Information and stories about San Francisco coyotes: behavior & personality, coexistence & outreach, by Janet Kessler: Unveiling first-hand just how savvy, social, sentient and singular coyotes really are!
This information, based on my own field observations, can’t be shared enough. We are smack in the middle of denning season. Please read and learn if you have a dog. This edited article based on what I’ve published before — again, based on what I have seen first-hand — was published in WildCare’s newsletter and on their website on May 9th to help get the information out to more folks. Click on the blue link below to read the article with additional photos. The yellow flyer at the bottom of the article summarizes concisely what you should know without going into the behavior details.
[This has been written for distribution to several neighborhood newspapers and newsletters here in San Francisco. I’m posting here so it will be available to more of the same.]
In the ‘hood.
Hi Neighbors!
This is Janet. I’ve been documenting our coyotes here in San Francisco for the past 16 years: their population, dispersals, family life, and behavior including their encounters with people and pets.
We have about 17 coyote families here in San Francisco, each living in a separate territory about the size of the Presidio (2.4 square miles): ONE family lives on each of these territories and have ever since I started documenting them in 2007. A family consists of the mated alpha pair — i.e., Mom and Dad — and then pups born this year, and possibly some of the yearlings born the year before who haven’t yet dispersed. All of these territories extend beyond the parks and include our neighborhoods. Sightings in neighborhoods is normal.
Territories: Most territories include a substantial sized park, or a number of smaller fragmented parks, but a few territories do not even have this. In other words, a couple of coyote families live in the neighborhoods and retreat for most daylight hours to small patches of green spaces. Their main trekking activity is through the streets where they become visible to human pedestrians and car traffic. Please note, there are no more coyotes now than there have been over the last several years, but some people are seeing them for the first time.
Exploring front door steps along the street
Trekking: *Trekking* behavior involves brisk trotting/walking around a dozen or so city blocks. The coyote — usually one at a time, but two together have also been spotted, and more rarely more together — is either moving to another resting spot within its territory, or he’s patrolling to find out what’s going on in his territory: he’ll do so through sniffing, looking, and poking around. Of interest to him is that no outsider coyotes have been around, what animals have been around, and where food scraps have been tossed. He’ll be on the sidewalks and zigzagging down the streets. He’ll enter driveways and alleyways. He’ll go up people’s front steps, even if those steps are steep and take him three stories up. He’s checking things out. He may take a shoe, a ball, or a newspaper. Sometimes he’ll sit and watch: I’ve seen him sprawled out on some dirt, just chilling for a few minutes.
Stopping to examine the terrain in his territory.
Main hours: His main hours of activity are between sunset and sunrise, so this is when you are most likely to see him — though note that they can be out any time of the day. All you need to do is always walk away from him the minute you see him. He’s not interested in any kind of confrontation with you and he’ll do his best to avoid you by going around and hurrying away. But dogs have always been an issue for coyotes. Dogs and coyotes are notoriously mutually antagonistic and need to be kept far apart. Part of this is for territorial reasons: coyotes keep other coyotes out of their territories in order to preserve the scarce resources there just for themselves: in other words, the territory is owned by the one family that lives there and they exhibit ownership behavior. Because of this territoriality, the population is consistent and stable which is what we all want. If you see them repeatedly, it’s because you are seeing the same coyotes over and over again, not different random coyotes from all over the place. These coyote territorial owners often come to know by sight — always at a distance — the regular walkers and dogs and vice-versa.
Interestingly, few people even know these coyotes exist here, and even fewer actually ever see them. Those folks who have seen the coyote — usually as they walk their dog — have seen a coyote 3 or 4 times during the past year, even though the coyotes are out daily. Unfortunately, several of those people have been spooked recently because the coyote approached or followed them. I’ll explain more about this below.
Dogs: Coyotes avoid and ignore most dogs, but they are suspicious of them all. They have a need to tell dogs that the territory is theirs, especially if the dog gets too close or is in the pathway of the coyote. Sometimes they do this through a sort of one-upmanship eye-to-eye communication most of which we humans are not aware of. But at other times it is more blatant, with the coyote actually approaching or following a dog. The minute you ever see a coyote, you need to always walk away, in the opposite direction, with a shortened leash. Your dog may bark and lunge towards him, so you need to drag your dog if necessary to walk away from the coyote. If your dog is small, he may become frightened, rightfully so, because coyotes have picked up small dogs. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened. It’s a good idea to pick up a very small dog as you walk away from the coyote.
Examining debris, a newspaper and chilling in the neighborhood.
In approaching a dog, the coyote’s main interest is usually simple curiosity — they are sniffing to find out more about the dog: sniffing is how they pick up most of their information –dogs exude so many hormones and other chemical odors full of information about themselves — but also to test the dog’s potential reaction to themself. The coyote may then follow your dog: again, this could be simple curiosity, OR he’s ushering or escorting the dog away and making sure the dog is leaving. Just keep walking away from him. In rare instances, a coyote’s suspicion and even dislike for a particular dog (your dog or a similar dog may have chased him or lunged at him or snarled at him in the past, and of course any coyote would remember this) may cause the coyote to approach the dog from the back (where there are no teeth) and nip the hind side of the dog, cattle-dog fashion, to get that dog to leave. It’s not a frequent occurrence, but it has happened. You are unlikely to encounter any coyote regularly, so when you do, just follow these simple guidelines. IF you feel crowded by the coyote approaching or following your dog, you should face the coyote and angrily heave small stones or pinecones at his feet without hitting the coyote. You may have to do this several times. Making eye contact almost always stops a coyote from approaching any further: he’ll stop, and then you should continue walking away, keeping your eye on him.
It might be a good idea to actually practice this so that you know what to do — then, if the occasion should arise, you’ll know exactly what to do without thinking.
Dens: If there is a den within 1/4th mile of where you walk, you need to know that parent coyotes are very protective of their personal space, their areas, and their young and their suspicion of other dogs is compounded. A parent coyote can be persistent, insistent and intense in his communication to make a dog leave. I’ve been through it: it indeed is scary. The same guidelines should be followed: stay away and walk away when you see a coyote. If you are seeing a coyote regularly on your walk during denning season, you might consider taking a different route for awhile.
I am available in person to be there and help out. Also, if you have questions about *your* neighborhood coyote or coyotes generally, please contact me: janet@coyoteyipps.com
Summaries of easy guidelines
Cats: Cats, should not be allowed to roam free where there are coyotes — cats are at risk if they are accessible. Cats are not equipped to handle coyotes, dogs, or cars, ALL of which kill cats, with cars leading the list — cars kill 5 million cats a year. Dogs — because of their sheer number in our area — are the biggest issue when it comes to coyotes. It’s best to simply keep your pet as far away from a coyote as possible — this is easier to do with a leash.
Relocation: Some people have asked if coyotes can be relocated. They cannot by law. The reason for this is that moving them kills them inhumanely. But even if a coyote could be eliminated in some way — which the city does not do — its niche would soon be refilled by another coyote, and you would have the same dog issues to deal with as with the first coyote. Keeping your dogs leashed gives you control over your dog. Dogs love to chase coyotes, and a leash prevents this. Leashing keeps dogs safe from coyotes, cars, and others dogs. Over 3 million dogs are killed each year by cars; their second greatest killer is other dogs. .
Danger to humans: As for dangers to humans from coyotes, these are almost non-existent. The 17 — yes, only 17 or so — *scratches or bites* to humans from a coyote each year throughout all of North America have almost all been due to separating a dog from a coyote, hand feeding, or to a small child where feeding has gone on. Small children indeed have to be watched as carefully as you would watch your dog — but hopefully you do that anyway! Please compare this figure to 1000 dog bites to humans every single day of the year ending up in emergency rooms.
Feeding: Lastly, please don’t feed coyotes. Not only does it draw them to the area, it can cause them to hang around which increases the potential for pet incidents. Profusely fed coyotes become unnaturally docile and sometimes even get closer to humans in the hopes for a toss out. This is no good for the coyote or us humans or our pets.
Trekking through a neighborhood street in San Francisco
This was a month ago, during the Summer Solstice, when pups were already 2 months old. They had been moved out of this construction site, one by one, carried in Mom’s jaws, to a location about 1/4th mile away. Mom and Dad continued to frequent this old denning location.
Then, suddenly, both Mom and Dad dug this new den at that old location. I didn’t put the camera out until I saw the hole there, which was on the second day the coyotes worked on this dugout den. One youngster was underfoot at the time. Possibly this youngster never left the old area. I would see him as he regularly crossed the path of this camera, but he actually only entered the den a couple of times. Within a month, I saw a few more of the pups crossing in front of the camera, as have the parents, sniffing and looking around, but never entering the den.
It does not seem logical that this den might be a purposeful deception for potential harmful predators — such as dogs or humans. For one, no dogs go into the area, and all humans there have purposefully avoided the coyotes, letting them do their own thing. The pups are almost four months old now and won’t be using dens from now on. Still, one has to wonder why the effort was put into digging this den away from where the pups generally hang out, and when the pups were already 2 months old.
Some coyote parents have pups in the same area year after year. Some move for a year — about a mile away, while still maintaining their home-base territory — and then return the next season. Some move far away to an entirely different territory for good — 5 miles away from their original long-term territory and remain here until a territorial battle drives them away. These are some of the situations I’ve documented. Every coyote family is as different as is every human family.
And I’ve seen numerous instances where pups are moved at about two months of age within an urban territory to about 1/4th mile away. That’s what this posting is about.
Two pups in a den under a house on a construction site
Denning locations in the city are chosen mostly for their inaccessibility to dogs. Dogs are intruders that coyotes detest the most. I’ve seen dens built right along the freeway, beyond a fence keeping dogs and pedestrians out. The noise is incredible — the whooshing by of car wheels on the freeway and force of the wind against those vehicles, in addition to all the motor noise, is deafening. But coyotes prefer this over dogs.
Construction site
Human activity, no matter how noisy, as long as it isn’t intrusive, is also preferred over dogs. Multiple enormous tractors with huge clanky digger-arms and noisy motors, along with a lot of activity and movement of this equipment have not stopped coyotes from denning at construction sites. And it is here, in the middle of such a site, under a tiny cement building, Mom had her pups this year. Mom and her mate along with a yearling could be glimpsed coming and going among the hubbub, and it was obvious that Mom was in a lactating state. And then one day, a tiny head popped out into the open from under the building. For several days we thought there was only one pup, but then a second one appeared. When pups are first born, they stay put, but after 6-8 weeks, they need to start moving — and a construction site was not ideal for them at this stage. Mom knew she had to move them.
It’s not uncommon for mothers to move their pups at this stage — six to eight weeks of age. If you are aware of it, maybe that’s all you see. But by focusing in, I could see all the intelligence involved: planning, forethought, knowledge and work.
Mom must have been planning this for some time. Weeks before moving, every night, she would slither under the fence to the new area and work on digging places where her pups could duck into and hide if they needed to. She worked at this in the thick foliage among a tangles of branches which would be difficult for dogs to penetrate. Remember that a coyote is only 30 pounds and with the bendability of a cat, allowing them to slither under and over things. Not so for dogs. I didn’t capture the digging, just the coming and going each night at that new location.
The time had to be right, and that time would be when the pups began following her around — the same as little ducklings follow their mothers. I caught what I thought of as them “practicing” their following skills, or, possibly Mom “testing” to see how well pups would follow. They did!
Practicing following
On the day of the move, Mom led them to the construction site’s fence line. However, she knew they might not follow in the street where there were too many new distractions. For the street part of the journey, she signaled one of the pups to remain quiet and stay put: it’s a signal all pups know. Meanwhile she picked up one of the pups by it’s back, and carried it out the gate and along the sidewalk, crossing a number of streets, and finally slithering under the hole of the fence to the new area. Within ten minutes of depositing that youngster, she headed back to get the other one, and returned with that one within 25 minutes.
Interesting is the time of day she did this. One might have expected her to make the move at night when no one was around. But she did not do that. One of the reasons may be that the fenced construction site could only be exited from the gates. She herself could slither under the gate, but only barely — the tiny opening under the gate probably was not high enough for her carrying a pup. I had actually seen her walk out that gate at around noon a number of times, probably practicing and assessing what the situation was at that time of day. Shortly before noon every day, even I was able to see that almost all dogs had already been walked, so few would be out to go after her, and traffic was at a low at that time of day. So, when Moving Day came, this is the time she chose: 11:45 for one pup and then 12:20 for the other.
One person saw her walk down the street carrying a pup, and a friend relayed this to me — thank you, Beth — I myself missed it, though I knew it was coming. But I had cameras set up at the hole under the fence at the new location, and that is what I have to show you, below.
Interestingly, this mother followed the exact same pattern two years ago, moving her pups on June 1st of 2021. This year it was on May 26th. Also of interest, only Mom moved the youngsters. She was not helped by Dad or her yearling daughter.
So, just imagine the planning and foresight involved: planning for contingencies on the street, planning her route, planning the time of day this would happen, making sure the pups were ready, planning that it would happen at all, preparing the new denning spot. I think you have to be pretty impressed with the capabilities of coyotes generally, but especially with the capabilities of coyote mothers!
Mom brings first pup in under the fence. Ten minutes later you see her patrolling the fence line before heading off to pick up the second pup and returning twenty minutes later with him.
This story has a sequel! See The Move, Part II posted on June 12, 2023
I’m reposting this from my Instagram account because it’s important for people to know that a coyote protecting a den area, though indeed this might be scary, does not constitute an “aggressive” coyote.
Neither dog nor owner saw the coyote hidden in the tall grasses — they were just walking along a pathway as usual. But in fact, without knowing it, they were encroaching.
This mother coyote walked slowly up to the dog to message that dog to leave. Notice everything about her: tucked-in tail, hackles (fur on her upper back) up, teeth bared with lips pulled back, wrinkled snarly snout, and direct gaze: this is how she firmly messages her need, and the need is for the dog to go away. It’s a clear communication, telling the dog not to enter or come closer to this area, to turn around and go. In addition, she or her mate may follow you as you leave — she’s basically escorting you out of the area. It’s best to keep going away from her — she’ll soon stop following. But always keep your eye on her — if she comes critically close, you’ll need to firmly scare her away: the best way to do this is to have a small stone (2″) in hand and toss it angrily at her feet, without hitting her ever. You are intimidating her to back off as you do the same thing.
Please don’t read her behavior as aggression or as an attack. You and your dog are the ones coming too close — you, in effect, are provoking her, even though you may have done so unknowingly.
It’s her denning area: coyotes may protect up to about 1/4 of a mile around their actual birthing den. All you have to do is turn and go the other way. Also, make a mental note that this is a denning area and that it might be smart to stay away from it for awhile. Denning signs have been put out at many of the sites — but not all — asking you to stay away. There are plenty of other paths you can take for the next little while. After the dog left, mama coyote lay down on the path, in effect closing off that path from further encroachment for the moment! Pretty spunky coyote!
In a non-urban setting, she would have chosen a more remote area to den in, but in the city there are now few places which remain remote from people and their dogs.
Below is a more intense version of the same thing: It is intense, persistent and insistent — this is what makes it scary to us. But this is NOT an “attack”: note that when coyotes hunt or want to attack, they go in directly without this kind of messaging. Instead, here, the coyote is trying to herd you away from the area and herself. Please, especially during denning season, shorten your leash and walk directly away from a coyote whenever you merely see one. You can eliminate stress for both yourself and the coyote by doing so. I’ve had to watermark these photos so they won’t be used out of context.
And below are two videos showing this behavior of coyotes towards dogs:
Please note that coyotes use their teeth, mouths and body language constantly to communicate, even when playing, as here. This is the equipment they have for such communication.
Forward: Almost ten years ago, in 2012, in Atlanta, several people noticed coyotes in and around Candler Park (450 acres or 2/3rds of a square mile) where they had not been spotted before. City authorities were brought in to assess the population in the park and discovered 6 coyote dens. They concluded that coyotes were multiplying wildly and taking over, and they would have to get rid of them. I was contacted to help fight this proposal and educate the public about the reality of coyotes. Because of our efforts, the neighborhood association in charge decided not to cull/kill the coyotes. Unfortunately, I was told later on, that a couple of homeowners wouldn’t accept this studied decision, so as individuals they hired a trapper who eliminated them. :( Other coyotes soon filled the vacated niches — shooting coyotes doesn’t get rid of them for very long.
By the way, if you are interested, “fear of another species taking over” is a common human fear, and has been written about in this recent article: https://milliontrees.me/2022/06/08/starlings-vagrants-and-dead-birds/. Targets include coyotes, plants, birds, and other people who in various ways can be labeled differently from ourselves.
Coyote facts: On any one territory, with rare exceptions, there is just one coyote family consisting of an alpha male and female, their pups born within the year and in some cases one or two of the pups born the previous year — the older youngsters stick around long enough to help with the new litter before dispersing. All other coyotes are kept out of the family-owned territory, thus limiting the population to that one family. Territories run between 2 and 4 square miles each, so population is not all that dense. All youngsters inevitably and eventually disperse, leaving the two alphas as the static owners of the territory over a longer period of time.
As for the number of dens on each territory, each coyote family always digs multiple sets of dens — over 20 have been found in one of our territories here in San Francisco, all dug by the same coyote parent pair — to have ready to move into if needed, though most are never used. More dens on one territory do not mean multiple families — it’s simply a safety measure.
This video shows two denning areas of the same family.First you see Dad digging and then youngsters exiting and entering where he dug. The video then shifts to a small opening in a tangle of blackberry bramblesas coyotes enter and exit.These dens with the same family are 300 feet apart and used synchronously.
Last week I wandered through a small 100 square feet area of another of our coyote territories here in San Francisco and randomly spotted six such dens. The majority of them were not in use, but two that I found — maybe there are more — were being used synchronously, with pups apparently moving between them at their own will, as I was able to detect over the next few days. Five of these dens are dug into sandy soil. The other den being used simultaneously by this particular family is hidden in a tangle of blackberries, about 300 feet away. [Addendum: on June 13th I discovered another such active den, 600 feet away — that’s about a tenth of a mile between active dens belonging to the same family!]
Sand-dune den to the left; the one in the middle appears not to be used; and to the right, a den hidden within a tangle of overgrowth (with a pup snoozing in front of the opening).
Having multiple dens allows families to readily move to escape any dangers if needed. The photos below show a youngster with bug-pocked marks on his side, and a dad scratching himself vigorously to dislodge fleas: flea infestations in the dens is one reason they move to another den. Pups are also moved if parents sense potential dangers near their dens, mostly from dogs and insensitive people.
Pup and an adult showing signs of flea issues.
Examples of other dens throughout the city where I’ve spotted pups can be seen above: to the upper left is a den nestled under a carpet of ivy (yes, that’s a coyote pup visible through the tangle); in the middle is a hollow under a log; to the right behind a cyclone fence is a den in the no-man’s trashed area running along a freeway; and below, yes, they sometimes den right under our back porches!
Coyotes either dig their dens from scratch, as you saw in the sand-dune den, or they take over existing burrows of other animals and expand these. Caverns under rocks or openings under fallen tree trunks, or even non-dugout hidden areas with piles of leaves which are protected with brambles are used as dens. Fenced-in areas such as PUC Water Reservoirs or the fenced-off shoulders of freeways are also used: these areas are free from dogs and therefore very attractive to new coyote parents. And I’ve seen several dens under people’s porches! Unfortunately, there was a case several years ago where humans didn’t want coyotes around, so they boarded up the area under their porch to keep them out — but in this case, the pups already had been born and so the parents were blocked from their infants on the outside and unable to get in and nurse them. When it was all figured out, it was too late, and the pups perished. :(
A youngster has been given a squirrel by a parent.
Most coyote dens I’ve seen are meticulously hidden from access to people and dogs, at least 100 feet away from pedestrian traffic — off the beaten track. Coyote parents want to keep their pups secret in order to protect them. But some are not hidden very well at all and I really can’t imagine what went wrong with such a den placement. These dens might be placed just 15 feet from a walkway in a park with plenty of foot traffic and plenty of dogs. Even in these less-than-hidden dens, interestingly, the pups are left to themselves most of the daylight hours and much of the evening. The parents come to nurse and feed them: the above video shows a little pup running off excitedly with a prey squirrel brought by a parent — youngsters at this time of the year are still too young to hunt for themselves.
The immediate dugout den/crevice/bramble den itself is a temporary structure and used only for birthing, nursing, and as a hideaway for several months. The dugouts have an opening of about 10″ at their entrances and are a little wider within: they are a little like a long tunnel and I’ve measured some abandoned ones to be around 6′ deep. After several months — the same as with birds’ nests or our own bassinets — these are outgrown and abandoned until the next season. An full-size coyote could enter and hide there, but the whole family as it grows would not be able to.
Beyond the den structure itself, the greater denning area is larger than the size of a football-field. Parents defend this football-field size area and more than 1/4 mile beyond it from dogs. Dogs routinely pursue coyotes and threaten them: coyotes have learned that dogs are their chief enemies in the city. The entire area should be referred to as a denning site, and this whole area should be a no-dogs or leashed-dogs-only area.
To the left, a Mom is keeping an eye on active dogs several hundred feet away. In the middle, a Dad in another territory, snoozing and guarding not far from (but neither close to) his densite. To the right: a dad may approach a dog he feels is threatening with a snarly face and arched back: you’ll need to tighten your leash and do as he asks: move away from the area.
A dad will walk around the denning area, and by the den itself on his patrolling rounds several times a day during daylight hours. Sometimes he’ll snooze nearby, within visual range of the den, but seldom (as far as I have seen) immediately beside the den — he doesn’t want to give the location away. I seldom see Moms in the area, though I know she comes by to nurse the pups — she is able to slither in and out, evading detection, and she comes at night when no people are around. I have seen a mom standing or sitting sentry on a lookout, maybe 100 feet away from her den when a groups of dogs was around. If the dogs were to chase her, she would lead them away from this den site. In contrast to this kind of sentry duty, I saw a mother a few days ago, off alone in a distant and totally different hidden part of her park away from people, dogs, and her own pups, relaxing and seemingly enjoying her solitude — this was about 1/4th mile from her densite, in a fenced-in area. I had to wonder why that fenced-off place was not chosen as a denning area. But it wasn’t.
I tried to think of why the parents spend so much time away from their pups. Of course they need to hunt and patrol the area. But also what comes to mind is what I’ve read about baby deer: they apparently have no, or very little, odor, the better not to attract predators. A parent, of course, would have strong odors. So for example, dogs will pick up on the scent of the adult coyotes and pursue them. Might this be one of the reasons the parents don’t spend a great deal of time with their new pups? I’m just trying to think it through. Having said this, I need to point out that parents do spend plenty of time playing with and cuddling their pups — family time is an important part of their lives.
A furious Papa coyote runs after his pups to push them to safety.
Some coyote parents are more laissez-faire than others in their pup guarding. I just wrote about “running away from home” where the parents are seldom around, and some of the youngsters are wandering between dens during daylight hours. At the other extreme, here’s a short video clip showing a much stricter father who obviously is furious that his youngsters wandered out of the safety limits he imposed on them! This family’s den, BTW, is in a super well hidden location, and hidden under a tangled carpet of ivy in a backyard.
Litters may be moved at any time. Over the last two years, in June, I’ve seen two such moves of two-month-old litters. Youngsters are strong walkers by this stage of their development which may be a contributing factor. They may be moved because of bugs, or because their parents have become aware that their den is no longer secret — it’s been discovered by people or dogs who have become more omnipresent, or in one case, within a PUC Water Reservoir where construction was beginning AND many of the under-the-fence escape routes which the coyotes had been using were plugged up. The coyotes must have felt a need to get out before all entry/exits were boarded up.
Gathering her youngsters for a move
The new locations have been between 500 and 1500 feet (1/10th to 1/4th of a mile) from the original den. This video shows a mother gathering her youngsters together for such a move which took place at 9:00 am: You can see that the youngsters are very excited about this event — not so different from our own families before a trip! Their new den must not be far since a pup has been spotted recently back in this area.
What coyote predators might invade a densite here in San Francisco? Of course, the pups as pups have to be differentiated from the adults who have very few predators except cars in urban areas, though larger dogs chasing them cause a lot of leg injuries. Domestic dogs would be the primary threat to coyote pups — this is why dogs are *messaged* by parent coyotes within a fourth of a mile from their dens. The coyote communication of necessity must be intense if the dog is going to get the message: it involves an arched back, snarly face, tongue sticking out and wagging, and may include a number of darts and retreats and even a nip to the haunches or rear end of the dog — cattle-dog fashion — to get the dog to leave the area if the dog didn’t respond to the original message. Small dogs are as much of a threat as larger dogs — any carnivore is a threat that has the potential to grab a small pup.
In addition to dogs, there are raccoons in most denning areas. It seems a coyote pup might be as vulnerable to raccoons as are domestic kittens, which raccoons are known to capture as prey. And then there are the owls which have been hovering right above some of the dens I’m keeping track of. Very young pups the size of kittens are a perfect size for an owl to snatch up, yet pups are allowed by their parents to roam free during the hours when owls are most likely to capture one. I’ve never seen it happen, I’m just listing it as a potential possibility.
Threats to small pups include dogs running loose, raccoons, owls.
The greatest other intruders to denning areas, besides dogs and their walkers, are photographers with absolutely no sensitivity for the animals, including iPhone photographers who feel no compunction about walking right up to a resting coyote, as close as they can to snap a shot — most coyotes will flee, but some have become inured to this human behavior which erodes their innate wariness. It still produces stress. Fortunately, I’m hearing more and more walkers telling these folks to please leave the coyotes alone.
A week ago, my eyes popped wide open when I saw a photographer stationed and hovering right at a densite, waiting for them to appear, and I saw him there again, and again. Several large signs indicated this was a den area, yet the photographer seemed oblivious to the stress he was imposing by statically stationing himself where he was. And then when Dad coyote came around on his regular rounds, I saw him kicking dirt in anger when pursued by this same photographer — the coyote was obviously distressed about the situation in his denning area, and the photographer was totally indifferent to it and denied the coyote was reacting angrily to him.
One’s photos shouldn’t take precedence over the well-being of the coyotes, especially during denning season. Please everyone, give the coyotes space and walk away from them! If you have to be a paparazzi, do so at a distance where they won’t feel a need to react in any way to you — you’ve intruded if you cause them to alter their behavior in any way at all, including fleeing from you!!
About My Site and Me: This website reflects my almost 20 years of intense, careful, and dedicated field-work — empirical observations — all photo-documented without interfering or changing coyotes’ behaviors. Be welcome here, enjoy, and learn! I am a self-taught naturalist and independent coyote researcher.
Coyotes reappeared in San Francisco in 2002 after many years of absence, and people are still in the dark about them. This site is to help bring light to their behavior and offer simple guidelines for easy coexistence.
My information comes from my own first-hand observations of our very own coyotes here in San Francisco. What I’m presenting to you is the reality of their everyday individual lives. They have not been studied or observed so thoroughly by anyone else. Mine is not generic information, nor second-hand.
Note that none of the coyotes I document and photograph is “anonymous” to me: I know (or knew) each one of them, and can tell you about their personalities, histories, and their family situations. There have been over 100 of them, distributed among over twenty families, all in San Francisco. Images and true stories have the power to raise awareness and change perspective.
