by Calvin Canis
With the days getting warmer and longer, and the snow gone, we can expect to see more of our coyotes while enjoying our parks.
Coyotes here can be expected to weigh 20 to 40 lb when fully grown. While they might live six to eight years in the wild, that can vary with the amount of good food available to them, the competition for food and the prevalence of mange or other diseases in their population.
The coyotes had their mating season in February and March (when they are more aggressive towards dogs) and are now having their pups. At this time of year, you might see parents carrying pups to a new, cleaner den – keep dogs away from them. Like other wild animals, they conserve their energy needed to hunt for food. They adapt their schedules to take advantage of times of day when different foods can be had. While you could see them at any time of day, they are most active between dusk and dawn.
Coyotes will use both wildlife trails and manmade pathways when hunting. They are smart, fast, and very adaptable, and they will eat a wide variety of things. Their scats have been found to contain mostly rodents – mice, voles, rabbits, squirrels, birds (gophers and even insects in the summer). However, they also eat grouse, geese, or ducks (when available) grasses and (where humans live) pet food or other food left outside, food found in garbage, crab apples and other fallen fruit. Wandering cats or unattended small dogs could also be on the menu – even dog poop, which contains nutrient from the food that dogs eat. While nursing pups, their diet includes bark from woody plants.
When food is scarce elsewhere, coyotes tend to come into our neighbourhoods at night, when there is less chance of encountering humans.
If you see them returning to your neighbourhood, it is because shelter or easy meals are expected there. For the safety of our pets and small children, this should be discouraged, and you should speak with your neighbours about reducing the things that attract them – like making sure that animals can’t get into your garbage bins.
Never feed coyotes. That habituates them to us and inevitably leads to unsafe situations that may result in human injury or the death of the animal.
If they are going into your back yard, make sure to keep the fencing in good repair and use wire mesh where needed to prevent their entry. Keep your barbeques and areas around bird feeders clean.
Coyotes play an important role in our ecosystem, by helping control the populations of rodents.
Let’s enjoy seeing them from a distance, when we encounter them, and avoid habituating them to humans, which is bad for both people and the coyotes.
