Why the coyotes are here in Madison – and in every city

Coyote sightings in Madison - particularly on the east side - have been in the news a lot lately.

Neighborhood associations have discussed them at their regular meetings, and Public Health Madison and Dane County released a video explaining how to “haze” or frighten coyotes into being uncomfortable around humans.

The video [1] features Dr. David Drake, who runs the Urban Canid Project at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. With the help of graduate student Marcus Mueller and community volunteers, Drake tracks the movement of coyotes throughout Madison.

Anyone can volunteer via Drake’s website [2], and tracking season runs through April. Drake has encourages citizens to report coyote and fox sightings via iNaturalist.

His data indicates that no place in Madison is likely coyote-free. If they aren’t living there, they’re at least traveling through as they hunt. And this doesn’t surprise Drake in the least.

Drake said the animals have most likely been in Madison for a while and have formed what he called “pretty sizable packs.” Since coyotes can – and do – live everywhere in the United States and have a diet that consists of both meat and plants, they adapt well to nearly any sort of environment.

In fact, according to Drake, there isn’t a single city in the United States that doesn’t have coyotes in it somewhere.

Mueller said that over the last 100 years, coyotes have expanded their habitat range, and probably began moving into cities about 30 years ago.

“What is important to note is that they came here on their own and are adapting very well to living in urban areas,” he said.

Drake said that it is important to him to educate the public and to invite them to participate in the research. He is especially concerned about making sure that people know how to coexist with coyotes.

Peaceful coexistence involves not feeding pets outdoors, as well as making sure pets are always either on a leash or in a fenced-in yard. It also means hazing the coyotes since this minimizes conflicts between foxes and coyotes and people and their pets. Hazing requires throwing things toward the animal and making loud noises.

Coyote sightings are actually rare, but when people do see them, their reactions are generally negative, which Drake said is unnecessary.

“The coyote is bigger, it’s at nighttime – and everything is even scarier at night anyway – and there’s more negative news about coyotes attacking pets. So, people believe they’re going to kill all their pets and attack humans, and that’s not the case at all,” Drake said.