How to Repel Coyotes

Coyotes have been known to kill pets.

Coyotes are small, strong and cunning predators that normally feed only on small mammals, fruit and carrion. However, when those resources are low, coyotes are often brought into conflict with humans; they have been known to kill livestock, small pets, and even humans themselves. It is not practical to exterminate a population of coyotes, but there are measures that can be taken both to make your area a less attractive hunting ground and to actively repel coyotes from your area.

Instructions

1. Use high-strength mesh fencing (with gaps not larger than 4 inches for vertical spacing and 6 inches for horizontal) to deter coyote intrusion. Use barbed wire near ground level to prevent digging. An overhang angled toward the outside of the fence deters climbing.

2. Keep young livestock and small pets inside at night within secure enclosures. Secure all outdoor trash cans and bring them into a closed area (such as a shed or garage) if practical. Remove any dead livestock or other carrion in or near your area immediately to prevent coyotes from considering the area a feeding ground.

3. Use bright white lights at nighttime to illuminate corrals and other locations with animals; rotating or flashing lights increase their deterrent effect. Use motion-activated lights in areas without livestock or pet activity. Park vehicles near places where coyotes have been intruding or attempting intrusion.

4. Keep large livestock-guarding dogs with livestock to protect them from coyote intrusion.

Tips & Warnings

• Electric fences, along with portable electric wires, can be used to replace or fortify standard mesh fences. However, electric fences can be costly to install, run and maintain, and a coyote that manages to slip past one may be unable to get back out, causing additional damage.

• Donkeys can be used as livestock guardians instead of dogs, but this requires properly bonding a jenny or gelded male to a herd and finding a donkey that expresses aggression to dogs and other canines.

• Chemical poisons and traps (which must be used with extreme caution) should never be used in an area with livestock or pets, or near neighbors who have animals or who frequent a shared area.

• Use caution around trapped coyotes; they can be extremely dangerous.

References

• Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management; Coyotes; Jeffrey S. Green et al.