CoyoteTipSheetCoyotearebecomingincreasinglycommonincities.Evenindenselypopulatedareas,coyotesmaintainanavoidanceofhumansandpotentialforhuman-coyoteinteractionislow.Tomaintainasafedistance,homeownersareinstructedtolimitavailabilityoffoodontheirpropertyandhazeindividualcoyotesinthecaseofdirectencounters.Thesetechniquesareoutlinedbelow.Iffollowedbyresidents,thelikelihoodofcoyote-humaninteractionsorpetattacksislowandcoexistenceispossible.StepstoAvoidCoyote-HumanConflict

1. DonotfeedcoyotesUnintentionalandintentionalfeedingaretheleadingcausesofcoyotehabituation-whenacoyotebecomesuncharacteristicallycomfortablearoundhumans.Refrainfromdirectlyfeedingcoyotesandavoidleavinggarbageoutsideforlongperiodsoftime.Outdoorbirdfeedersmayalsobeanattractantbecausetheydrawinsmallrodentsservingasafoodsourceforcoyotes.

2. MonitorPetsCoyotesarenotnaturallyinclinedtoapproachhomesorareaswithpets.However,iftherearelimitedfoodsourcesinaregion,coyotesmayseepetsaspotentialprey.Alwaysleashyourpetsandmonitorthemwhenoutside,eveninyourbackyard.Domesticatedcatsshouldbekeptinside.

3. HazingItisrecommendedthatifyouencounteracoyotedirectly,donotrunaway.Shouting,Waving,andthrowingitemsareformsofhazingandwillinstillfearintheanimal,preventingthelikelihoodoffutureattacks.Duringpuppingseason(May)negativebehaviorpatternsincoyotesaremorelikely.Atthistime,itmaybebeneficialtocarryanoise-makertoshakeinthecaseofanencounter.However,ifacoyoteisnoticed,butavoidingyourpresence,donotseekoutanencounterorhazingopportunity.

4. ReportAggressiveCoyotesUnprovokedbarking,hackleraising,snarling,andgrowingareallsignsofaggressivecoyotes.Ifyounoticethesebehaviorpatterns,reportthistocityofficials.

ForfurtherinformationviewChicago’sCoexistencePlan:https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/depts/cacc/PDFiles/CACC_Coyote_Management_FINAL.pdf