Coyotes

Coyotes are found throughout Virginia, including in urban and suburban areas. They are primarily nocturnal, meaning they come out mostly at night; however just seeing them during the day is not a sign of rabies. They are commonly seen during the day in urban and suburban areas and are usually attracted there by a food source or an easily accessed area to make a den such as under porches/decks, crawl spaces or out-buildings. The best way to prevent them from becoming a problem is to not give them a reason to come near your home. Keep reading to get more tips.

Preventing Conflicts

Avoiding potential coyote conflicts requires that you become aware of coyote behavior in your area and take the necessary preventative measures to keep them from being attracted to your property. Here are some ways to reduce the chance of having a coyote attracted to your property.

• If you are feeding wildlife, stop. This will cause them to lose their natural fear of humans.
• Keep trash inside until the morning of trash pick-up or place trash in an animal proof container, such as a metal trashcan with latches on the lids.
• Do not leave pet food outside; keep pet feeding areas clean.
• Remove bird feeders when problem species have been seen around them.
• Close up all openings under and into your buildings. Animals look for places to den and raise their young—don’t give them that opportunity.
• Clear fallen fruit from around trees.
• Keep brushy areas in your yard cut down to prevent cover for coyotes.
• Keep small pets inside and on a leash when outside; they may be viewed by a coyote as prey. Larger dogs are viewed as a threat particularly from January to June while mating and birthing pups.
• Pass along this information to your neighbors. If anyone in the neighborhood is feeding wildlife directly, or indirectly, it can cause trouble for everybody.
• Install coyote proof fencing to protect unsupervised pets.

If these techniques do not solve the problem, you can contact a licensed trapper or a critter removal service, which you can find in your local phone directory. There is no state bounty for coyotes; contact your county administrator’s office to see if there is a local bounty. It is illegal in the Commonwealth of Virginia to trap and relocate an animal to another area.

To speak with a wildlife biologist about problems with coyotes, please call the Virginia Wildlife Conflict Helpline: 1-855-571-9003 or email at vawildlifeconflict@usda.gov

Please contact your local health department if animal exhibits signs of rabies such as stumbling, foaming at the mouth or aggression.

Benefits of Coyotes

Although frequently unwelcome by people, coyotes can provide benefits to all communities. Coyotes eat rats and other destructive rodents, as well as rabbits and groundhogs that munch on flowers and gardens. They also prey upon fawns in overpopulated deer herds and help control Canada geese that wreak havoc on golf courses and baseball fields. Research has even shown that coyotes reduce the presence of free roaming and feral cats in urban natural areas, thereby increasing songbird nesting success.

An aggressive coyote should never be welcome anywhere in Virginia, but most coyotes do their best to avoid humans and seldom cause issues. Developing a better understanding of coyote ecology and behavior helps reduce coyote conflicts and increases chances of successful coexistence.

 

For a downloadable and printable version of this information about resolving human-coyote conflicts: Living with Coyotes Near Your Home in Virginia Brochure (.zip).