Encounters with coyotes are becoming more common as residential areas overlap with natural habitats. These adaptable canids are drawn into suburban and urban environments by available food and shelter, leading to conflicts with humans and pets. Managing a coyote presence near your home requires a multi-faceted approach centered on safe, humane, and preventative strategies. The goal is to condition coyotes to perceive human spaces as undesirable and risky, encouraging them to move on without resorting to lethal measures.
Eliminating Attractants on Your Property
The foundational step in humane coyote management is removing the unintentional subsidies that encourage their presence. Coyotes are opportunistic foragers, and removing easy food sources significantly reduces repeat visits. Consistent sanitation practices make your property uninteresting to these animals. All outdoor food sources must be secured, including pet food left in bowls. If you feed pets outside, remove the remaining food immediately after the animal finishes eating.
Garbage and compost piles are primary coyote attractants, so securing them is necessary. Trash containers should have locking or tightly fitting lids, and storing them indoors or in a secure shed until collection is best practice. Fallen fruit must be regularly picked up, and bird feeder areas should be kept clean. Spilled seeds attract rodents, which are a prey source for coyotes.
Coyotes also seek out safe places for shelter and denning. Discourage them from settling near your home by removing dense brush, wood piles, or overgrown areas that provide cover. Seal off access points beneath decks, sheds, or porches with sturdy wire mesh. These dark, protected spaces are often chosen as den sites for raising young.
Non-Lethal Hazing and Deterrence Techniques
Hazing is the active process of frightening a coyote to restore its natural fear of humans, which is often lost when they become habituated to residential areas. This method relies on an aggressive response to teach the animal that approaching people or property is unpleasant. The intensity of the hazing should increase until the coyote retreats completely; never run away from the animal.
When encountering a coyote, immediately make yourself look large by standing tall and waving your arms. Simultaneously, yell or shout authoritative commands, such as “Go away, coyote!”. If the coyote does not leave, approach it while maintaining eye contact to increase the pressure. Continue hazing until the animal has entirely left the area.
Use a variety of noisemakers and projectiles to prevent the coyote from becoming accustomed to a single stimulus. Effective tools include air horns, whistles, or homemade “shaker” cans filled with pennies or marbles. You can also throw small objects like sticks, tennis balls, or clumps of dirt toward the animal to startle it without causing injury.
Additional deterrents reinforce the negative experience, especially when a coyote is in the yard. Spraying the animal with a garden hose or a water gun filled with plain or vinegar-infused water is an effective, harmless tactic. Motion-activated devices, such as lights or sprinklers, also provide an unpredictable and startling stimulus when the coyote enters the property at night.
Securing Pets and Property with Physical Barriers
Structural barriers create a physical separation that prevents coyotes from accessing vulnerable areas and targets like pets or small livestock. Coyotes are agile climbers and determined diggers, so perimeter defense must address both vertical and subterranean abilities. A properly designed fence is a significant element of a long-term management strategy.
A fence intended to exclude coyotes should be at least six feet high, though eight feet offers greater security against their jumping ability. To prevent burrowing, the fence must extend underground with an apron or digging barrier. This is achieved by burying galvanized wire mesh at least 12 inches deep and bending it outward at a 90-degree angle to form an L-footing.
To deter climbing, install “coyote rollers” along the top edge of an existing fence. These cylindrical devices prevent the coyote from gaining a solid foothold to pull itself over the barrier. Gates must also be secured to eliminate the vulnerable gap at the bottom that coyotes often exploit.
The most effective protection for pets is constant supervision and confinement, regardless of fencing. Small dogs and cats should never be left outdoors unattended, especially during dawn and dusk when coyotes are most active. Keeping cats indoors permanently and walking dogs on a short leash, six feet or less, prevents them from becoming easy targets.
Understanding Legal Regulations and Professional Removal
While non-lethal methods are preferred, professional intervention is necessary when a coyote shows a lack of fear or exhibits sickness. Before considering any form of lethal control or trapping, investigate the specific laws governing wildlife removal in your area. Regulations vary significantly by state, county, and municipality, covering hunting seasons and the use of traps.
Local ordinances may prohibit the discharge of firearms, making shooting impractical or illegal in many residential settings. If a coyote appears injured, diseased, or is behaving aggressively toward people, immediately contact your local Animal Control or the state’s Fish and Wildlife agency. These authorities assess the situation and determine the appropriate response, which may involve a licensed professional trapper.
In some jurisdictions, a Depredation Permit may be required to legally remove a nuisance coyote outside of a general hunting season. This process ensures that lethal control is used only as a last resort and often requires working with a licensed wildlife control operator. Relocation is rarely permitted, as it simply transfers the problem to a new area.