Watch Your Pets, Officials Urge as Coyotes Sighted

WAUWATOSA, WI —Local officials are warning residents in the Wauwatosa area to keep an eye on their backyard pets as coyote activity has increased.

According to the Wauwatosa police department, in the last few weeks, officers have seen an increase in coyotes and coyote activity. This is standard during this time of year, as adolescent (i.e. teenager) coyotes are starting to disperse from their birth territory and can get into trouble exploring new areas.

Police say it's likely that residents have also seen or heard of an increase in coyote sightings in their neighborhoods over the past few weeks.

If you know coyotes are present in your area, it's always important to keep a close eye on your pet when outside, regardless of their size, and be sure to inform your neighbors to not feed urban wildlife in their yards or local parks. If you have questions, visit the DNR’s Urban Coyote webpage.

"At night, 10 at night, 5, 6 in the morning, just before you go to bed when you let your dogs out to do their business before everyone goes to bed. Go outside with your pets," Dianne Robinson of the DNR said in a WISN 12 interview.

According to the Wisconsin DNR, coyotes will generally use their dens for the first 8 weeks of the pups' lives and will leave these den sites to travel their territory in search of food from June to August. In September and through January, young coyotes will begin dispersing from their own territory in search of a new territory.

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