Coexisting with Coyotes

One surprising fact about coyotes are that they are adept swimmers!

Intelligent, adaptable, and opportunistic, coyotes (Canis latrans) are generally misunderstood and are the one animal most often persecuted by humans.  As clever omnivores that also have a keen sense of hearing, sight, and smell, one can easily see how many myths and untruths have been associated with this species.

Contrary to popular belief, there have been no coyote attacks on humans in the city of Austin’s history.  Coyotes live in smaller family groups than wolves, and most often hunt solo, searching for small prey such as rodents.  They don’t generally breed with domestic dogs, and seeing them out in the daytime does not mean they are rabid or diseased.

Lanky and leaner than most dogs, mature coyotes weigh between 25 to 35 pounds, and have a territory size that can range from 0.25 miles (if rich in resources) to 40 miles (if poor in resources).  They are native animals that traditionally depended on habitat with lots of vegetation and food sources such as squirrels and rabbits.  However, with few predators and the rapid destroying of habitat through urban sprawl, coyotes are adapting, shifting, and as a result are more often seen and heard by humans.

A coyote's territory can range from a quarter mile to 40 miles.

Socially flexible animals, the behavior of coyotes and their activities change with the seasons and their circumstances. While they are typically most active at dawn and dusk, they can also be normally active day or night, and their activity is often timed to their life events.  From January to March they search for mates, from April to June the females give birth to 5 to 7 pups, from July to September they actively feed their growing pups, and from October to December the juveniles leave their dens and disperse in search of their own territory.

While frequently but not always seen, coyotes also leave telltale signs of their presence.  Their tracks often show two front nails, and there is more space between the paw pads, often forming an ‘X’.  Dog tracks, including the native gray fox, may or may not show nails, and exhibit less space between the paw pads, often forming an ‘H’.  The scat or droppings of coyotes is tubular, 0.4 to 1.4 inches in diameter, and 5 to 13 inches long with tapered ends.

The space between paw pads is different on a coyote (left) versus a gray fox (right).

Historically, coyotes have avoided competing with wolves, until wolves were hunted out (extirpated).  Both species were originally confined to the prairies of central North America, and while both wolves and coyotes were aggressively hunted, wolves were extirpated but coyotes thrived.  While the cause for this dynamic is somewhat complicated, the main factor for the success of coyotes is what happens when a family pack is disrupted.  Coyotes overcompensate for a population reduction, and a lone coyote can fill a void in a pack in as little as 2 to 3 weeks.  If alpha males or females are killed, other pairs quickly form, reproduce, and litter size can actually increase up to 16 pups.  In other words, coyotes have developed a biological response to make up for pack losses.

Coyotes have golden eyes and their coats range from dark gray to buff-colored.

Past attempts to control coyote populations have proved useless, and many methods are now illegal in the city of Austin, including traps, snares, and holds, which are inhumane and indiscriminate.  Even relocation of coyotes is illegal, because they can be a vector species for rabies, and relocating places them in unfamiliar territory.  

What we can do to coexist with coyotes is to learn to share space with them, but not time.  Non-lethal management tools that are ecology-based can successfully balance the humane treatment of wildlife with public safety concerns. Our behavior shapes coyote behavior, so doing simple things can minimize our interactions with them.  Coyotes are naturally afraid of people and their presence alone is no cause for concern. Keep your garbage and recycling cans inside and secure until the morning of pickup, close off crawlspaces under porches and decks, feed your pets indoors and keep them inside at night, and simply use noise to scare them away.

Coyotes are lanky and leaner than most dogs.

Remember that coyotes contribute beneficial aspects to our ecosystem by keeping prey species in check, and many scavenger animals, such as foxes and vultures, benefit from coyote predation on these prey species through increased food availability in the form of leftover carcasses.  And finally, like all wild animals, coyotes have a right to inhabit our wild places, including the preserves and open spaces that border our urban and suburban homes.  If you respect their right to exist, you may well be rewarded with a familial chorus of howls on a moonlight night!

Fabulous Foxes

Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Members of the Canidae family are all dog-like mammals, and in the United States that includes wolves, coyotes, domestic dogs, and true foxes.  They are adapted to running swiftly over open terrain, and typically have long muzzles, upright ears, bushy tails, and teeth that can crack bones. The family is further divided into two tribes, with the wolves, coyotes, and dogs in the Canini tribe, and the true foxes in the Vulpini tribe.  In central Texas, two species of true foxes exist, the native Common Gray Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) and the introduced Red Fox (Vulpes vulpes).  

Gray Fox, Urocyon cinereoargenteus

Most active at night, and sometimes in late afternoon or early morning, the Gray Fox is a medium-sized fox with grayish upperparts, tawny sides, and reddish-brown legs.  It has a whitish throat with a distinct black patch on the sides of its muzzle and lower jaw.  Often confused with the Red Fox, the main distinction is the black tip on the tail and the fact that it is found throughout Texas.  Gray Foxes are adept tree climbers, highly unusual for Canids, and they use their rounded claws to ascend trees much like bears.  Once up in the canopy, they can hunt birds, escape predators, bask in the sun, or jump from branch to branch like a cat.

Also active at night, and frequently at dawn and dusk, the Red Fox is similar in size to the Gray Fox, but differs mainly in its coloring.  While its typical coloration is generally rusty red, this fox can exhibit several other color forms, from black to silvery gray, but it always has a pattern of darker fur along the spine and down across each shoulder blade, forming a cross.  The most distinct difference from the Gray Fox is the bushier tail that ends in a white tip.  The Red Fox is found throughout most but not all of Texas, absent from the far western and southern portions of the state.  Not native to Texas, it was introduced for sport around 1895 in the eastern and central regions. 

Red Fox, Vulpes vulpes

Both species of fox are social animals, and their primary unit consists of a family with an adult male (or Reynard or dog), adult female (or vixen), and the juveniles (or kits, cubs, or pups) that were born that year.  These foxes are thought to mate for life, with breeding beginning in December and extending into February.   They can use a variety of places for denning sites, but most commonly they reuse underground burrows dug by other animals.  Both the male and female care for and feed their young, and their diets consist of small mammals, birds, berries, and occasionally insects.

Foxes are usually seen in mixed woodlands and edges of forests, and while hunting they often use old roads or open trails while traveling the same routes.  Their activity peaks with the activity of their prey, and if you get the chance to watch the cunning way in which they hunt, using their night vision, acute hearing, and high pouncing attacks, you’ll begin to understand why they are called fabulous foxes!