Coyotes seemingly thrive in San Francisco

[Jesus Malverde]

It seems that every nook and cranny of San Francisco's parks and greenbelts has a coyote or two hiding in it.

As winter takes hold, I would estimate more than 100 coyotes in San Francisco, based on crops of pups verified in the past year and firsthand field-scout sightings (often with photos), along with a field study and photography by David Cruz of Natures Lantern.

A little more than a year ago, San Francisco officials estimated there were only about 15 coyotes in the city.

Since then, rangers for the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department also have seen the coyotes, so often that one dispatcher, who gets the reports, said, "there's no way we can estimate how many there are."

http://www.sfgate.com/outdoors/article/Coyotes-seemingly-thrive-in-San-Francisco-5045034.php

Coyotes will trap and kill dogs and cats if they can, but based on photos, they have flourished by eating gophers, squirrels and rabbits. Although proof is thin, another theory is they have thrived on feral cats in Golden Gate Park.

When coyotes are around, dog safety is always a concern. A pack of coyotes will sometimes send out a yearling to entice a playful dog to follow it, and then from a position of strength, the pack will ambush the dog.

[Baclava]

1. "Over the past 200 years, the geographic range of coyotes has increased dramatically"

Coyote populations have been increasing in cities over the past 20 years. They now inhabit several cities including Los Angeles, Washington, Austin, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, and Edmonton

http://www.edmontonurbancoyotes.ca/coyoteecology.php

[Jesus Malverde]

2. Interesting they are so resilient...nt

[jmowreader]

3. Coyotes could probably survive a nuclear war

[XemaSab]

4. They might be exploiting a niche that the earliest domestic dogs exploited

It's theorized that the earliest dogs hung out near human camps and ate garbage and rats and leftover food and even poo.

In 10,000 years, these coyotes are going to be sleeping in our beds.

[Luminous Animal]

5. It's true. Packs of coyotes are running amok in the streets of San Francisco.

Enticing dogs.

[deurbano]

6. I saw a coyote run across the parking lot of School of the Arts (SOTA) in SF

when I was picking up my daughter from a theater camp last summer.

[pipoman]

7. Not just sf

Across the country numbers have grown since the early 1990s when coyote furs (and fur in general) fell out of fashion. By the mid 2000s the population was starving out here on the plains. Mange was widespread. .it was common to see coyotes with no hair or huge patches missing..they would ultimately die of exposure.

now the populations are lower and seemingly more healthy. One morning last spring a pack killed 9 of my chickens. They get several of our farm cats every year. I shoot them when I see them on my farmstead...usually I shoot 1 or 2 a year..i go walk around it and pee in the area..then don't see any for a couple months. They are smart and have learned how to avoid dangerous areas. .

I expect there will be bounties on them again in some areas. Culling is necessary for some species to curb dramatic swings in populations.

[Paladin]

8. Coyotes thrive anywhere they want. (nt)

[panader0]

9. Lots of coyotes here

I see them and hear them all the time. Beautiful creatures.

[MNBrewer]

10. I saw one last year sauntering down the sidewalk across from my house in Minneapolis

Maybe he was after the wild turkeys that thrive in the area too.

I also had one cross my path in the outer reaches of San Jose. It was clearly after some of the gophers/prairie dogs(?) inhabiting the empty lots near the Santa Teresa LRT station. My two encounters with coyotes have both been in urbanized areas.

[Boudica the Lyoness]

11. When my husbands grandfather

homesteaded here 125 years ago, coyotes were still unique to the west. In his book he referred to them as little desert wolves. They hated them, blamed them for everything and thought they could wipe them out, like they did to the real wolves. He softened towards them in the 1930's when they found and raised a coyote pup and kept as a family pet. He used her as a cattle dog, which she was really good at, but she failed as a retriever. Every time he shot a bird, she'd grab it and eat it.

Edited to add; I really like coyotes. To me they are just doggies. We have cattle, horses, chickens and ducks by the way. They respect our territory and we respect theirs. We don't hunt or poison our wildlife, so there's enough rabbits/gophers to keep the coyotes well fed. They were here first.