Here are some myths I’ve been writing about for some time, at last appearing in newsprint!
For more, go to: https://sfstandard.com/community/4-myths-about-sf-coyotes-debunked/
Hunters may no longer be dictating Wildlife Policy
09 Nov 2022 12 Comments
in managing wildlife, newsprint, Uncategorized
A new philosophy is being established for how our country’s wildlife is being managed. Hunters and the NRA have always had a monopoly on decision making in this arena. But this is now changing, as explained in this article below. More environmentalists and non-hunters are entering the controversial conversation, and they want to rely on nature, in all of its glory, to balance itself more naturally, rather than massively killing predators. Please add your voice and support to the numerous organizations listed which are opposed to “managing” wildlife mostly for the benefit of hunters. I’m posting this as a follow-up to Walkaboutlou’s article on slaughter hunting. Press the long link below the photo to read the article which was published in Outdoorlife.
Response to The Chronicle’s “An infamous S.F. coyote named Carl”
04 Oct 2022 6 Comments
in false news, misinformation, newsprint, San Francisco Animal Care and Control
https://www.sfchronicle.com/sf/articleComments/sf-carl-coyote-17484087.php
There is a lot of misinformation, speculation, and sensationalism in this article. The sad part is that a lot of it is supplied by our ACC and by an organization that does not know our San Francisco coyotes first-hand: Why would they make such incindiary statements? I need more room to comment than allowed in the comments section, so I’ve posted my comment here:
1) The article states: “To some wildlife experts, the warning is more urgent than ever, since the death of an alpha male coyote like Carl may spur a breeding frenzy”. My response: I’ve read such possibilities in academic studies, but the alpha male’s death by gunshot, over a year ago did no such thing. A new male soon took the killed coyote’s place, and indeed both the alpha female and her daughter became mothers together on this one territory for just this one breeding season. AND THAT IS THE END OF THE DOUBLE FAMILY. That alpha male has left and all I see these days is the daughter and a male who may be her brother — these are younger coyotes who were born on and grew up on the territory and are now taking it over as the reigning alphas. Again, we have a stable pair in the eastern part of the park and this is due to their territoriality. With more food available, such as might happen with a big increase in feeding, what might happen is that the territories could shrink in size so that eventually we might have more and smaller territories. Right now we have about 20 territories. But it will not spur a breeding frenzy. Coyotes die and are replaced as a normal and continuing life process.
2) When the alpha male approached the child — note that the child was not touched, was not “attacked” — he was protecting his denning area. ALL alpha males and females protect their denning areas. The denning area, with three month old pups was right there. NO signs were up about a den. I offered to docent, hand out flyers and put up more signs, but no one wanted to respond to me. It’s the fault of the city more than anything else for not educating the public and putting up prominent and visible signs: they should have known about this very natural denning behavior and prepared the public for it. The year before, the city cordoned off a section of the botanical garden that included a den; but they did nothing of the sort in 2021.
3) Contrary to what the article states, the killed alpha coyote’s mate did not move into Corona Heights. She remained and remains in the Lake Merced area with a new mate. Rather, the killed alpha coyote’s SON has continued as the new Corona Heights alpha male while his dad, before being killed, moved to the Botanical Garden. Please note that Carl himself, when he moved into the Botanical Garden of Golden Gate Park, took the place of the previous alpha male there who probably died. This is how it works: vacancies are filled.
4) The article states: “This rapid cycle of denning and procreating . . .” — My response: WHAT is this supposed to mean? There is NO rapid cycle of denning and procreating. Litters are born just ONCE a year. The first litter we’ve had at Corona Heights after two years of no pups was this year: two pups were born this year. This is normal. There is absolutely NO “rapid cycle of denning and procreating” occurring at Corona. Whoever is supplying this information doesn’t know what they are talking about. Carl’s litter in 2021 — he was killed when they were 3 months old — was seven, which is the upper limit in size for a litter, but most of the pups didn’t survive. The information and language in the Chronicle article is irresponsible and provocative.
5) The article states: “Some have suggested that one of Carl’s sons successfully “seduced” the dead father’s girlfriend. And coyotes are constantly migrating into the city, probably roaming from the Marin Headlands and crossing the Golden Gate Bridge.” My response: Again, there is absolutely no truth to either of these statements. Carl’s son who was two years old last year paired up with a 1 year old most likely from Glen Canyon. They did not have pups last year — there were no pups at Corona last year or the year before. They had pups for the first time ever this year: they had two pups. And for the second statement, please tell me which coyotes have migrated into the city from Marin — I don’t believe there are any.
6) The best way to avoid encounters with coyotes is to stay away from them, especially if you have a dog. Coyotes are very defensive against dogs who constantly go after them: they’ve been taught to be this way by aggressive dogs who go after them, chase them. Small dogs and children must be kept away from coyotes: this means you have to be vigilant if you are in a coyote area: all coyote areas should have signs saying this. If you start hazing — scaring off — coyotes indiscriminately, they eventually get used to it. Therefore, they should be hazed or scared away only when they are actually approaching your dog who hopefully is leashed and next to you.
7) The “stakeout” talked about in the article by Captain Amy Corso of ACC was set up by me. I did all the work. She had the badge and gave the ticket. I found the feeder, I found where the food was being left, I found the time the food was being left, and I found where the Captain could hide. ACC is not very good at giving credit where credit is due.
8) Coyotes don’t “drift through” San Francisco, as ACC states in the article. We have a stable situation of families on territories and very few transients. The population does not peak in September, in fact, that’s when it diminishes as the yearlings begin to disperse. Peak of population is right after the pups are born in April.
9) The article states: “Brace for what could be an eventful mating season”. My response: It sounds like sensationalism to me. WHERE does this information come from?
10) OF COURSE a new male entered Carl’s territory — vacated niches are always filled. The new male in Corona happened to be Carl’s son who actually grew up there. He filled Carl’s empty spot. This is normal behavior: I’ve seen it in all the parks. After Carl was killed, a new male replaced him in Golden Gate Park, having moved there from Glen Canyon.
Attacker or Attacked?
21 Aug 2022 6 Comments
in "demand" behavior, coyotes and human behavior, Feeding, newsprint
Attacks by coyotes on humans indeed have occurred, so I don’t want to belittle these, but it should be noted that they are rare — exceedingly rare — and when they have occurred, they seem to all be related to feeding coyotes. This week a story about an ultramarathoner attacked by a coyote went viral nationally. The response to that story was splashed all over the internet, and on social exchange sites, where, by the way, because of how the story changed, the NextDoor posting was eventually removed by the author. I’ve jotted down some of my thoughts and observations about it.
One of the responses to the ultramarathoner “attack” report by many who fear coyotes was that, “it’s time to cull the coyotes here in SF.” I wish people understood that the number of coyotes has nothing to do with the marathoner’s situation. The “encounter” occurred on the Marin side of the bridge, for one thing. If there was only this one coyote in all the world, an encounter with some of the reported elements could have happened. The little truth we’ve found in the story is likely due to feeding coyotes. What apparently could have attracted a coyote is the crackling of the power bar wrapper. The reported event occurred in an area where feeding of coyotes is rampant. Before people feed coyotes they take the food out of it’s mostly crackling wrapper — imagine a potato chip bag or even a McDonald’s burger bag — and then feed the coyote. Think of Pavlov. Everytime the coyote with this training hears that noise, he’s been getting food from willing feeders. Now, possibly, the coyote hears that sound and approaches. I know a NatGeo photographer who learned this: he could instantly get an animal’s attention by crackling a potato chip bag — something I adamantly discouraged. This is a scenario that could have occurred. Lesley Sampson of CoyoteWatchCanada reminds me that even without the wrapper noise, “food becomes the “reward” for advancing closer to humans”: repeatedly fed coyotes have been taught to approach.
Coyotes who are fed regularly by someone also often display “demand” behavior: they become demanding when the food isn’t forthcoming quickly — it’s a very unusual behavior displayed by a very few coyotes who have been hand fed.
By the way, this man was running, he was not on a bike as reported by some folks, the bleeding on his face was from a fall, not a bite as originally posted — he was not bitten. As far as I have read, he wasn’t attacked at all, but possibly bumped — and I even question this — as the coyote went for the food he had been trained to expect. Three AM is when coyotes are normally out and active.
It’s important to note that Karnazes’ extreme initial report, as seen in this Twitter photo to the left, and his revised report — he revised his story when he was questioned by people who know coyote behavior — depict coyote behavior that is totally out of the ordinary, extraordinarily so. This deceptive photo was posted by him on Twitter with the words, “Animal Attack Beware” and “I’ve been attacked by a shark and now a coyote”. Coyotes do approach challenging dogs, but seldom do they approach people unless they’ve been trained to do so through feeding, and even then they remain hugely wary. I doubt if the coyote ever even touched him. He tripped and fell and bloodied himself doing so, then he posted this bloodied picture of himself saying he was attacked. Might he have been scared? Scared people often fill in details to justify and explain their fears.
I’ve personally seen instance after instance of what has been later reported as an “attack” which in fact was a dog allowed to get too close to a coyote, often while lunging and barking ferociously at the coyote, and then the coyote reacting with a snarl, bared teeth, and hackles up without running off and possibly even following the dog and owner afterwards. The owner thinks their dog’s activity should scare the coyote off, but in fact it causes a defensive reaction in the coyote which is reported as an “attack”. Such an encounter can be kept from escalating and curtailed by quieting and calming the dog while by immediately walking away from the coyote, but often the scared owner enhances their story calling the incident a direct attack, which it was not.
It occurred to me that he even might have posted the story facetiously, just to add some spice to his running, not knowing how seriously everyone would take him. I say this because he himself, apparently, was surprised at the coverage and then changed the story.
https://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/coyote-experts-respond-to-karnazes-attack-17379330.php When all was said and done, had this actually been an “attack” on a human? Or might the whole report and sensationalism thereby engendered, be construed as an attack on coyotes? Food for thought.
More of the same today: I followed a coyote from far behind for about 1/4 mile. Way down the street was a woman walking her labradoodle. As the coyote got closer to her, I was about to call out for her to be aware, but she noticed the coyote just then and hurried across the street. This was the best thing to do. But she should have walked on. Instead she created a huge commotion and started yelling “scat, scat”, which had the sole effect of attracting the coyote’s attention, so the coyote stopped and watched from across the street before continuing her trot on down the street. The woman turned to me and told me that the coyote had been “stalking” her from way up the street. I said this wasn’t true — that I had been watching the coyote who was minding her own business and just happened to be walking down the same street as the woman and her dog. The woman screamed at me that I wasn’t there so how would I know. The fact is that I WAS there and saw what went on. This kind of altered reporting goes on all the time.
Local Naturalist Studies Coyotes Living Amongst Sunset Reservoir Solar Panels, by Kelley Omran of the SF PUC
29 Jun 2021 Leave a comment
in newsprint, PUC Newsletter, reservoirs of San Francisco, solar panels
Kelley Omran was fascinated when she heard about the coyotes amongst the PUC’s reservoir solar panels which I’m studying. She contacted me for an interview with really interesting questions for the SF Public Utilities Commission’s website newsletter which came out today. Here’s the article: https://sfpucnewsroom.com/community/coyotes-sunset-reservoir-solar-panels/. And the whole newsletter, if you want context, can be accessed here: https://sfpucnewsroom.com.
Thank you, Kelley! The interview was lots of fun, and your article is fantastic!! :))
How Coyotes Conquered American Cities, by William Poor
07 Apr 2020 1 Comment
in coexisting with coyotes, coyote behavior, documentary, newsprint
This short video clip is well done. That I appear in it makes it extra special, though my contribution is limited to just my advocacy work and includes none of my fieldwork or behavioral studies, nor the DNA project I’m working on.
Making Peace With Coyotes, by Tripp Robbins
07 Mar 2020 2 Comments
in coexisting with coyotes, coyote behavior, newsprint
More and more articles about coyotes are appearing which give a more rounded view of coyotes along with useful guidelines for coexistence. These are replacing the sensationalist and fear-provoking writeups which predominated only a few years ago. Thank you, Tripp Robbins and Half-Moon Bay Review for your contribution in this direction! [Press image to the left to read the article, or use the embedded version below]
[*One clarification: I’ve actually been studying/documenting many more than just one coyote family here in San Francisco over the last 13 years. It’s been as high as 11 locations and as many as seven families at one time. I’m limiting myself to four families in-depth these days, and a simple “check-in” with the others: if I see something exciting occurring in those where I simply check-in, I dive in deeper there.]
San Francisco’s Coyotes are Back, and They are Thriving, by Bianca Taylor [PODCAST]
20 Feb 2020 4 Comments
in coyotes in san francisco, Janet Kessler, newsprint, podcast
Page & Podcast: https://www.kqed.org/news/11799871/bay-curious-coyotes
[Clarification to the audio: Coyote numbers ‘on the family claimed territories I have been observing’ have remained stable over the past 13 years. This qualification was cut from the audio (at about 6:17), but it’s in the text version. Please know that since 2007, there indeed has been a gradual increase (an incremental increase, not a recent sudden explosion) in their numbers as they repopulated the area they had been purged from, beginning in 2002.]
‘Tis The Season Of Sharing – Let’s Share The Earth With Coyotes, by Katherine Howard
22 Dec 2019 3 Comments
in coexisting with coyotes, coyote behavior, newsprint
This write-up by Kathy Howard — perfectly timed and appropriately named for the season — appears in the December issue of the Castro Courrier. Kathy has taken information about coyote family life from my recent presentation at the Peninsula Humane Society/SPCA and filtered it into her own words in a fun and informative way. Enjoy! Happy Holidays to everyone! [Digital version in the CastroCourier. It will appear in the WestSideObserver soon].
Press the above image to continue reading (the linked paper can be enlarged by pressing the “+” button).
The Need for Wildness, by Tara Lohan
12 Jul 2019 Leave a comment
in coexisting with coyotes, Janet Kessler, newsprint, San Francisco as Habitat, San Francisco Coyote Management
Press the above image or this link to read on: https://therevelator.org/coyotes-san-francisco/
The Woman Who Follows Urban Coyotes, by Vivian Ho for The Guardian
26 Feb 2019 6 Comments
Press the above image to keep reading in The Guardian, or press HERE.
Neighbors In The Night, by Vanitha Sankaran at Pacifica Magazine
02 Nov 2018 7 Comments
in newsprint Tags: coyotes, janet kessler, Pacifica Magazine, Vanitha Sankaran
When asked about the personality of coyotes, Kessler lights up. “Your average coyote is intelligent, curious, playful, protective, adventurous, cunning, independent, self-reliant, has family values and a frontier spirit, and strong individuality. Those are the same rugged frontier characteristics we value in ourselves.”
Writer Vanitha Sankaran from Pacifica Magazine recently contacted me requesting an interview and photos of coyotes for an article she wanted to do. Coyotes were being sighted more frequently in Pacifica, so it was an opportune time to get some information out to the public. I was, of course, happy to do this.
Here is her article, capturing how and why my passion began and grew as I discovered the extent of individual coyote personalities and the profusion of family interactive behaviors, along with the simplest basic guidelines for coexistence. Reproduction of the photos appear a little grainy in these online versions, but that several depict strong social interactions is very clear.
Hopefully the article will help open the door to recognizing that there are commonalities between species vs. “denying these similarities because we’ve been told that animals couldn’t possibly have qualities or social drives that humans have”. Recognizing a kind of parallelism will help you relate to them better, and help you possibly appreciate who they really are.
Feedback I’ve been getting: The writeup is fun and informative! :)) I’ve included the above embedded copy of the article from Pacifica’s website, and a link to a PDF version, below, which might be easier to read.
PDF version: P_NOV2018-web
Sacramento Bee Writes A Profile About Me
17 Jul 2017 2 Comments
in coexisting with coyotes, Janet Kessler, newsprint
Continue reading here: http://www.sacbee.com/news/state/california/article161489933.html
How To Coexist With Wild Coyotes — From SF’s Own ‘Coyote Whisperer’ — by Alisa Scerrato
21 Feb 2017 Leave a comment
in coexisting with coyotes, newsprint
This article by Alisa Scerrato is full of information about coexisting with our urban wild coyotes. Press here to be taken to the article in Hoodline, an online journal covering the news in all of our San Francisco neighborhoods: http://hoodline.com/2017/02/how-to-coexist-with-wild-coyotes-from-sf-s-own-coyote-whisperer
Let’s Applaud ABC7 News and Elissa Harrington!
08 Dec 2016 Leave a comment
in coyotes in the news, human behavior, newsprint
Finally, a station, in San Francisco, the city of Saint Francis, the saint who cared so much about animals, has aired a coyote report from the right perspective, not capitalizing on negativity towards coyotes, fear-mongering, danger or aggression. Thank you, ABC7 and Elissa Harrington!!
The story originated from an article I wrote for a community news blog about the perils of feeding and befriending their local coyote. It was supposed to be an educational and advisory piece for the local residents only. So, initially, I declined an interview from the news station, letting them know that my priority was the coyote — we didn’t want to imperil her any more than she already was with harmful news about her. The next day ABC called me again, and when I repeated my concerns, they agreed to interview me off-site and more generally about guidelines and advice. I hadn’t known that my interview would be just part of the news spot and that the news spot would actually zero-in on this coyote.
Although the coyote was sensationalized in the news clip, there was good that came of it. The clear message was that this coyote is loved and the residents don’t want her hurt. Neighbors are concerned for her well-being and safety. This was not your run-of-the-mill anti-coyote story. Yay!!
The gist of the story was that we humans were causing unintentional problems and harm here by our behaviors of feeding and attempts at befriending. Human “kindness” in this case is actually misguided and may end up killing the coyote who is now in the streets looking for the rewards she’s been trained to expect from car windows and people. Take away is: Please, don’t ever feed coyotes, don’t try to be friendly or commune with them, keep your distance and walk away from them always, especially if you have a dog. We need to respect, honor and love her *wildness*, and the way to do that is to give her the cold shoulder.
Thank you ABC7 News and Elissa Harrington for presenting the right perspective and for getting the guidelines out!! [Also see SFGate]
Coyote Yipps 
