5.0 Coyote Issues

[Carri Seargent]

Thestories started a few months into the year. Coyote sightings were on the rise. We thought it was a local happening but then we heard about sightings and attacks in neighboring states. Here in Connecticut, the stories were from New York and then Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Rhode Island. Speaking to clients from other states who relayed the same information and I realized that it was national phenomena.

And while the reports were mainly about sightings where in previous years there had been none and brief encounters in unexpected places at unforeseen times, soon people began talking more about actual attacks.

Yes, coyotes and dogs belong to the same dog family, but they are really different animals. The latin name for coyotes - Canis Latrans - may mean barking dog, but physically they are very distinguishable. Coyotes appear slimmer than dogs, with a sharp muzzle, flat forehead, and bushy tail. They look like they have longer legs but that is just an effect of where their elbow joint is positioned in relation to the chest.

Try to get a good look at the front legs and see where the elbow joint lays. A dog's elbow is higher than the bottom line of its chest, but a coyote has a very leggy look that comes from a shallow chest that leaves the elbow joint appearing lower.

And proper identification is important. Another story making the rounds around here is of the animal control officer that shot and killed a pet dog that was mistaken for a coyote. This happens repeatedly every year and is a true shame.

Coyotes are wild animals. The instincts that we use as guidelines in training our dogs hearken back thousands of years, so yes, the coyote probably shares some of that same base material. But a coyote lacks the other thousand years of domestication that our best friends have undergone that tempers that wildest instinct and allows for training.

Any attempt to tame a coyote by pursuing the same basic techniques trainers and behaviorists suggest for using to train your Standard Poodle are not going to work. No matter what a mistaken radio newscaster may suggest.

While coyotes once lived on faraway, undeveloped lands, the species has spread into populated areas. And this is why we are hearing more and more about them today today. We develop wild areas and are coming face to face with more wildlife. Like coyotes. And coyotes are very adaptable.

Coyotes usually live off of their natural prey like rabbits, squirrels, deer fawn, as well as insects, fruits, birds, amphibians, and reptiles. But they have also adapted to urban environments and have learned to hunt domestic pets and small livestock, human garbage, and all sorts of crops.

As I stated before, we are going to have to get used to coyotes being in urban areas, just as many other species of wildlife have. However, ensuring they are not getting handouts will help keep coyotes a little wary of people and where people congregate.

Do not leave your pets outside unattended. Keep an eye on your pet when you open the back door to let him out and do not let him stray too far away from you. Whenever possible, take your dog out on a dog leash to avoid run-offs.

If your dog does get bit by a coyote, it requires immediate veterinary attention. The wound should be completely cleaned and debrided, get some antibiotics started, and booster the rabies vaccine if needed. All attacks should be reported to local authorities who track this type of animal behavior.

A coyote that has grown accustomed to humans and sees a person as a potential food source can get scary quickly. Again, like a lot of dogs I work with, they can exhibit demand behaviors like nipping or clawing of clothes or hands. It might not mean to appear vicious but sudden teeth snapping at you from a strange animal is not for the faint of heart.

As a long-time keeper of chickens and other birds, I must grudgingly admit that coyotes do have a role to play. Even after losing some great birds to these predators. They do have a place in the circle of life.

Coyote yearlings are maturing into adults with increasingly independent drives which appear to be upsetting the established social order in their families. Coyotes live in highly structured families on exclusive family-owned territories. They have a rigid hierarchy for maintaining social order and for maintaining territories with low population densities. Here are some of my additional observations of behaviors that appear to be associated with the beatings, along with some of my speculations.

As I left the park this day, I heard loud squawking and branches rustling strongly in the branches way above. I looked up to see a red-shouldered hawk fighting with another red-shouldered hawk, and I wondered if dispersal was in the air. Nature is not always as kind or sweet as many of us might want to believe: it has its heartaches as well as its joys.

Coyotes reappeared in San Francisco in 2002 after many years of absence, and people are still in the dark about them. This site is to help bring light to their behavior and offer simple guidelines for easy coexistence.

My information comes from my own first-hand observations of our very own coyotes here in San Francisco. They have not been studied or observed so thoroughly by anyone else. Mine is not generic information, nor second-hand.

All information and photos in my postings come from my own original and first-hand documentation work which I am happy to share, with permission and with properly displayed credit: janetkessler/coyoteyipps.com.

Coyote attacks on humans and pets have increased within the past 5 years in California. We discuss documented occurrences of coyote aggression and attacks on people, using data from USDA Wildlife Services, the California Department of Fish & Game, and other sources. Forty-eight such attacks on children and adults were verified from 1998 through 2003, compared to 41 attacks during the period 1988 through 1997; most incidents occurred in Southern California near the suburban-wildland interface. Attack incidents are typically preceded by a sequence of increasingly bold coyote behaviors, including: nighttime coyote attacks on pets; sightings of coyotes in neighborhoods at night; sightings of coyotes in morning and evening; attacks on pets during daylight hours; attacks on pets on leashes and chasing of joggers and bicyclists; and finally, mid-day sightings of coyotes in and around children\u2019s play areas. In suburban areas, coyotes can lose their fear of humans as a result of coming to rely on ample food resources including increased numbers of rabbits and rodents, household refuse, pet food, available water from ponds and landscape irrigation run-off, and even intentional feeding of coyotes by residents. The safe environment provided by a wildlife-loving general public, who rarely display aggression toward coyotes, is also thought to be a major contributing factor. The termination or reduction of predator management programs adjacent to some urban areas has also served to contribute to coyotes\u2019 loss of fear of humans and to a dependency on resources in the suburban environment. Corrective action can be effective if implemented before coyote attacks on pets become common. However, if environmental modification and changes in human behavior toward coyotes are delayed, then removal of offending predators by traps or shooting is required in order to resolve the threat to human safety. We note the failure of various non-lethal harassment techniques to correct the problem in situations where coyotes have become habituated to human-provided food resources. Coyote attacks on humans in suburbia are preventable, but the long-term solution of this conflict requires public education, changes in residents\u2019 behavior, and in some situations, the means to effectively remove individual offending animals.

\n The Hopland Research and Extension Center (HREC) is the University of California's principal field research facility for agriculture and natural resources in the North Coast region. In 1951, the University purchased the 4,630-acre Roy L. Pratt Ranch at Hopland, California to use as a site for long-term, controlled research on native rangelands, watersheds, and wildlife. The Center now extends over more than 5,300 acres. A diversity of soils, plant and animal communities, and elevations makes HREC representative of many parts of the Coast Range in northwestern California. The Center also maintains a research flock of 600 to 1,000 breeding ewes, which graze the majority of the Center's rangelands.\n

The Eastern coyote is firmly established in New York. They live in New York as an integral part of our ecosystems. People and coyotes can usually coexist if coyotes' natural fear of people is maintained. Coyotes provide many benefits to New Yorkers through observation, photography, hunting, and trapping; however, not all interactions are positive. While most coyotes avoid interacting with people, some coyotes in suburbia become emboldened and appear to have lost their fear of people. This can result in a dangerous situation with pets and young children at the greatest risk.

A coyote that does not flee from people should be considered dangerous. Coyotes in residential areas can be attracted to garbage, pet food, and other human-created sources of food. Coyotes can associate people with these food attractants. In some cases human behavior is perceived to be non-threatening by coyotes (running into your home after seeing a coyote is behaving like prey). In short, people may unintentionally attract coyotes with food and people may behave like prey. Add to the mix people intentionally feeding coyotes and the potential for a coyote attack becomes very real.

Potential does exist for coyote attacks in New York. However, a little perspective may be in order. On average, 650 people are hospitalized and one person killed by dogs each year in New York State. Nationwide, only a handful of coyote attacks occur annually. Nevertheless, these conflicts are bad for people, pets, and coyotes.

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