You’re walking your dog early in the morning, as usual. But as you amble up the sidewalk, you spot a furry brown shape up ahead. You tighten the leash, worried about an aggressive stray dog. Then you get a closer look.
It’s a coyote.
If you spend any time on social media, whether it’s your neighborhood’s Facebook page or NextDoor.com, it seems like coyote sightings have increased exponentially in the last few years. Not only that, but the canids, many claim, are multiplying by the day, and some areas are being overrun, threatening public safety.
But is that really the case?
• See related: 5 ways to coyote-proof your yard and protect your home
“No,” says Seth Riley, chief wildlife ecologist for the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area, which is part of the National Park Service. “I’ve been hearing that exact same thing over 23 years.”
Riley’s NPS colleague, Jeffrey Brown, who also is a wildlife ecologist and has been studying coyotes recently, says the uptick in sightings is likely related to the fact that so many people have doorbell cameras nowadays.
“It just seems they’re noticing the wildlife more, because they’re able to see them,” Brown says, adding that the cameras also record during the night, which means even more sightings.
The fact is, coyotes are a native species that lived here long before humans moved in. Brown pointed out that scientists have found fossilized remains of what they believe are coyote ancestors from the Pleistocene Era in the La Brea Tar Pits.
Both Riley and Brown, however, concede that hard data on how many coyotes actually live in the state is elusive. The California Department of Fish and Game claims there are between 250,000 and 750,000 — not exactly a precise number.
“It’s incredibly hard to census wildlife in general, especially animals like coyotes,” Riley explains, adding that it’s taken about 20 years to get an accurate idea of how many mountain lions there are in the Santa Monica Mountains, and they’re scarce compared to coyotes. But, he added, it is definitely possible to get more precise in certain areas.
One of those areas is San Francisco, which has about 100 coyotes, local wildlife experts say. How do they know? During the second half of the 20th century, coyotes were all but eradicated from the city. Some were trapped and removed, but more succumbed to a poison called Compound 1080. Compound 1080 was banned in 1972, and in 2002, a coyote was spotted in the Presidio.
How coyotes returned to the city is still being debated, with some claiming it was a natural migration, while others say they got help from humans.
Janet Kessler, an amateur naturalist known fondly as San Francisco’s “Coyote Lady,” has been studying the animals for almost 20 years, and sharing her findings on the website coyoteyipps.com. According to Kessler, the city’s coyotes are divided into 17 to 18 family groupings, including an alpha male and alpha female (who mate for life), and their offspring. Some of the offspring are yearlings, the coyote equivalent of teens almost ready to go off on their own, while others are recently born.
“These territories range in size between 1.5 and 2.5 square miles,” Kessler said in an online interview. “So, unless a new territory has been carved into an area, the population will not have increased. The one family living there will increase in size during the pupping season, and then soon shrink back down to just the alpha-parents as the yearlings disperse.”
But even if we are not being overrun by coyotes, as claimed, there have been some alarming interactions with humans over the last few years. Two years ago in San Francisco, a coyote in Golden Gate Park lunged at children in broad daylight. In Moraga, another coyote was linked to five attacks, including two on children, between 2020 and 2021. Both animals were captured, DNA tested to make sure they were the culprits, and euthanized.
In both cases, authorities said, it seemed the coyotes, who are usually not so aggressive, had lost their fear of humans because people had been feeding them. In 2021, San Francisco Animal Care and Control officials even released photos of a woman feeding coyotes meat from a plate in Bernal Heights Park. That same year in Oakland Hills, neighbors united to stop a resident from putting out dog food and water for coyotes.
Not feeding coyotes, Kessler, Riley and Brown agree, is incredibly important, and may seem obvious. But it is possible to feed them involuntarily, they say. For example, leaving your pet’s food and water bowls in the backyard is a bad idea. So is leaving fruit on the ground that has fallen from your trees. Also, bird feeders full of seed attract rodents, a common coyote snack. And speaking of favorite coyote food, keep your pets inside, particularly overnight.
Cats, all the experts say, are safest inside overall, avoiding not just coyotes, but also being hit by cars (a common cause of urban coyote fatalities, Riley pointed out). And cats, while beloved, are notorious for decimating the bird and small reptile population. If your cats absolutely need to be out, build them a catio, Brown said.
Even with these precautions, it can be hard to keep coyotes out of your yard.
“If you don’t want them in your yard, chase them off,” said Riley, but added that such behavior, known as hazing, may only work for a short while. “Coyotes are super smart.”
“A 6-foot fence with rollers is supposed to keep them out,” Kessler said. “But this requires that no gaps exist at gateways, and that the fence is buried at least a foot underground to keep coyotes from digging under the fence. The best practice of all is to always supervise your pet when you are out of doors.”
Which brings us back to that walk you were taking with your dog. You spot a coyote, and instead of running away, it saunters closer. What do you do?
Putting, and keeping, your dog on a leash, so it won’t go after the coyote, is the first step. If it’s a smaller dog, Kessler said, it’s not a bad idea to pick it up if you can. Then, walk away, keeping an eye on the coyote and staying calm.
And, don’t run! Running away from a coyote will only make it chase you.
What if the coyote follows you? Stay calm, Kessler said. Coyotes are protective of their territories, and may just be “escorting” you away.
What if the coyote lunges at you, or bites? This is still a rare occurrence, but canid aggression can vary according to season, and when coyotes are breeding, they are protective of their dens.
Being cautious on nature trails between March and September, Brown said, is a good idea, and paying attention to any signage is vital. The Presidio, in fact, closed two large trails to dog walkers (and only dog walkers) in March, and plans to keep them closed until fall.
“It is a wise move. It would be nice if the city followed suit,” Kessler says, noting that the Presidio is run by the National Park Service.
Whatever the reason for the aggression, remember that you can always contact your local animal control agency and make a report. If the coyote turns out to be a repeat offender, it will be euthanized.
Above all, try not to let that one bad interaction sour you on these animals, because we’re more alike than you think.
“Our coyotes lead much richer lives than most folks are aware of,” Kessler writes on her website. “Their lives are full of emotion — really the same emotions we experience — and full of family life, the amazingly similar family life we enjoy.”
