Coyotes and humans shared the same environment long before European settlers arrived in North America. To many Native American cultures, coyotes were powerful mythological figures endowed with the power of creation, and venerated for their intelligence and mischievous nature. The Aztec name for the coyote was “coyotl” which loosely translates to "trickster," while Navajo sheep and goat herders referred to the coyote as "God's dog."
European settlers, however, viewed coyotes as a threat to livestock and as a competitor for game species, a view that unfortunately still persists in many areas of North America. As a result, the coyote remains the most persecuted native carnivore in the United States.
Coyotes typically weigh twenty to thirty pounds, are similar to a tan-colored Shepherd-type dog, and are able to crossbreed with dogs and wolves. Native to the grasslands and prairies of North America, coyotes have expanded their range threefold since the 1850s, largely in response to human alterations of the environment and the eradication of larger predators including wolves, cougars, and grizzly bears. At least nineteen sub-species of coyote now roam throughout North America, from California to Newfoundland, and from Alaska to Panama, occupying a broad range of habitats, from grasslands to deserts to eastern woodlands and boreal forests to agricultural lands and urban parks.
Coyotes occupy the biological niche between foxes and wolves and play an integral role in their environment by helping to maintain healthy ecosystems and species diversity. As opportunistic omnivores, coyotes feed on a wide variety of mammals, insects and fruit, though rodents are their main food source. Indeed, the success of coyotes is a testament to their ability to survive, and even thrive, on whatever food is available.
Coyotes generally fear people; however, those who associate humans with food may become habituated. Habituated coyotes now frequent suburban areas, taking advantage of abundant food, water, and shelter. Unsecured garbage, unfenced gardens, and unattended domestic animals become easy targets. Documented cases of coyotes biting humans, however, are rare and most often caused by humans feeding coyotes.
Historically, conflicts between humans and coyotes have been addressed through lethal means. Between 1916 and 2000, the United States Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services program (formerly Animal Damage Control) killed nearly six million coyotes, largely at taxpayers’ expense for the benefit of a small number of sheep and cattle ranchers.
In addition, hundreds of thousands of coyotes are killed each year for their fur, for "sport," and in "body-count" contests where prizes are awarded for killing the most coyotes. Most States in America have no laws regulating by what means, or how many coyotes may be killed, and some states still offer bounties to encourage coyote killing. Despite decades of systematic poisoning, trapping, and shooting campaigns aimed at eradicating coyote populations, there are more coyotes in North America today than ever before.
The coyote's remarkable success appears to be directly related to lethal attempts to reduce its populations. Years of intense persecution have selected for coyotes that are more adaptable, resilient, and wary of people. They have learned to spring traps without being caught, to avoid poison baits, to hide their dens from prying human eyes, and to hunt during times of little human activity. To further avoid humans, coyotes have become more active during the night.
Widespread attempts to control coyote populations have had little long-term impact because coyotes’ strong compensatory responses - such as increased litter size and pup survival - allow them to replenish their numbers and reoccupy vacated habitat. Further, while lethal control may produce a short-term reduction of coyotes in a particular area, the vacuum is soon filled by coyotes emigrating from surrounding areas and by shifts in neighboring packs.
Despite clear scientific evidence demonstrating the futility and counter productiveness of indiscriminate lethal coyote control, many state and federal wildlife managers continue to promote killing as the best method to address conflicts. An increasing number of scientists, however, have begun to speak out against lethal control. Their studies show that coyotes, and other large carnivores, play a vital ecological role and their removal can have a devastating impact on species diversity and the health and integrity of native ecosystems.
But scientific evidence is not enough. What is needed is a new paradigm for the way we treat native carnivores - indeed all wildlife - one that recognizes the ecological importance of these species as well as their intrinsic value as individuals. If the money and efforts used to kill coyotes, and other predators, were redirected toward cost-effective, non-lethal methods, such as public education, better landscape development, improved fencing, and guard animals, conflicts could be significantly reduced without the need to kill. Ultimately, it will be the public that pressures wildlife managers to make this ethical shift as communities across North America demand that wildlife conflicts be addressed with humane solutions that do not involve killing.

Camilla H. Fox is the Director of Wildlife Programs for the Animal Protection Institute, a national non-proft animal advocacy organization with headquarters in Sacramento, California. For more information about coyotes and predator protection and persecution, visit https://www.api4animals.org and https://www.BanCruelTraps.com
Original printing: Fox, C.H. March-April 2004. “God’s Dog: Learning to Co-Exist with Coyotes.” Wild Mountain Times. Asheville, North Carolina.

Wild coyotes
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Camilla + doggie Zaela
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