on them are rarer.

The best way to protect your pets is to let them outside only when you are with them—especially at night—and to keep pet food and water inside.

Protecting your pet cat

Coyotes aren't the only threat cats face when they go outside—there are far greater dangers. When you allow your cat to roam freely outdoors, even for short periods of time, you expose her to perils such as cars, dogs, diseases, coyotes, poisons and cruel people. If you want your cat to be safe, keep her indoors.

Some people let their cats outside because they mistakenly believe it's cruel to keep cats indoors. The truth is that cats who are protected from the dangers outside live longer, happier lives (you'll be helping your neighboring wildlife stay safer and happier as well). We've got guidelines to help you keep your indoor cat happy.

Protecting community cat colonies

People who feed community cats are often concerned that coyotes might prey on the cats. These concerns are well founded, as coyotes will be attracted to both the outdoor pet food and the cats themselves as prey. Here are some general suggestions for keeping such cats safer:

• Feed cats only during the day and at a set time—and pick up any leftovers immediately
• Provide escape routes for cats
• In treeless or open areas, erect "cat posts"—long pieces of wood (four inches by four inches or corner posts) that stand out of the ground at least ten to twelve feet. These can be climbed by cats but not by coyotes
• Elevate feeding stations beyond coyotes’—but not the cats’—reach

Discourage/harass coyotes seen on the property. Go after them aggressively, using the techniques described in our coyote hazing guidelines. Making them feel uncomfortable will encourage them to stay out of the area.

Protecting dogs

Dogs (especially small dogs) are also vulnerable to coyote confrontations. These incidents generally involve coyotes who are accustomed or habituated to people (usually due to wildlife feeding) or coyotes who are protecting their territory and pups (usually during breeding season).

Dogs (especially small dogs) should not be left outside unattended, should never be chained and should always be kept on a leash in public areas. It is important to never let your dog interact or play with a coyote. Pet food and water should be kept indoors to avoid attracting coyotes to your yard.

Although “attacks” on larger dogs are rarer, coyotes will sometimes go after a large dog when they feel that their territory is threatened. This generally occurs during the coyote breeding season, which takes place from January through March. During this time, it is especially important not to let dogs outside unattended and to keep them on leashes when in public areas.

Fencing can be used to keep coyotes out of residential yards, but it must be at least six feet tall and should extend underground at least six inches or be parallel to the ground at least 12 inches and secured with landscaping staples. Devices such as the "coyote roller,” which “rolls off” coyotes that try to scramble over the fence, can enhance the effectiveness of a fence. Do-it-yourself options also include adding PVC piping or chicken wire to the top of your fence to prevent coyotes from jumping over and retrofitting a mesh apron to the bottom of the fence (extending at least 12 inches out and secured with landscaping staples) to keep coyotes from digging under.

Jgareri

What should I do if I see or encounter a coyote?

An encounter with a coyote in the urban and suburban landscape is a rare event, even where coyotes are found in large numbers.

These animals are generally nocturnal and seldom seen. You may catch a glimpse of a coyote, however, as they move from one part of their territory to another in search of prey (usually small mammals such as mice or voles).

Observing a coyote in this manner (even during the daytime) does not mean that the coyote is sick or aggressive. If the coyote is scared away by your presence, they are exhibiting natural behavior and this should not be cause for concern.

Habituation

A coyote who does not run away when encountering humans has, most likely, become accustomed or habituated to people. This generally occurs when a coyote has been fed (in the form of handouts, pet food left outside, or unsecured garbage).

Coyotes who come to depend on these sources of food may begin to approach humans looking for a handout and may begin to exhibit what’s perceived as “too tame” or aggressive behavior.

When coyotes become habituated, hazing can re-instill the natural fear of humans. Hazing entails using a variety of scare techniques to teach a coyote to regard people as threatening and stay away from them.

Do coyotes attack people?

Coyote attacks on people are very rare. More people are killed by errant golf balls and flying champagne corks each year than are bitten by coyotes.

Often, coyote attacks are preventable by modifying human behavior and educating people about ways to prevent habituation. In many human attack incidents, it turns out that the offending coyote was being fed by people. In many other instances, people were bitten while trying to rescue their free-roaming pet from a coyote attack. Less often, people are bitten by cornered coyotes, or even more rarely, rabid coyotes.

There have only been two recorded incidences in the United States and Canada of humans being killed by coyotes. One involved a child in Southern California in the 1980s and the other a 19-year old woman in Nova Scotia in 2009. These events, rare as they are, are serious and warrant serious response.

A coyote who has bitten a person will have to be specifically targeted and removed from the population. Most health departments will mandate testing for rabies, which requires that the offending coyote be killed. Under no circumstances does an attack by an individual coyote warrant killing at large, in an effort to reduce the population or simply ring up the bill on coyotes as an act of retribution.

Public health concerns

Coyotes, like all warm-blooded animals, may contract rabies. Their close kinship to dogs places coyotes at greater risk where there are populations of unvaccinated domestic dogs. Recent advances in rabies control using oral bait to immunize wild animals without having to capture them have made controlling the spread of rabies in coyotes much more effective.