Coyote encounters in residential areas are becoming increasingly common. These animals are opportunistic and readily exploit available resources in suburban settings. The key to safe coexistence is understanding their behavior and proactively modifying your property to remove attractants. Learning how to properly react during a direct sighting is important for reinforcing their natural wariness of people.
Understanding Urban Coyote Behavior
Coyotes thrive in urban environments because of the access to food, water, and shelter that residential areas provide. Their diet is flexible, consisting of rodents, fruit, and insects, but they quickly incorporate human-associated food sources like unsecured trash or pet food into their foraging habits. This availability of resources can lead to smaller home ranges for coyotes in suburban areas compared to their rural counterparts.
The majority of coyote activity occurs during crepuscular and nocturnal hours. Seeing a coyote during the day does not automatically indicate an issue, but it may suggest the animal has become less fearful of humans, often due to accidental or intentional feeding. A healthy coyote typically shows wariness and flees when approached, while one habituated to human presence may appear bold or passive, which increases the potential for conflict.
Securing Your Property and Removing Attractants
Preventing coyotes from finding an easy meal is the most effective way for minimizing their presence in a yard. Garbage cans should be secured with tight-fitting, locking lids or tie-downs, and should only be placed outside on the morning of collection, rather than the night before. Compost piles should be managed carefully, ensuring they do not contain meat or dairy scraps, and any fallen fruit from trees must be promptly collected from the ground.
Outdoor food sources like bird seed and pet food should be eliminated. Securing potential den sites is also important, which involves blocking access to spaces beneath decks, sheds, or porches with wire mesh or lattice. For existing fences, a height of at least six feet is recommended to deter climbing, and the base should be buried approximately one foot underground or fitted with an L-footer to prevent digging underneath.
Safe Practices During a Direct Encounter
When a coyote is encountered in a yard or neighborhood, the appropriate response is active “hazing.” The goal is to be loud and large, immediately standing tall, waving your arms, and yelling aggressively at the animal. This assertive body language must be maintained until the coyote retreats completely from the area.
Noisemakers, such as air horns, whistles, or soda cans filled with pennies, are effective tools to amplify the deterrent effect. Small objects like sticks, rocks, or tennis balls can be thrown toward the coyote to startle it and drive it away. Never turn and run from a coyote, as this can trigger a natural chase instinct; instead, maintain eye contact and slowly back away only after the animal has begun to flee.
Protecting Pets and Small Livestock
Coyotes pose a risk to domestic animals, making strict supervision a necessary precaution. Never allow small dogs or cats to roam unattended, even in a fenced yard, particularly during the high-activity periods of dawn and dusk. When walking a dog, maintaining a short leash of six feet or less keeps the pet close and allows the owner to react quickly if a coyote is sighted.
For owners of small livestock, like chickens or goats, enclosures must be secured to withstand a determined predator. Coops and pens require strong, covered tops and sides, and the perimeter should be fortified by burying wire mesh at least a foot below the ground to prevent digging. In some cases, specialized livestock guardian animals, such as certain breeds of dogs or llamas, can be used to deter coyotes from the immediate vicinity of the livestock.