We are pleased to have a real Ph.D. canid scientist, Jane Brackman, aka "Dr. Barkman," on our list of people who give straight answers to our often-stupid questions. She sent us this email:
Your commenters are right and wrong.
Coyotes will kill and eat dogs and cats if given a chance. Unfortunately this is what happens when an amateur meets a professional. And yes, the easier the meal is to acquire, the more likely a hungry coyote will return to the scene of the crime.
On the other hand, rabies is not a problem right now in coyote populations in southern California. Be more afraid of your cat. If you let cats out at night to roam free you’re providing it an opportunity to be exposed to rabid wild life. In addition, cat owners are less likely to make sure their cats have the county required rabies vaccination.
Dog owners should be much more concerned about canine parvovirus and distemper. It isn’t unusual to see large die-offs of coyotes every 15 years or so due to these diseases. Make sure your dog is up to date on her vaccinations.
Regarding attacking children, coyote attacks are extremely rare. But they do happen. (Your neighbor’s dog is more likely to attack your kid than a coyote. And the culprit is more likely to be a cocker spaniel than a pit bull, but then that’s another story.)
Keep in mind, however, that coyotes in our area are fairly small. Most of what you see is coat thickness. In a survey of coyotes in Santa Monica mountains (on which your correspondent worked) we caught and released many hundreds of coyotes, collecting DNA, measuring, weighing and then releasing the canids. Believe it or not, Los Angeles coyotes weigh only between 18 and 23 pounds, the heaviest being under 30 pounds. Like wildlife everywhere, coyotes adapt to their food source and this is one of the things that determines size. (Coyotes in the desert are even smaller; whereas canis latrans in the midwest can weigh in closer to 40 pounds).
And finally – there is a way to protect your yard and hence your pets, although I cannot guarantee it will always work. Wolf pee!
Coyotes and wolves do not share the same territory. When biologists reintroduced wolves to Yellowstone, most of the 30 some odd coyote families that had set up housekeeping in the park, during the 75 to 100 years that wolves were absent, left the area or were killed within less than a year or so. (I put in time on this project as well) Wolves kill coyotes because they compete for the same food sources. The flip side of this story is that foxes do not challenge coyotes for food sources. So if you see a lot of foxes in your area, it’s likely you won’t be seeing too many coyotes.
Coyotes are extremely sensitive to territory and do not want to cross scent markers that indicate wolves are present. You can purchase wolf urine from several different companies (and yes, it’s humanely collected) to spread around your yard’s fence-line. Mountain lion scent will probably work as well. Google the words: predator urine scent.
If your readers want to learn more about coyote populations in our area go to:
http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/266/1420/657.short
or
http://www.freepatentsonline.com/article/Bulletin-Southern-California-Academy-Sciences/182976474.html
