Is All This Coyote Hysteria Overblown?
Beware the Cloud Coyote: The internet, in all its glory, is obsessed with coyotes. Is nature out of balance, or is this a case of mass hysteria?
The Ohlone people are the descendents of Coyote, and many of their creation stories reference the trickster spirit. Historic essays recounting what San Francisco was like in the pre-Gold Rush era describe boys watching coyotes feed along Montgomery Street, near where the TransAmerica Pyramid stands today. Until the 2000s, the last coyote was seen in Golden Gate Park in 1925, and then they seemed to disappear from The City for decades.
After the long pause (no pun intended) the city seems to be overrun with coyotes. There’s a real uptick in their presence (especially given the almost-100 year gap), but there’s also a new concept. “The Coyote in the Cloud” is the term for the way the internet talks about coyotes online. It sparks fear, hatred, and paranoia; researchers suggest it’s similar to the “constant racial surveillance” on places like NextDoor.
Coyote making a silly face. Photo from Shutterstock.
In June, a 5-year-old girl enjoying her summer camp at SF’s Botanical Garden ran from a coyote. It’s not the recommended way to respond to canines, but it was developmentally appropriate. Hell, at almost any age humans experience the instinct to run away from perceived danger.
The kid tripped and the coyote bit her on the bum. What happened was incredibly rare. What’s more common? Coyotes having conflict with dogs. That’s when it’s more likely a human might be bitten as they come between the canines. But it’s still less common than dogs biting humans.
“I’d much rather meet up with one of these guys in an alley than a large, unleashed dog,” says Rebecca Dmytryk, CEO of Humane Wildlife Control Inc. in SF Rec & Park’s Video of the Week. The reason is that dogs, being domesticated, feel confident enough to approach and interact with a human. Coyotes don’t do that unless they’ve found a regular source of food.
Whose Auntie is Out Here Feeding Them?
Typically, coyotes maintain a distance of about four car-lengths (yeah, we know, Americans will use anything except the metric system) or 60 feet of space between themselves and humans. If you see them, they’re usually running away from you. That is, unless they’ve been conditioned otherwise.
Coyotes are smart and hungry. They are attracted to human patterns. If they notice that a chef always dumps her kitchen grease on Tuesday nights, they’ll start hanging around after hours. Or they might know that a group of children on a field trip lunches around a set of picnic tables and there are tasty scraps left when they leave. Humans are messy and coyotes are opportunists.
Remember, the best offense is a good defense: start by being tidy and identifying crawlspaces or other places a coyote might den. Make sure your trash can is as close to idiot-proof as you can make it without provoking littering; the oft-stated joke among park rangers is that the problem with making a trash bin wildlife-proof is that it also makes it human-proof. You can even do a yard assessment.
But what about mutton-headed fools who deliberately feed coyotes? Giving them food is a huge no-no; it teaches the clever animals to abandon their fear. That’s a recipe for disaster. In recent years, NextDoor and Facebook neighbors have started naming and shaming people who feed coyotes.
It’s not a death sentence for the coyote, though. Dmytryk suggests coyotes can be re-conditioned to have a healthy respect for boundaries again. In the meantime, what do you do if you run into a coyote that doesn’t seem afraid?
What To Do If You See A Coyote
Don’t flee. Experts suggest “hazing.” It’s exactly what it sounds like: Physically asserting yourself and maintaining eye contact. Never run from a coyote or domesticated canine. Instead, make big noises and act scary. You can shake a trash bag or a can of pennies to spook them. Some Facebook users also suggest buying a birthday air horn to blow if you take your thumbelina-sized Pippin or Tumbleweed out on walks.
In the rare case that a bite happens? First, get yourself into a safe situation. You don’t want to end up like beloved Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell. Then seek medical care. It’s unlikely the coyote has rabies but don’t risk it.
When a person is bitten, the feds step in. Well, first the State of California’s Department of Fish and Wildlife becomes the lead agency, but the recent incident where a young child was bitten in Golden Gate Park occurred on National Parks land. The feds were called. And boy, did they come in hot.
Remember that the Cloud Coyote is far scarier than the 20-30 pound sorry furred thing that roams around our parks. But also, remember not to run.
Howdy! My name is Katy Atchison and I'm an Associate Editor for Broke-Ass Stuart.
I want to take the time to say thank you for supporting independent news media by reading BrokeAssstuart.com. Supporting independent news sources like Broke-Ass Stuart is vital to supporting our community because it amplifies the voices of a wide variety of diverse opinions. You also help support small businesses and local artists by sharing stories from Broke-Ass Stuart.
Because you're one of our supporters, I wanted to send over a pro-tip.
Our bi-weekly newsletter is a great way to get round ups of Broke-Ass Stuart stories, learn about new businesses in The Bay Area, find out about fun local events and be first in line for giveaways.
If you’d like to get our newsletter, signup right here, it takes 5 seconds.
You Might Also Like
