Coyotes in city and suburb areas?

Question

I live in southeast Michigan. More and more, locally, we see stories about coyote sightings in suburban and Downtown Detroit areas. I thought coyotes were mainly found in the wilderness? I went to my family cemetary today-a huge secluded cemetary, but located in the suburb of Southfield. One of the most populated cities in Michigan. I saw 2"dogs" run by me almost 100 yards away. Then, a caretaker truck pulled up to me and told me to be carefull because he had seen a whole pack of coyotes-4 of them. Is the coyote "SYMBOLIC" in any way? I ask because this crossing of their population and ours almost has a science fiction feel about it?

Answer 1

Coyotes are finding it easy to live close to people, because we do things like put prey out for them--we call them "pets"--and we don't tolerate the coyotes' predators.
http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/urban_coyotes_thrive_in_n_american_cities_9663
http://www.smithsonianmagazine.com/issues/2006/march/phenomena.php?page=2
You are less likely to be attacked by a coyote than a dog, although you should still be cautious:
http://tchester.org/sgm/lists/coyote_attacks.html
http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/awm/docs/coyoteattacks.pdf

It does have that sci-fi feel to it. (Next thing you know birds will be battering themselves against your windows.) In reality they are just adapting to the human environment.

Answer 2

Coyotes are more commonly found in cities and suburbs than in the wilderness now because all the wilderness is disappearing.. They have no where else to go anymore. Here in So. Cal, many populations are literally surrounded by development. They are not really dangerous to people...there have been a few incidences of small children being attacked, but they steer clear of adults. They can be life threatening to pets however....they take advantage of the urban setting by feeding on cats and small dogs. They are highly adaptive animals and can survive right along side people. Most animals in this situation end up dying off. I see coyotes 2 or more times a week, and they have always ran away from me. I work in a more wild area, so these coyotes are shyer. Saw 3 babies today and they too ran from me even though they have probably never seen a human before. Coyotes I have encounterd in a more urban setting, usually do NOT run from me....but rather go about their business while still keeping an eye on me to watch that I do not get too close. The urban coyotes are much bolder, but still not dangerous to an adult human.

Answer 3

Coyotes are definitely found in urban and suburban environments. So are bobcats though they are seen even less than coyotes. Coyotes are very adaptable and they have actually been expanding their range in the past fifty years while most species have been decreasing their range. So yes it is very likely that there are coyotes in your area. That being said, I am a wildlife biologists and I deal will wildlife all day every day and I have never heard of a coyote attacking a human so I personally wouldn't be worried at all.

Answer 4

St. Louis, Missouri. The coyote is all over this area. They hate sirens, and if close to them when noise comes, they will howl. I've been right near them, while they were in heavy brush and never saw them. I was sitting on porch about 12 one night. Look up street, here comes a medium size 'ote.' It looks at me, just walks on down street.
They get displaced by construction, but seem to move easily to new den areas.
Some Native People call them, 'Little Brother,' and otes are part of religion's Spirit world. This is probably the feeling you describe.

Answer 5

Coyotes are fairly adaptable. They're often found in urban areas. Sometimes they mix with stray dogs to produce a slightly more aggressive pack of wild dogs that roam city alleyways, etc.
I would think it should help keep the rodent population down, but city officials probably don't think that way.