Coyotes In Waltham: What To Do

WALTHAM, MA — After a small dog was killed by coyotes in Newton and several were spotted in Waltham including the day after Thanksgiving, when one family reported a coyote jumped the fence into their yard and snatched their 6 pound Pomeranian, officials are warning residents once again to keep a close eye on pets and not to feed the wild animals that share the city with humans.

Coyotes have been spotted in various neighborhoods in Waltham, near the Paine Estate, on Hardy Pond Road, Trapelo Road near Our Lady's Church, Prospect Hill Park, Gregory Street, Smith Street, River Street near the pool to Midland Drive, according to Patch readers.

Experts stress that coyotes are not aggressive and do not — even in packs — attack humans or anything much bigger than a very small dog. And because coyotes are generally skittish, they won't even do that unless no loud humans are around.

Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and will normally eat whatever is easiest to catch, wildlife experts say. They usually eat fruit and berries, small rodents (and yes, rats!), rabbits, birds and insects, as well as pet food and garbage. They size up their prey, and if there is a threat of getting injured, they won't take the risk.

This means that if a small dog (or family cat) seems like an easy target left alone, it could be dinner. But that's actually rather rare:

A study by Urban Coyote Research Program analyzed over 1,400 scats and found that “the most common food items were small rodents (42 percent), fruit (23 percent), deer (22 percent), and rabbit (18 percent).” Only about 2 percent of the scats had human garbage and just 1.3 percent showed evidence of cats. “Apparently, the majority of coyotes in our study area do not, in fact, rely on pets or garbage for their diets,” said researchers, according to The Urban Coyote Initiative.

According to the MSPCA, between the 1950s and 2015, only five people have been bitten by a coyote in all of Massachusetts. Most if not all the coyotes had rabies.

Here check out a video of coyote behavior and how to haze and how long to haze a coyote, posted on the Waltham Animal Control social media:

Steps to take:

To limit pet-wildlife interactions, animal control officers recommend keeping cats indoors and dogs on-leash as much as possible. If you want to let your pet off leash in your back yard, they recommend a six-foot wooden fence with spikes or pickets at the top, rather than a chain link fence, which a coyote can climb.

As with all wildlife protection: Board up any crawl space under your house or sheds to discourage the animals taking shelter there. Keep pet food inside, clean up bird feeder scraps and keep garbage in a secure spot to discourage scavengers.

When you see a coyote, haze it. Shouting, blowing a whistle, banging pots and pans, or spraying a water hose at them all make it uncomfortable for the shy animals to be near humans and will help ensure that coyotes don't start to get too close or keep visiting your yard. But if it moves away just a little bit and stays around? Keep it up until the coyote runs off.

How to recognize a coyote:
According to the Massachusetts Department of Fisheries and Wildlife (DFW), the eastern coyote looks like a 40-pound German Shepherd, but has longer and denser fur and pointed ears. The tail is long and bushy, and black at the tip. The coat is usually a brindled gray, but can vary between creamy blond to red or nearly solid black.

The coat gets fluffier in the winter, making the coyote look bigger.

Check out these tips from Waltham Animal Control: Tips

Related:

• Small Dog Killed By Coyote In Newton
• Wild Animal Makes Off With Family's Nine-Pound Dog

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Photo credit: Shutterstock