Wildlife in the Park-Coyotes
You probably have never seen a coyote in the park as they are shy and wary of humans. These members of the canine family are sometimes mistaken for a wild dog or small wolf. Coyotes are adaptable animals that will eat almost anything; rabbits, rodents, fish, frogs, and even deer. They also happily dine on insects, snakes, fruit, grass, and carrion. Coyotes are opportunists, both as hunters and as scavengers.
In the early 19th century, the coyote was not found east of the Great Plains. It was a western animal exclusively. As a result, Lewis and Clark had never seen one until they got to the middle Missouri River in present-day South Dakota in the fall of 1804. They wrote in their journals that they were seeing some new kind of fox. But once they shot one and looked at it up close, they realized this was no fox but some kind of wolf. They named it a prairie wolf and for a lot of the 19th century that’s what the animal was known as in American natural history.
Coyotes were hunted and poisoned mercilessly until the mid 1970’s. Even today, some 500,000 coyotes are killed each year, many shot to death from small planes and helicopters. Yet the coyote has survived all attempts to eradicate it,
Coyotes thrive in areas where there is plenty of food and they are left alone. Humans increase the likelihood of conflicts with coyotes by deliberately or inadvertently feeding the animals, whether by handouts or by providing access to food sources such as garbage, pet food or livestock carcasses. When people provide food, coyotes quickly lose their natural fear of humans and become increasingly aggressive. They also become dependent on the easy food source people provide . Once a coyote stops hunting on its own and loses its fear of people, it becomes dangerous and may attack without warning.
Prevention is the best tool for minimizing conflicts with coyotes and other wildlife.
If you encounter a coyote, remember the following:
Never feed or try to “tame” a coyote; appreciate coyotes from a distance.
Walk dogs on leashes; pick up small dogs if a coyote is near.
If approached, be BIG and LOUD. You can also scare the animal by blowing a whistle, shaking a can with coins inside, popping open an umbrella, or throwing objects (toward but not at the coyote).
Do not run from a coyote; calmly leave the area.