Coyotes (Canis latrans) are prevalent throughout the Bay Area, staying mostly in the hills, but are becoming a common sight in urban environments. Urban sprawl and habitat encroachment are the main reasons behind increased wild animal sightings and challenges. The loss of open space and natural habitat has decreased their territories. A coyote’s weight ranges from 20-50 pounds, they stand 23-26 inches tall, and can grow up to 52 inches in length. Coyotes can either live as pairs, larger family units, or even solo during non-breeding seasons.

Females give birth to their offspring in April or May after a 60-63 day gestation period. The litter size is approximately four to six pups, who will stay in the den for up to 10 weeks. The pups will be fully weaned around the eight week mark, which is when they will start consuming food that is brought back to their den by the mother, or member of the same family unit. Common food items for young pups are rodents, birds, rabbits and hares. Once the pups leave the den they learn how to hunt and forage for food.

Coyotes are predators who play an integral role in the environment. Omnivorous by nature, coyotes feed on a wide variety of mammals, insects and fruit, although small rodents make up the vast majority of their diet. Their intelligence and opportunistic feeding habits allow coyotes to adapt and survive, but these characteristics also put them in conflict with humans.

It’s natural for coyotes to fear humans. It’s also natural for them to adapt to new areas and use their intelligence to determine what is safe and what’s not. Using instinct and survival skills, coyotes have learned just how close they can get to our own living spaces, find what they need to live, and stay safe without appearing fearful of humans. Unsecured garbage, unfenced gardens, low shrubs and vines providing shelter for small rodents, and unattended domestic animals can be interpreted as an open invitation for coyotes to take what they need.

There have been ongoing attempts to control the coyote population by lethal means. The coyote’s success appears to be directly related to these fatal tries to manipulate its population. As with many wild species, coyote populations are naturally regulated by available food and habitat. Lethal control, however, can disrupt the family unit’s hierarchy, causing members to disperse, allowing more coyotes to reproduce, and encourages larger litter sizes because of decreased competition for food and habitat.

Coyotes are not considered a disease threat. Although they are a potential rabies vector, outbreaks of rabies in coyotes are rare in the Bay Area, and they are not commonly implicated in the transmission of the disease to humans or domestic animals.