DEEP: Watch pets closely during coyote mating season
January marks the start of mating season for Connecticut’s widespread coyote population, and people are being cautioned to watch their small dogs and cats closely through the birth of pups in the spring.
The wild canines have become more habituated to humans in the past several years, leading to more conflicts and confrontations. Coyote attacks on people, however, remain rare, according to the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.
Risk of confrontations can increase if coyotes are intentionally fed and then learn to associate people with food, officials warn.
Risks also are increased if a person is walking with a dog, especially an unleashed dog, near a coyote’s territory during the denning and puprearing seasons.
Coyotes mate in late January into February, choosing dens in March and whelping five to seven pups in April, sometimes a bit later.
The animals will vigorously defend denning areas against dogs, while also showing increasingly bold behavior around people, according to DEEP.
Territorial coyotes may aggressively approach and threaten or attack dogs of all sizes. Denning coyotes are suspected to be the ones reported stalking dog walkers and, in rare cases, attacking leashed dogs or biting people trying to protect their dogs, DEEP reported.
In May, coyotes snatched two small dogs from their yards in Simsbury. Two other dogs were attacked, but survived with injuries, police wrote in a Facebook post.
The attacks happened on or around trails in an expanse of conservation land between Town Forest Road and the Ethel Walker School, on the west side of Bushy Hill Road, according to police.
The coyotes were defending territory and may have had a den nearby, DEEP spokesman Paul Copleman said a the time. Residents walking in the area with or without pets were advised to exercise caution.
The coyote population in the state is expanding, as evidenced by increased sightings in Hartford, Bridgeport, and other cities and in the more densely populated suburban towns, DEEP wildlife division head Jenny Dickson said Tuesday.
Many reports coming into the agency recently were from residents in those areas, including West Hartford, who did not expect to see a coyote in their yard or neighborhood, Dickson said.
“They are very adaptable. They are adapting to being around people, and that is a recipe for confrontations at certain times,” she said.
Coyotes are thriving in large part because they are finding abundant food, including urban/suburban fare such as rats, mice, squirrels and rabbits. They also take advantage of food left out for pets and garbage.
Dickson urged people to be “situationally aware” when letting their pets out and when walking dogs. She advised dog owners to keep a shorter leash on their pets instead of the extendable kind.
“Sometimes, the coyotes can be watching you long before you see them in the wild,” she said.
For homeowners who cannot abide coyotes on their property, the animals can be harassed out of denning locations before the pups are born, including by playing loud music.
“You can also close off the den space and (use) highly scented human scents like soap. Sometimes that intense smell is enough,” state wildlife biologist Geoffrey Krukar has said.
“You can blow air horns at them or throw objects. Make it uncomfortable for them to be there, and a lot of times that will be enough to discourage them.”
DEEP receives many complaints when people find coyotes denning under their decks and sheds, but Krukar says he encourages people to let the animals stay once they have had pups.
Coyotes are omnivores and will eat almost anything. They also target food left out for pets.
“Coyotes will eat the pet food, and they’ll also eat the cats,” Krukar said.
State wildlife officials heard reports of more bold and aggressive coyotes in 2022, he said, including one in Norwalk that tried to snatch food out of a person’s hand.
In Glastonbury, coyotes tried to jump a fence to get to two large dogs in a backyard in the Milestone Drive area, according to a Facebook post by the police department’s animal control unit.
The dogs were not hurt, but animal control urged people to watch their pets, especially in the early morning and evening when the wild canines are most active.
Coyotes typically prey on cats and dogs under 25 pounds, but they also target larger dogs — not as prey, but as competitors for the same food sources.
First reported in the state in the mid-1950s, coyotes are common across Connecticut.
Larger than its western counterpart, adult eastern coyotes typically are 48 to 60 inches long from nose to tail and weigh 30 to 50 pounds, with males typically heavier than females.
Connecticut residents can apply to hire a licensed nuisance wildlife control operator to trap and kill coyotes, but the targeted animal must have been aggressive toward people or pets.
The state gets more applicants than officials approve because some people are frightened or intolerant of coyotes, Krukar said.
Hunting season on coyotes is year-round, except Sundays. In more populated areas, bow hunting is preferable to firearms because there are fewer restrictions.