<p>Inner suburb of Detroit - in the last few years a problem has arisen with coyotes. They have attacked more than a few dogs. In my 50+ years of living here, this is the first time this has come up. It’s not like we are in a developing area and are infringing on their range. The problem may be that we are adjacent to an area in Detroit that is basically becoming empty, with most houses demolished and block after block with only a few homes. We are being told that they can jump the typical backyard chainlink fence without a problem. They seem to be in hiding during the day at a few of the local golf courses.</p>
<p>Question - how do you protect yourself and your dog when you are out for a walk? They don’t seem to be too skittish, if the local news reports are reliable. I make sure I have my cell phone turned on, but would an air horn scare them off? I am sure my neighbors would love an early morning blast of an air horn.</p>
<p>We have lots of coyotes around here and I frequently see them in the field next to me and in my driveway, even during the day, and can hear them howling away there at night. I and my neighbors have also lost cats to them. My backyard is fenced with a 6’ chain link fence and even though I don’t doubt they could enter it if they really wanted to, I’ve never seen any back there and don’t worry about having my dog in the backyard although he’s a good sized and very strong boxer who they might prefer to avoid. I know my dog’s barked at them when I’ve seen them on the other side of the fence.</p>
<p>I also go walking/running quite a bit with the dog including in some fairly wild areas but have never been concerned about the coyotes. I think there are almost no reports of them attacking an adult person and I think this would be especially true for one with a dog, even a small dog, due to the ruckus they’d raise.</p>
<p>However, people that have cats that go outdoors around here generally know that the cat’s at risk. A small dog might be also but most people don’t let those outside of a fenced area and I think most coyotes don’t bother with that, at least around here where they have plenty of other game without resorting to hopping fences.</p>
<p>The bigger concern I have is mountain lions which have also been spotted around here and have attacked some people (and killed them) although I’ve never actually seen one here. To combine the two, someone fairly near here reported seeing 2 mountain lions chasing a coyote the other day.</p>
<p>I live in the foothills of Los Angeles and see coyotes blithely trotting up my street almost every month. Almost always in the early AM. Like USD UCLA DAD, I have never heard of them harassing adults. I am careful about letting my small dogs out in the early morning and early evening, since small pets in our area have been eaten by coyotes. In my 30 years here I have never heard of them attacking a small pet while that pet was in the presence of an adult human.</p>
<p>Yup, same here around Chicago. There has been an increase in the past two years, I’m guessing that something has gone on in the forests nearby (construction) that is forcing them out. I actually saw one in my front yard this afternoon, and last week one was just chilling in the cloverleaf of a highway.</p>
<p>I own a 3 lbs dog, so she’d pretty much be hors d’oeuvres. We keep her inside unless she’s being supervised (not alone in the yard).</p>
<p>All of the ones I’ve seen have been very skiddish, so I haven’t been very worried about attacks when I’m with her. But an air horn probably would do the job well</p>
<p>I love to run in the foothills and frequently see coyotes either early in the morning or at dusk. I started carrying a tiny canister of pepper spray (about the size of a cell phone) after there were frequent mountain lion sightings and a warning sign about a coyote that was aggressively approaching strollers.</p>
<p>We have tons of coyotes around here, and they keep the neighborhood swept pretty clean of stray cats and and dogs. I have heard of a few instances of coyotes jumping the fence into a backyard to attack a dog but never a human. I’ve never heard of any human or pet being walked on leash being attacked by coyotes.</p>
<p>Also, coyotes are not “native” to the eastern US. In fact a coyote was of several exotic species that Lewis and Clark brought back to show the easterners who had never seen one before (the others included the prairie dog and the magpie). The theory is that wolves in the east kept the coyotes out. But once the white settlers wiped out the wolf population the coyotes were free to spread eastward. Which they did over a period of many decades, eventually reaching the east coast.</p>
<p>We had a problem here in our inner ring suburb a few years ago. A coyote killed a couple of small dogs that were in someone’s backyard. I haven’t heard anything since then, so maybe they’ve moved up north ;)</p>
<p>Actually, LakeWashington, coyotes are not native to the eastern US, so they haven’t “returned”, just spread in the absence of wolves and others that occupy that same niche.</p>
<p>I saw a coyote in our neighborhood for the first time at least five years ago. I was really startled at the time as I thought you only found them out west.</p>
<p>The area that I grew up in ( Cape Cod ) has seen a substantial increase of coyotes in the last two decades…when I was a kid they simply were not even heard of…now I don’t know anyone ewwho hasn’t had a run in of sorts…most of them have lost cats, and even a few dogs.There have been human attacks too. I live in southern NJ and I have seen a few dead on the road , but not live…my neighbor has seen them out in the woods behind our houses when he is bow hunting. They seem to grow in population fairly quick.</p>
<p>We had an incident in San Francisco where a pair of coyotes attacked a dog that was being walked. It was in the spring during baby season, so the theory was that the coyotes were attacking what they thought was a threat to their cubs. I would just say to be especially careful in the spring. Otherwise I have never heard of coyotes attacking adults or dogs on leashes, and we have lots of them around here.</p>
<p>That would an interesting development. Normally wolves cannot stand coyotes and will kill them on sight just on general principles. If you are getting hybrids, it ooks like you’ve got lover not a fighter on your hands.</p>
<p>In the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains, we had lots - until the arsonists burnt up our mountains :(. I enjoy hearing them (the coyotes - not the arsonists!) sing together in the park behind my house. Somehow, the neighborhood cats are savvy enough to avoid them (thus far). My dog dearly wants to chase the coyotes, and as a 70 lb catahoula, he is more than a match for one. Urban/ranching legend says that they lure dogs from their masters, then attack in a pack, but I haven’t heard a verified case of this. Young coyotes will often approach dogs in a playful fashion, apparently not realizing the difference yet. Small dogs and cats are seen as prey. If approached by a coyote while walking your dog, acting aggressive by yelling or throwing something should be more than enough to discourage a coyote. A tiny dog should be picked up. I enjoy watching and hearing them. I’d much rather have coyotes than gangs of teens in our park!</p>
<p>I suppose the other small little thing i’d say would be that if you have a long retractable leash, switch it out for a short, fixed length leash, so you can keep your dog in closer sight</p>
<p>I live in a small town in New England (35 miles from Boston) and we’ve got coyotes. I’ve seen them on my walks; I usually just keep walking and ignore them. I know coyotes killed a friend’s chickens, but have never heard of them attacking people in this area.</p>
<p>Coyotes are very adaptable so I’m not too surprised to hear about them in the suburbs. I’ve never heard of a coyote attacking an adult. They’ll definitely go after cats and small dogs, though! In fact, one of the CA stars had her small dog snatched by a coyote. (I don’t recall which one.) I’ve heard that putting a bell or jingling tags on a cat in a coyote-populated area is a bad idea, as it’s basically like a dinner bell to them.</p>
<p>If you Google “the daily coyote” you’ll find a blog about a coyote a woman adopted after he was orphaned at ten days old . . . Fascinating, beautiful animal.</p>