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In the early morning of Friday, May 23, Menlo Park resident Christian Le Cocq was in his yard when he noticed his dog was no longer following him. A coyote had entered his backyard by digging under his fence near Sharon Park.
“I hadn’t heard anything,” Le Cocq said. “(The coyote) was very light on its feet.”
Le Cocq’s 3-year-old Havanese named Penny scared off the coyote, in the nick of time as the coyote got within feet of Penny.
A few days later Menlo Park resident Neeraj Soman’s cat, Digby, suffered a near-fatal encounter with a coyote.
“I thought we would need to put Digby down,” Soman said. “I would be very sad to lose him, but also know he’s remarkably feisty and resilient, so it’s not just luck that’s kept him alive.”
Digby often escapes Soman’s fenced backyard on Olive Street and he suspects the cat’s encounter was somewhere between Middle Street and Bay Laurel Drive, which borders the San Francisquito Creek.
Digby, 13, was brought to the Veterinary Emergency Group in Palo Alto after Soman found him collapsed in his closet with severe bite marks and blood loss. Digby is recovering after several surgeries and having his leg amputated and herniated organs repaired.
San Mateo County Mosquito and Vector Control recommends residents reduce the risk of interacting with a coyote by removing potential food sources. It recommends residents harvest ripe and fallen fruit, keep garbage and compost in closed containers, address rodent infestations, keep outdoor poultry or rabbits in kennels and avoid leaving pet food outside.
Vector control, which is not responsible for coyotes, also recommends residents avoid leaving small animals outside unsupervised at night.
However, as Le Cocq learned, coyotes aren’t just a concern during the night. “I thought we were safe if there was sunlight,” Le Cocq said.
“I would advise people to be cautious, but equally, we live in a coyote habitat. They have survived and even thrived despite human colonization, because they’re adaptable. It’s no use blaming wild animals for opportunistic hunting,” said Soman.
As coyotes have more frequent interactions with humans, they may become more aggressive and present during the day, according to the University of California Statewide Integrated Pest Management Program.
In March, The Almanac reported that the Peninsula Humane Society, which runs animal control in San Mateo County, had noticed an increase in daytime coyote sightings, one of the first signs of increasing aggression.
From March through August, coyotes are in their pup rearing season, which means their food need may be higher.
If approached by an aggressive coyote, the pest management program and Humane Society recommends people shout in a deep voice, wave their arms, throw objects and look the animal directly in the eyes.
While people should avoid wildlife and give them a wide berth in most cases, they should never run from or turn their backs on coyotes.
“It is natural for coyotes to be afraid of people. Making it uncomfortable for them by being big and loud and having no food access from people helps them stay this way,” said Peninsula Humane Society spokesperson Colleen Crowley.
It is a misdemeanor to feed or provide water to wildlife, including coyotes.
People should call 911 if they think there is an immediate threat to human life or someone is severely injured.
“People can definitely call us when a coyote is acting aggressively or if a person or pet is facing imminent danger,” said Crowley as well.
Residents can report injured coyotes to the Peninsula Humane Society and deceased coyotes to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Residents can report any coyote sightings at bayareacoyote.org, a website run by University of California, Santa Cruz post-doctoral student Christine Wilkinson, which aims to document interactions between humans and coyotes to foster human-coyote coexistence in the region.
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