Why Did Coyotes Come to the Northeast?

Coyotes were originally native to the western prairie but came to  the northeast in the mid 1900’s. They now even reside in seemingly isolated geographical regions such as Cape Cod, Cape Bretton Island, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland, as well as urban habitats such as parts of New York City.

The expansion of coyotes to the northeast was due to various factors:

• As more land became urbanized, more trees were cut making more available habitat for coyotes since coyotes are naturally plain animals
• Killing of wolves increased the coyote population because wolves are predators of coyotes and coyotes could now replace wolves as top predators since they have similar prey.
• Coyotes are very adaptable creatures partly because they are omnivores. They have expanded to cities and suburbs because they are opportunistic and eat a wide variety of animals.

Why Do Coyotes Get a Bad Rap?

People fear that they will attack them, their livestock, or pets. Yes, coyotes do attack human but not that frequently and only one attack has been fatal. An attack on livestock and pets by coyotes is unfortunately a frequent occurrence. Since farmers depend on their animals for much of their livelihood, livestock deaths are a huge problem for them.

Killing Coyotes Should Stop

The most common solution to this problem is killing large numbers of coyotes. In 1998, the U.S government killed more than 286,000 carnivores, with coyotes being part of this population. Also, approximately $1.6 billion dollars between 1939 and 1998 has been used by the government for predator control.

Although this process has resulted in many coyote deaths, coyote populations remain relatively the same and the farmers continue to lose livestock to them. There are a few reasons why killing coyotes is unsuccessful:

• When many coyotes are killed, the remaining population has less competition for food, and therefore reproduces quickly

• With less coyotes in one area, coyotes from other areas will migrate there, resulting in the same problems as before

• Decline in livestock populations could be due to other reasons than just coyote predation

            Killing Coyotes is Cruel and Unethical

The Wildlife Service kills coyotes by shooting, poisoning, trapping, and denning them. Denning is the process of trapping pups in their dens and fumigating them. Most frequently, they are shot from helicopters. The second frequently used mode is trapping which causes the animals significant pain and often injures other wildlife as well.

Coyotes Are Important to the Ecosystem

Another reason why killing of coyotes must stop is that they are important to the ecosystem. They are the top predator of most regions in the northeast. If the population of coyotes decreased, then the numbers of smaller predators would increase which could decrease the population of smaller animals. Therefore, killing coyotes just changes which animals die, not how many and upsets the food chain.

Solutions to the Coyote Problem

What can you do?

• Don’t leave out garbage

• Keep pets inside at night

• Do not feed coyotes

• Make loud noises if they come near you to scare them away

What can farmers do?

• Do not leave dead animals out

• Llamas and donkeys to ward off coyotes

• Put livestock in barns at night

• Keep livestock as far from the forest edge as possible

• Use Electric fences or wire fences when necessary

• Inject carcasses to have a bad taste

          People should make more of an effort to learn how to live peacefully with coyotes. The best solutions to the coyote-human conflict change the behavior of humans and coyotes, preventing coyotes and humans from interacting as much as possible. People can keep their livestock and themselves safe without killing coyotes, by simply adopting preventative practices.