California Department of Fish and Game spokesperson Lorna Bernard notes
that much of the Golden State is prime habitat for the opportunistic
animals.
"They are scavengers as well as hunters, and they are very smart," she
said. "When they learn that people aren't a danger to them, they become
very brazen."
"We've had quite a few attacks," she continued, "but people don't typically get seriously hurt."
In California there has only been one documented human death attributed a
coyote attack. The incident occurred about two decades ago, when a
coyote killed a young girl in Glendale.
Timm and Baker list some 35 other coyote attacks over the past three
decades on small children that could have been fatal, had an adult not
intervened.
Eastern Coyotes Flex Muscle
Close human-coyote encounters are not restricted to California. In New
York State, wildlife biologist Gordon Batcheller studies coyotes from
his post at the state's Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
He said coyotes are "becoming habituated to humans and human environments, and adapting their behavior to ours."
From the coyotes' perspective, this human environment "is a 'subsidized
environment,' meaning it provides an artificially high amount of foods
with an unnatural absence of threats," Batcheller said. "These adaptable
animals take quick advantage of these unnatural environments."
At Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, wildlife biologist Paul
Curtis and his team are beginning a five-year study of coyote ecology
and behavior, funded in part by the state's DEC.
"The goal of the project is to look at changes in both coyote and human
behavior that may be leading to more conflicts and complaints," Curtis
said.
New York DEC officials estimate that 20,000 to 30,000 coyotes live in the state.
Curtis describes a progression of behavior in so-called problem coyote
areas. First, the generally reclusive animals are increasingly spotted
in daylight hours. Next, pets begin to vanish from yards and are even
snatched off leashes by coyotes.
"That's the last stage before a human attack," Curtis said. "And we're
at that stage in New York now." New York wildlife officials hope to head
off such conflicts before a serious attack or death occurs.
Most coyotes, even those living near humans, are seldom seen and are
reclusive. But dealing with human-adjusted animals is a management
challenge.
"It appears to be a learned behavior," Curtis noted. "Certain animals
seem more adapted to an urban environment. They catch a few cats and
say, Hey there is abundant food here."
Animal control officers are experimenting with ways to reintroduce fear
of humans in coyotes that have lost it. Many states have open season on
coyote hunting. But the practice is controversial and often impractical
in suburban and urban areas, where most problems occur.
Other non-lethal methods, including rubber buckshot and fencing, have met with mixed results.
"If they persist in aggressive behavior, the ultimate solution would
probably be to remove problem animals," Curtis said. "Nobody is happy
about that."
Human Causes?
Meanwhile, Timm's data suggest that certain areas seem more predisposed to coyote-human conflicts.
"The data on pet losses in recent years is not very different in the
states of Texas and California," the University of California wildlife
specialist said. "Yet there have been few, if any, human attacks [by
coyotes] in Texas."
No one is certain what might account for the discrepancy.
"We're speculating at this point, but something is different about
southern California, and in many cases we think that intentional feeding
in neighborhoods is a factor," Timm said. "It's probably more typical
than we know."
"People in Texas don't have a kind of Disney attitude about animals," he
added. "There may be more of that rancher mentality, where everybody
recognizes that we don't want [coyotes] in the neighborhood."
Scientists stress that respect for animals, especially predators such as coyotes, means keeping them wild.
"Don't feed them, either purposely or inadvertently, and stay away from
animals that show no natural fear," Batcheller, the New York wildlife
biologist, cautioned. "Like other wildlife, coyotes should be enjoyed
and appreciated, but from a distance. It does this species no good to
encourage abnormal behaviors."
As Curtis, the Cornell wildlife biologist, noted, "Hearing [coyotes]
howling in the woods at night is a wonderful thing. And that's where we
want to keep them—in the woods, away from people."
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