Along with all the other wild animals living in the state, New York has coyotes. According to the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the coyote population in New York state is between 20,000 and 30,000 animals. Different sources have different opinions as to how long coyotes have been in the state. The time of their arrival is anywhere from 1920 to the early 1930s.
These adaptable animals not only live in the places you would expect to find them in upstate New York; they also live in urban environments such as Long Island and downtown New York City.
The state of New York’s coyotes are eastern coyotes (Canis latrans var).
New York’s eastern coyotes
The eastern coyote goes by other names such as northeastern coyote, coywolf, and southern tweed wolf. They’re actually a hybrid animal. Genetic analysis shows that they carry both coyote and wolf DNA. What’s more, about 11% of their DNA comes from domestic dogs. At some point hybridization of western coyotes with wolves has occurred. This likely took place in southern Canada, where the ranges of the 2 species overlap. Hybridization with dogs occurred between 11 and 24 generations ago. There, however, is no evidence that any recent hybridization with dogs has taken place. See Also See
The eastern coyote is around 21% larger than the western coyote (Canis latrans). In fact, the largest individuals are as big as smaller timber wolves.
They are 4 to 5 feet in length from the tip of the nose to the tip of the tail. In weight, they are 35 to 45 pounds, with males usually being larger than females. Their fur is long and thick, and they also have long bushy tails that point downward as they move. This is different than a wolf, which will be more apt to carry its tail out away from its legs. See Another point on tails is that wolf tails are much less bushy than are coyote tails.
In coloration, eastern coyotes vary from blond to dark tan with a greyish overcoat. Their ears, cheeks, and legs are usually reddish brown. Most of them also have a dirty white colored chin and a dark spot just below the base of the tail.
They look a lot like German shepherds, except they are about half the size.
What do coyotes eat?
The Coyote requires about 1.3 pounds of food daily. They predominantly eat rabbits” New York has both the cotton tail rabbit and the snowshoe hare.”, rodents, frogs, fish, and bigger game such as deer.
Speaking of which, there are around 1.2 million white-tailed deer in the state of New York. While coyotes do prey on them, most of the deer they kill are fawns and juveniles. coyotes rarely prey on healthy adult deer.
Ninety percent of coyote diets over multiple regions are mammalian. However, although they have the reputation of being strictly carnivorous, they are essentially omnivores. — They consume meat plus plant materials. They eat insects, snakes, grass, and fruit whenever they are not snacking on larger prey. Coyotes sometimes kill pets such as cats and small dogs. They also prey on livestock, such as sheep though they ordinarily help control agricultural pests, like rodents. In towns, coyotes will scavenge through garbage or steal pet food. See
Where do coyotes live?
The range of the coyote is ever-expanding. In the Pre-Columbian era, their range was limited to the southwestern plains area of North America. This includes territory in the United States and parts of Mexico. In the 1800s, as wolves were expatriated and clearing of the forest land for agriculture took place in the eastern U.S. and Canada, their territory expanded north, south, and east. Today their range starts at Alaska and Northern Canada in the north and goes south through the entirety of North America and into Central America. The southern boundary of the coyote’s range is about 8 degrees N in Panama. The only U.S. state that doesn’t have a coyote population is Hawaii. See
Where do eastern coyotes live?
The eastern coyote lives throughout the eastern United States, including Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, and West Virginia. In Canada, they live in Quebec, Ontario, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Labrador, and Prince Edward Island.
The ancestors of the coyotes that now inhabit New York likely migrated from the west and went north of the Great Lakes and down into the Adirondack region.
Where do coyotes live in New York?
There is a greater concentration of coyotes in the rural areas of northern New York. This is due to a greater abundance of small mammals and other prey animals. According to a study conducted by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry, the coyote population density in the Adirondack mountains and St. Lawrence and Mohawk River Valleys is around 2 1/2 breeding pairs per every 10 square miles.
City coyote
Coyotes are adaptable animals and will also inhabit urban areas if they can find easy prey, such as small rodents, and or scavenge through human food scraps and garbage. There are several reported coyote sightings each year in the lower Hudson valley, in Westchester County, Rockland County, and Putnam County. Coyotes have also been spotted in Battery Park City.
There are even coyotes living in New York City. For instance, New Yorkers report coyote sightings in Central Park on a weekly basis. New York City has many parks. In fact, 13% of the city’s area is green space. Coyote sightings have taken place in every borough except Brooklyn. According to the Gotham Coyote Project, the majority of the city’s coyotes live in the wooded area parkland of the Bronx. Mark Weckel and Chris Nagy, who run the Gotham Coyote Project, say that the permanent population in the city is in the teens.
Coyotes do not live in packs as gray wolves do. However, they do live in family units while the pair rears their pups. A family unit will live in a territory and defend that territory from incursion by other coyotes. Eastern coyote territories generally cover from 2 to 15 square miles.
Are coyotes dangerous?
Coyotes instinctively avoid interaction with people. Although they can be seen any time of day, they are mostly crepuscular, meaning that they focus most of their activity to dawn or twilight hours.
Although these animals generally avoid humans, in urban areas or in other areas where they do not receive hunting pressure, such as national parks, they have the potential to become habituated to people. This is when problem coyotes are created. When coyotes lose their fear of humans or become habituated to human food and garbage, they have the potential to be dangerous. Since the turn of the 20th century, coyotes have killed 2 people in the U.S. and Canada. They have also injured many more.
Coyote Related Deaths
- In 1981 A toddler wandered out the front door of her family’s home in Glendale, California A coyote attacked the little girl in the driveway and then drug her down the street. The girl’s father chased the coyote off, but she later died at the hospital from her injuries. After the attack, officials implemented 80 days of leghold trapping and shooting within a 0.5-mile radius of the attack site. They trapped and shot 55 coyotes.
- On October 27, 2009, in Cape Breton Highlands National Park in Nova Scotia, Canada, two eastern coyotes mauled 19-year-old Taylor Mitchell. Although Mitchell was hiking alone when the attack occurred, two other hikers heard the commotion and called 911. Officers responded in time to shoot one of the animals. Although Mitchel was airlifted to a hospital in Halifax, she died of her injuries the next day.
To put this in perspective, though, consider the following.
- Cows kill around 22 people in the United States each year.
- Pigs kill approximately 40 people in the United States and Canada each year.
- Dogs killed 48 people in the United States in the year 2019. Pitbulls were responsible for 33 of these deaths.
The takeaway from this is that while coyotes are wild predators and potentially dangerous, coyote attacks on humans are very rare. Your odds of being bothered by a coyote are very small. Also, coyotes that injure humans are almost always human-habituated coyotes. Source
The following is from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation website. They give the following pointers in handling encounters with human-habituated coyotes.
- Do not let a coyote approach anyone.
- If you see a coyote, be aggressive in your behavior-stand tall, and hold your arms out to look large. If a coyote lingers for too long, then make loud noises, wave your arms, or throw sticks and stones.
- Contact your local police department and DEC regional office for assistance if you notice that coyotes are exhibiting “bold” behaviors and have little or no fear of people.
- Teach children to appreciate coyotes from a distance. Small children are at the greatest risk of being injured by coyotes. If a coyote has been observed repeatedly near an area where children frequent, be watchful.
If you live in an area that is frequented by urban coyotes, the NYSDEC also recommends that you never feed the coyotes in any way, directly or indirectly. For example, when you don’t keep your garbage secured, or you leave pet food outside, you might be indirectly feeding the coyotes. They also recommend that you forgo having a bird feeder. Concentrations of birds and or rodents in your yard will also attract coyotes.
New York coyote hunting and trapping
Around 30,000 New Yorkers hunt coyotes in the state each year. Coyote hunting is legal statewide except on Long Island and in New York City. Coyote hunters can legally use any type of predator call, including electronic ones. You can also hunt coyotes at night in New York. What’s more, night hunting equipment such as spotlights, night vision scopes, and laser sites are also legal. The New York State coyote hunting season opens on October 1st and ends on March 27th.
You can also legally trap coyotes in New York. See the NYSDEC furbearer hunting and trapping guide for all the pertinent details.
