Americans are fortunate to have an enormous diversity of wildlife sharing the landscape with us. However, as human populations continue to encroach into natural habitats, modifying our own behavior is key to peaceful coexistence. Here are some tips on how you can be proactive.
- Never feed coyotes: Sometime's it’s hard to resist feeding wildlife, but please don’t – for their health and your safety. When we feed wild animals, they become habituated to people - they lose their natural fear of us.
- Keep your home and yard tidy: Sometimes we feed coyotes unintentionally. Coyotes are opportunists; why pass up an easy meal? Here are some things that we feed coyotes without even knowing it:
- Garbage: Don't litter and use secure garbage cans
- Pet food: Do not feed pets or store food outside
- Rodents: Spilled bird seed from your bird feeders can attract rodents to your yard. Rodents attract coyotes as they make up a good portion of their diet. So best to avoid using bird feeders, or clean up the spilled seeds.
- Fence your yard: Another way to keep your yard coyote free is with a fence. Coyotes can jump about 2m (6 ft) so you will need a fence at least that high if you want to be sure that a coyote can’t get in.
