Nature of Wild: Getting to Know your Neighbors - Coyotes in your neighborhood 

A howling coyote silhouetted against a harvest moon is the stuff western movies are made of.  The coyote has long been a symbol of the “wilds” of the west.  However, now Wile E. Coyote is taking center stage at venues throughout the East.

What brought about this change of strategy is receiving lots of ink in local papers.  Experts of the wildlife science have floated many theories to explain this phenomenon, however, most fall short; some are even dangerous.  Let me give you a few.

“Coyotes have migrated en masse to Metro Detroit in the past 20 years.”  The Detroit News

“Some naturalists suspect the ranks of urban coyotes might be swelling as the animals migrate from the open spaces of the West and Southeast toward the East and Midwest” Lansing State Journal

“People have it in their minds that we’re invading coyotes’ territory.”  National Wildlife Research Center

We have heard all, and more, stated as explanations.  But individual coyotes are not migrating, nor is the coyote’s new found celebrity a function of us taking their homes.

The coyote is an opportunist.  He eats, breeds and eats some more.  He doesn’t name his children.  He doesn’t even follow a set menu.  The brush wolf will eat what he finds, when he finds it.  That could be a mouse, a spotted fawn, a house cat or table scraps from your garbage can.  He really doesn’t care – it’s all food.

Wile E. will make a living anyplace you prohibit the killing of coyotes.  In fact, he will thrive.  The coyote is one of the most adaptable creatures on the planet.

In contemporary urban Michigan we find all the elements needed for success of the coyote – living space, food and protection.  Now the coyote is showing how it can use the habitat we are creating for it.  A pair killed a cat and poodle in Grosse Pointe Farms in February.  A coyote attacked a poodle in Westland in March.  A pregnant coyote was caught near the Renaissance Center in Detroit in April.  And then, shockingly, three coyotes attacked a 95-pound golden retriever in May while he was being walked on a leash in a Canton Township park.  The dog survived only because its owner beat the coyotes with a stick. 

These incidences point out that the coyote has gone from fearing man (because we killed all we could for 200 years) to viewing us as a source of food.  Fear is what kept the coyote’s world, and our world apart.  This loss of fear means that man has to assume more of the responsibility for this animal-human relationship.  To start, we need to heighten our own fear, an “enlightened fear,” in a word – respect.  Respect for the wild character of all animals should be a prerequisite to any relationships we have with our animal neighbors.

Further, we must reduce our influences on wild creatures.  We do no wild species good by leaving food intended for our pets lying around for unintended diners.  We should never knowingly feed wild animals, nor even approach them.  They should have their own space—a safety zone.  Humans should leave them alone.

When wild animals lose their respect for the safety zone around humans and their property, then we have to act against them.  Such action may be as simple as building a fence, keeping your pets with you when outside, or killing the unwanted animal neighbor.  Of course, state and federal laws apply.

Safety needs to be a part of any relationship between man and beast, particularly when it comes to predators.  When parents let their children play outside they shouldn’t need to worry that wild animals pose a danger to them.  If parents live in fear of the coyote, rather than respect for it, society will ultimately turn against the animal.  The coyote will be considered vermin – to be shot on sight.

Certain state legislators have proposed a safety valve, by relaxing prohibitions against killing coyotes in the future.  They should also, once and for all, prohibit the feeding of wild animals statewide.  Any contemplated approach needs to protect private property, and public health and safety. 

Certainly we don’t want to wake up to the headlines that a child was attacked by a coyote like happened to Brayden Gazette, in Middletown, New Jersey recently.  The five-year-old boy learned about coyotes when he was attacked in his yard while playing with his sister.  He required 46 stitches to the back of the head and two rabies shots.  Let’s preempt such events by removing food from human/animal relationships and replacing it with respect.

Dennis Fijalkowski
Executive Director

[Return to Newsletter Index]