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Getting used to having coyotes as neighbours, but don’t make friends with them

Getting used to having coyotes as neighbours, but don’t make friends with them

Canadian city-dwellers are used to living with wildlife, from squirrels, deer, raccoons and even the occasional bear in some Metro Vancouver neighbourhoods.

Squirrels are cute, and so are raccoons when they’re not emptying your garbage bin all over the yard. But some of us are ambivalent about another animal that’s come to enjoy living in the city: the coyote.

Reports of coyote sightings and encounters have climbed steadily in Canada, including incidents where they’ve preyed on cats and small dogs, and claims they’ve attacked people.

In early June, a coyote reportedly jumped into a fenced yard in London, Ont., and killed a wheaten terrier that had been let outside for its evening constitutional.

In May, a coyote was blamed for knocking down and mauling a teenage girl as she walked in London park, though some say a dog is the more likely culprit.

Conservation officers in Vancouver killed an aggressive coyote after it was reported stalking a woman and her leased dogs in the downtown False Creek district.

These kinds of encounters are rare, though, and experts say coyote problems have less to do with their behaviour than with ours.

Coyotes originated in the western prairies and deserts of North America but now are found in every province, territory and U.S. state except Hawaii.

“They’re pretty remarkable that way,” said Maureen Murray, a researcher with the Edmonton Urban Coyote Project. “You hear so many species constricting their ranges or becoming extirpated. It’s really remarkable to hear about a species that has expanded so much.”

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They owe their successful expansion in large part to us, says Lesley Sampson, founder and director of Coyote Watch Canada, which works to raise awareness of how to co-exist with them.

Human development helped coyotes to flourish

Farming has led to clearing forests and brush to create open areas coyotes prefer for hunting, while humans hunting of wolves and bears have reduced the competition from other large predators.

Urban areas are ideal for coyotes, Sampson told Yahoo Canada News.

“They’ve got absolutely amazing infrastructure corridors for traveling,” she said.

Roads, rail lines, power-line routes, water courses and green spaces offer coyotes easy travel and also are inviting to the kinds of wildlife they prey on, such as rodents and rabbits.

And when prey species aren’t available, neighbourhoods provide readily accessible alternatives in the form of human food waste and compost piles, among other things.

“We’ve laid the table for them, food-wise,” said Prof. Lee Foote of the University of Alberta’s Agricultural, Life and Environmental Sciences Department.

Murray said analysis of urban coyote scat (feces) revealed 20 per cent contained bird feed.

“Having a bird feeder in your yard and spilling seed all over the ground could actually attract coyotes into your back yard,” she said.

Over time, coyotes have adapted themselves from pure meat eaters to omnivores that will eat anything from deer to berries, crab apples and even insects.

“They’ve got some grinder teeth and it’s really quite brilliant,” said Sampson.

Coyotes will also eat dog and cat feces, which still contain nutrients, said Foote. Another reason to pick up after your dog.

Cities also provide accessible shelter, whether it’s under a backyard deck or crawlspace or a grove of trees in a park – ideal for rearing cubs.

Urban coyotes may suffer from more diseases

Coyotes’ transition to city dwellers hasn’t been all good. Murray said research suggests a connection between coyotes frequenting compost piles for food with a higher incidence of disease in those animals, perhaps tied to mycotoxins present in the food waste.

There’s also evidence indicating coyotes that live in developed areas are not doing as well as those that stick to urban green spaces. They had more parasites and tracking via radio collars shows they need to range over more neighbourhoods to get food.

Coyotes that live in parks, ravines and river areas can hunt game such as rabbits and even urban deer, with occasional access to human food sources if they need it.

“I would suggest that urban natural areas sort of gives them the best of both worlds,” said Murray. “They still get to avoid people and all the risks that come from that.”

Research in recent years has provided important insights into coyote behaviour, said Sampson.

“When we generalize about these family-oriented essential keystone species, that’s when they come around to bite us in the butt,” Sampson said.

Our past response to coyotes has been based on old fears and misconceptions but more people seem willing to co-exist with them (less so in rural areas, where farmers and ranchers see them as a threat to livestock). Urban residents tend to bridle when authorities call in trappers or sharpshooters, said Sampson.

Eliminating urban coyotes is impossible anyway, said Murray. The key, the experts say, is understanding the difference between living alongside coyotes and making them welcome.

“We would argue that it’s more efficient to take these steps to give coyotes as little incentive as possible to come into residential areas or interact with people, rather than eradicate them through other means that have largely seemed to be inefficient and not effective,” Murray explained.

Sites such as Coyote Watch Canada recommend steps like ensuring you pick up dog feces, rendering compost piles inaccessible, keeping cats indoors and dogs on a leash in areas frequented by coyotes. Sampson also recommends against leaving pet food and water outside.

Murray said homeowners should ensure gaps under houses or decks are well secured and maintaing a strong, high fence, which research shows helps discourage coyotes from exploring your yard.

Coyotes generally give humans a wide birth but if you encounter one, do not run away. Instead, make yourself large and shout – not scream – at it. It’s a good idea, if you’re walking in coyote ranges, to carry a can with rocks inside that can make a disruptive noise.

“We’re not going to get rid of coyotes,” she said. “A lot of people really like having coyotes, so let’s try our best to retain the positives of having them around while giving them very little incentive to come near us and cause conflict.”