Wow, not only have you solved a problem I love, love, love, the new look.

Annette

That looks great! It looks like an "upgrade," not something to keep animals out. Beautiful.

Coyotes wandering about in the open and near children present a danger, as more and more reports from about the country have shown. The fact that they no longer seem to fear people and are no longer creatures of the night is an indication that they are becoming much too bold. They should be shot, and if you are in a town/suburb, appeals should be made to the town supervisors to take care of the matter. This is not an issue of sweet, wild animals.

We have to do some touch-ups etc. on the gate still - need better hinges etc. The copper pipes will soon turn brown and be less visible. 'Upgrade' is a generous description :-), but I do think we managed to improve function without detracting too much from aesthetics.

laceyvail - we're all well aware of the dangers of the coyotes (they're actually coywolves - a hybrid). They are a problem in a number of areas of the town, especially in areas near a local Provincial Park and other natural areas. This location is different - an older suburb nowhere near 'natural' lands - they took up residence in a small woodlot surrounding the local water treatment plant. There used to be a den of foxes there but they largely died out from mange - and the remaining ones were either chased out - or killed off - a couple of years ago when the first coywolf - the female - arrived on the scene. The male appeared last year - you can see in the picture here that it is wearing a collar! (the female is not collared). The male was collared by a provincial biologist in Oct. 2013 about 20 miles away. The collar was supposed to drop off after a period of time but it didn't. The GPS tracking device in the collar no longer works though. The neighbourhood has been talking to both the town and the provincial authorities about the coyotes, but it's a difficult issue. If these ones are somehow removed, the odds are good that others may take their place. We're hoping they may get the mange that killed out the foxes....!

Yes, coywolves. I do understand that eastern "coyotes" are actually coywolves. Their numbers have been increasing here too--very rural West Virginia--they're getting larger and more bold with daytime appearances, confronting people and large dogs, and, as one friend reports, a very large one on her deck peering in her screen door. Quite frightening. They have no predators except people.

If your pack is shot, others will undoubtedly take their place. Keep shooting them.

Shooting is not an option on the table here.

From the town:

Thank
you very much for the information you provided to the coyote reporting system.
All reports are recorded in a GIS database with relevant details so we can use
the overall data to determine if there is any highly unusual activity that may
require further action. The reporting system is one of the pieces of a
comprehensive strategy to help deal with coyotes in the town. Wildlife falls
under a “grey” area of responsibility and while it has generally been the
province (through Ministry of Natural Resources) who has dealt with many of
these issues, this is no longer the case and the town has taken measures to
address coyotes to the extent possible. The Humane Society doesn’t generally
deal with wildlife unless the animal is sick/injured or in distress.

Coyotes
have emerged as a highly urbanized animal and have been living in cities/towns
across North America for many decades, including our town. They are not
necessarily nocturnal (so seeing them during the day is not unusual) and they
live well on just about any type of food, including garbage, bird seed and
fruit although their preferred diet is small rodents and they play a key role
in keeping these populations under control. They prefer to keep to themselves
but are highly adaptable and have adjusted to being in close contact with human
settlements. Urban and suburban areas provide great spaces for them to live due
to the abundance of food sources such as garbage and rodents. While they prefer
wooded areas, they can find hiding spaces almost anywhere.

Fortunately,
contrary to popular belief coyotes have a very high safety profile with people
and this is backed up by extensive statistics and research. In our town, we
have only had one relatively minor incident with a coyote nipping a girl
(2012), otherwise there have been no reported issues in Halton Health’s records
(if a bite or scratch is received by an animal, doctors are required by law to
report). In the few cases where individual coyotes come into conflict with
people and start displaying aggressive behavior, they are almost always linked
back to feeding issues. When people feed coyotes (either on purpose or
inadvertently), they become accustomed to seeing people as a food source and
will come closer and start approaching to access food. Part of our strategy
involves using coyote reports to track behavior and look at where clusters of
problem behavior are occurring. We can then do targeted investigations to
determine if feeding is an issue, and if so to do outreach and if necessary
employ fines (through the Parks By-law and/or Property Standards By-law) to
ensure feeding of the coyote is stopped. In the few cases where this has
occurred, this approach has been successful and the problem coyote behavior has
gone down.

Some
coyotes in this area have become fairly accustomed to human activity,
particularly if they associate food with people and do not encounter any
negative reinforcement from human interaction. However, even if they appear
unconcerned, they are very skittish and will run at the first sign of any
troubling activity such as yelling, shouting – things they aren’t used to. In
the case of a coyote that is very used to human activity, it may even require
running towards them – again, something they aren’t used to. “Hazing” coyotes
when they become too comfortable in an area is a recommended way to discourage
them from an area. When the coyote is spotted, this involves moving
aggressively towards the animal, spraying them with a hose (if in your yard),
throwing things towards (not directly at) them and making loud noises and doing
this until they run away. Unlike other canines, coyotes are instinctively
programmed to run if they are uncertain of something and this teaches them not
to approach people. We have used this technique with good success and research
supports this approach.

While
coyotes do not generally pose a risk to people/children, we strongly encourage
pet owners not to let their dogs off leash as per town by-laws and the signage
in the trails and parks. Smaller pets (both cats and dogs) are perceived as
food by coyotes and larger dogs may be seen as potential threats – picking your
dog up while a coyote is present is a good approach as this significantly
reduces the potential risk to the dog. Although coyotes will back away from
conflict, during the spring and early summer they become much more defensive as
they are raising their pups. Dens are usually well hidden and set back from
human activity but if other animals approach, they’ll go after them to protect
their young. If the dogs are off-leash this can cause significant conflict
situations which is why we stress the importance of keeping pets safe when out
in natural areas and not leaving pets unattended in yards. Sometimes,
especially when people are walking their pets, they will notice that a coyote
seems to be following them. This “shadowing” is normal behaviour but can be
disconcerting. It does not mean the coyote is planning to attack, it’s simply
the coyote’s way of keeping an eye on its territory.

It’s
important to note that in addition to the legislative, ethical and
environmental reasons eliminating or moving coyotes is not possible, extensive
research has shown that where there is suitable habitat it is impossible to
keep coyotes out. Experience has shown that if coyotes are killed off/removed
from an area, reproduction rates increase rapidly and more will move in
creating unstable and more aggressive coyotes fighting for territories. Except
in serious cases where an individual coyote is demonstrating aggressive/risky
behavior, removing it is not an option.

Woody, another great feature you've added to your garden. That is a great solution you've come up with.

That is quite some reply you've posted from the town. So basically everyone is supposed to co-exist with them for good? If there are no real predators, what is the expectation for how large the pack may become? Do the young adults finally move off to find their own territories?

We had coyotes here when we first moved into this house 16 years ago. They were quite active and many nights we heard them howling/screaming their heads off. They seem to have dwindled over the years though.

Even though they say they'll generally keep to themselves, I'm glad you've set up some protection for your yard.

We're waiting for a neighbourhood meeting with the town for more details. But, yeah, coexistence is the general message. I suspect that the size of the pack will be limited by the size of the local food supply (aside from general garbage, mainly field mice, chipmunks, squirrels, and rabbits - with the occasional young raccoon, fox, and small pet! The young coyotes usually go seeking their own territory around 18 month of age I think. That was probably the age of the female that showed up here first. The male showed up a year later (last year) so this spring is the first litter for the pair. Check out these two pictures from the weekend. I think the best (most likely?) route to get rid of them is if they all get mange. In the 15 years we've been here, there have been two groups of foxes that have lived where the coyotes are now. Mange ultimately decimated them both times, with a period of 3-4 years before a new group moved in. So we're all hoping for a bout of mange :-) (although.... a lot of neighbourhood dogs - including our Golden at the time - got mange too! Easy to treat though, and we now always use Revolution for the heartworm medication as it kills off mange....)

That is very scary to us small dog owners. I saw one on my way to work one morning not too far from home. It was running across the street with a rabbit dangling from its mouth. It gave me a very uneasy feeling knowing they are so close to home. Being more out in the country, they have plenty of woods to hide in. Thankfully for this, they are not as bold as you describe....that's just crazy! Homeowners around here can shoot them if they threaten to harm you, or your animals. I have not heard any reports of attacks (on dogs) lately....thankfully! I sure hope they get a handle on them for you. With the danger and disease they can carry, it's hard to believe they won't take action. Unfortunately a lot of times it takes a tragedy to happen before they will do anything :(

Good luck and BTW, I love your gate :)