Coyotes seem to do OK in suburban neighborhoods. Woodyoak on the perennials forum mentions them in her area and I have read that they are common in big cities like L.A.

i have them here, but they are really shy. I see footprints in winter, and occasionally will spot gray shadows slipping along the top of the river bank on moonlit nights, and I hear them, but they disappear instantly at any hint of people. I don’t know how suburban coyotes respond to people.

We live in a suburb of Boston, and I see coyotes here every once in a while. I’ve seen them while jogging in the woods in our neighborhood, and also walking down main streets (picture a coyote trotting along in front of churches, banks, delis, etc.) late at night, when no one else is around. I think they’re good at staying under the radar, and can be surprisingly urban without many people being aware they’re around at all. I have seen a big uptick in coyote scat on the trails in the woods suddenly in the last two years — I have to imagine that’s related to the crazy numbers of rabbits around lately.

it’s a little unnerving to come across one when you’re out in the woods alone, but so far they’ve always sort of quietly trotted away. Honestly, I’m more worried by the packs of 6-10 big off-leash dogs jumping around with “professional” dogwalkers that I run into in the woods. Those are what’s bitten me, not the coyotes. Also happy to have the coyotes helping to control the bunny population. With all the rabbits lately, I keep waiting to see a surge in the number of hawks, but nothing noticable so far.

Speaking of urban coyotes, I recently ran across this, about coyotes in SF: https://www.presidio.gov/presidio-trust/planning/coyotes-in-the-presidio

I would imagine that in a situation like Babs, where they still have a habitat to some degree, they can find enough food and would prefer to stay clear of people. But in suburban and urban environments, I've read a number of reports of them attacking people. They apparently will stalk people if someone has a regular routine that they can pick up on. Small kids and pets can't be left alone even in a backyard with a 6ft fence. I don't have either, but would find that pretty frustrating if my 6ft fence would not keep my kids and small pets safe to be out there.

I remember seeing a photo of a coyote lying down on the seat inside an empty commuter train in NYC. So, they do seem to adapt.

Right now with all the rabbits around, I would think they would have plenty of food. Does anyone have a theory on why we have so many rabbits now or what happened to all the hawks?

I live in a suburb surrounded by forests and farm fields, and we have coyotes all around us. They have come down our street & other people in the neighbourhood have seen them walk down their street just after sunset. We also have reports of coywolves. Which scares me a little more. I use to walk a nice trail with my 2 dogs. But after some sightings and other dog walkers warning me; I won't go on them alone. My dogs are small. One of my dogs is so small that I cannot let her go outside alone because of the birds of prey. She weighs 6 lbs, I never thought of her being a meal for a hawk or an owl when we adopted her. There are also a lot of signs up around the neighbourhood for missing cats & sometimes smaller dogs. I always feel bad for the kids of those families missing a pet. My first thought when I see those signs is; probably got taken by a coyote. It's sad, even though it's nature.

There was also a news report a few weeks ago in a town 30 minutes south of me; where a small child was running into her backyard with her sibling and a coyote was in another yard and saw the movement of the child and went to pounce on her, luckily she was not harmed. This happened in the middle of the afternoon. It was a new development and it looked as though there was no fences yet.

I talked to a woman in my neighborhood yesterday, who walks her dog about 3x a day every day. I thought I should warn her, but she was already well aware of it. [g] . She had photos on her phone of them and of a deer with 3 babies that lives by a park on the edge of our neighborhood that is only about 5 blocks away from me. She told me of at least a half a dozen times she has had encounters with them. She said the time of day she runs into them the most is about 5:30am. They've been as close as 50ft away from her but have never approached her. Her dog is probably about 30 pounds.

We used to have more wild spaces surrounding our neighborhood, but there has been so much development around us that their habitat has shrunk to a very small space.

A person in our town is on the Project Coyote Team and gave a great lecture/slide show about Eastern Coyotes. She thinks owls are more to blame for missing cats not coyotes since she said she rarely found feline bones in coyote scat. The website has an interesting field guide to "hazing" coyotes to keep them away. We were told that once they are around, they will replenish/reproduce if some are killed off. I was happy to hear that the awful yipping sounds I have heard at night were just coyotes conversing. We have seen pups out in the field but rarely hear or see coyotes anymore. If she is right, they have simply moved a little ways and just aren't living as close to us as they used to. A neighbor with farm animals doesn't want them around. One time when my husband was mowing the field, he saw one watching him. He got the jeep out and went very close to the coyote who seemed healthy and not scared at all. My husband started beeping the horn which finally made the animal move off. I called NH Fish and Game for advice and was told that coyotes have learned that mowing stirs up field mice etc and it is lunch time. The coyote was simply waiting for a free meal. A hunter/wildlife expert with farm animals who used to write a column for the NH Sunday News said they were better off letting coyotes be if they were "well behaved". The farm had guard dogs to protect sheep. He said if you killed a coyote, one that caused problems might move in. There was a good scene in the documentary Biggest Little Farm about coyotes in CA. They thought the coyotes were killing their chickens but they needed the coyotes to kill the gophers that were eating fruit tree roots and killing newly planted trees.

Here's the link. The website has some great information: http://www.projectcoyote.org/

Defrost, that's great information. It makes a big difference to have more understanding in these wildlife encounters. I haven't seen the coyotes since that time, haven't heard them and since I've been told they've been here for years without my awareness, I have gone back to not thinking about them. [g]. But of course, I'm happy to have that link to read up on them more, to be prepared for any encounter with them, Thanks!

I saw one this spring. Like you, Ann, at first I thought it was a dog that got loose, but quickly realized that it was a coyote. First time ever in my quite urban location. It darted between two neighbors' houses and that was that.

An unsettling feeling, for sure. I feel like we are urban here, and it did surprise me how long I've lived here and not seen one and to be told they've been seen for years, by others. I suppose there are worse things to have in your neighborhood. It seems like those in this neighborhood, try to avoid people, so I find it acceptable to co-exist. As long as they are not aggressive and I don't feel at risk.