01/22/2025
Coyotes don't wait til Valentine's Day to get romantic... they start in January! Remember when you adopted your pet you became your pet's protector! Don't leave unattended/unsupervised pets outside!!!
Have y’all seen the warnings spreading like wildfire on social media, claiming that coyotes become extra aggressive in January and February, when they’re seeking mates? Guess what: it’s not true!
Coyotes are looking for love this time of year, but that doesn’t have anything to do with aggression. Coyote attacks are extremely rare, and the only two fatal attacks that have ever occurred on humans took place in August 1981 and October 2009, about as far from January and February as you can get!
During absolutely any time of year, coyotes will protect themselves and their families from threats, and those threats can include dogs that are allowed to roam at large. This isn’t malicious. Dogs defend their families from coyotes, and coyotes defend their families from dogs, too. The correct way to prevent that is to keep your dog either indoors or in a secure coyote-proof fence unless it is a working livestock guardian.
Mating season aside, January and February are when prey becomes harder and harder for coyotes to find, so they may, in desperation, try to eat cats and small dogs that are left outside unattended. This, too, isn’t malicious on the coyote’s part. We can’t leave free food outside and then be surprised when someone responds to the open invitation.
It is the responsibility of pet owners to care for their pets, not the responsibility of coyotes to stop being coyotes. Keep your pets secure because they deserve that— and leave your wild neighbors alone.