Coyote are close relatives to the gray wolf and live throughout North America. These canines can weigh up to forty-five pounds, but the average weight size for these wild dogs is around twenty-five pounds. On average coy dogs are about four to five feet long and their short fur coats are reddish or gray in color depending on the breed. The carnivores love dinning on small birds, rodents, farm animals, pets and even left out garbage that is easy to access.
For this reason, people try to find ways to get rid of coyotes out of fear they will hang around their home attacking their pets, farm animals and even them. Most of the time, coyotes will mainly hunt and feast upon small rodents and rabbits and will run away out of fear when a human or humans cross their path. However, coyotes will dine on garbage and other human foods if it is in a place of easy access.
What are some of the ways to prevent coyotes from entering your yard?
You can prevent coyotes from entering onto your property by using all kinds of various and tried methods. The first way to prevent having a coyote problem is too simply never feed the mammals deliberately even if it is one time out of fascination. Feeding these creatures will only keep them coming back for more food since it is easier than hunting, which they eventually figure out if feeding them deliberately happens more than once.
If for some reason, your neighbors are feeding these wild beings it is wise to ask them kindly to stop doing so, or call Fish and Game to help solve the situation. Having coyotes in an urban or suburb area full of people is dangerous since coyotes will bite back if they feel they are being threatened in anyway. Being bitten by a coyote is rare, but can occur and become dangerous since some of these coy dogs do carry sickly diseases such as rabies. If one of the wild dogs bites you, or someone you know, it is essential you seek medical help right away at a hospital or doctors office.
Other methods you can use to keep coyotes away are:
- Keep farm animals and chicken coops locked up tightly at nighttime since coyotes are nocturnal animals.
- Keep all garage sealed up and away in garbage cans or sheds.
- Never feed your dogs, cats and other domestic pets outside.
- Always store grains for farm animals in sealed up feeders or totes inside a locked up barn or shed.
- Keep the rodent population down in your yard since coyotes love feasting on mice, rats, moles and rabbits.
- Always keep your farm animals and chickens fenced in well or locked up in the barn at nighttime.
- Always put away grills inside sheds or garages when they are not in use.
- Never leave food out in the picnic area at night time.
- Install motion sensor lights or a sprinkle system in your yard to frighten the wild dogs away.
- If a coy dog approaches you, make loud noises and blast off a canned air siren if one on hand.
- Throwing rocks and spraying coy dogs with a water hose can help scare them off as well.
- Always store bird feeders in the garden shed or inside your home at nighttime since coy dogs will dine off the seeds and hunt nighttime birds hanging out in the area.
- Remove all water sources from the yard since coyotes will commonly go back to a place that has a good source of water that is drinkable
What can you do if coyotes make your home their home?
If coyotes make your home their home and you find a coyote den you should call Fish and Game to come trap the wild dog so it can be moved too a safer location. You should never try to trap a coyote dog yourself unless you have professional experience doing so. If there is a den on your property and Fish and Game cannot come out and help right away the best thing you can do is leave the area alone since most of the time coyotes live in packs and momma coyotes live in dens with their little ones. Momma coyotes, can attack if you do approach their den or get anywhere near their babies. It is always important to know that baby coy dogs do look like regular pups so if you do see two to three pups strangely walking through your yard it is best to leave them alone unless you are one hundred percent sure they are not coy pups.
When to Call and Coyote Removal Professional
With all that being said about methods on keeping coy dogs away, it is also important to know that coyotes are important to Mother Earth and us since they do keep the rodent population under control. Without these wild dogs, the rodent population would increase to large numbers, which would mean more rodents invading your homes and businesses. If coyotes are not any harm too you and just passing through your yard it is best to leave them be. The only time you should use a method to rid coy dogs from your yard is when they stay there for a long period and begin to become a threat to you and your love ones, which again is rare. After all, coyotes are more afraid of us than we are of them. If you do run into one frequenting your property, call a pest control professional. Most animal removal companies will have the tools and expertise to trap a coyote and relocate them. If they attack you or livestock then extermination may be required to ensure it does not happen again.