Urban Coyotes: Protecting Pets
Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program
If you live in an area that used to be coyote habitat –chances are it still is.
The coyotes are here to stay. Cities and private individuals – on a regular basis – try to remove the coyotes from an area. But the thing is – they are incredibly adaptable.
Brett Johnson is an urban wildlife biologist in Dallas County.
They can make a better living in an urban area than they can out in the country. There are more food resources available.
Such as bird seed with corn, and especially pet food left outdoors. The latter could put your pet at risk. Brett uses cats as an example.
The coyotes come in a few times and end up eating the cat food. Somewhere down the road, they come in and find the cat eating the cat food. How do most canines react when they find something else eating their food? At that point in time you may have just entered the cat as a prey species for the coyote when they realize, ‘Oh. They’re not that hard to kill.’
You control whether coyotes keep a safe distance or become a nuisance.
Do not let the coyotes become comfortable hanging around human inhabited areas; don’t make pets accessible to the coyotes; and overall, don’t make your living area attractive to the coyotes.
That’s our show…we had help today from Sarah Bibbs…our show is supported by the Sport Fish and Wildlife Restoration program…which is funded by your purchase of fishing and hunting equipment and motor boat fuels…
For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti
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