Have you seen evidence of the local coyote population on your own property? Coyote tracks? Tipped-over trash cans? Is coyote behavior becoming a threat to your sanity? With rural, suburban, and urban coyotes all increasing in numbers, it’s becoming more and more important to take precautions and minimize your likelihood of a coyote encounter.
We’ve got five effective tips for you to keep the coyotes away.
Coyote Repellent Tip #1: It’s All About the Smell
Coyotes will scavenge near and far to find the easiest food source, which includes investigating your backyard for anything interesting they smell. In this case, your best coyote deterrent is not to tempt them in the first place! Keep enticing smells hidden or masked.
Coyotes will eat just about anything, so it’s important to keep your garbage tightly sealed in an animal-proof container that’s not easily accessible. For extra security, store your trash can inside of a garage or shed. If you feed your dog outside, bring in any dog food or water bowls once they’ve finished their meal for the day.
You’ll also want to protect any places where coyote prey (like rodents and birds and fish) might be congregating. Fish ponds are easy targets unless you keep them secured. Bird feeders can also attract a hungry coyote, so store your bird feeder to keep both the food and the birds protected.
Besides hiding good-smell-producers, you can also strategically place stinky scents like wolf urine, ammonia-soaked rags, and moth balls around your yard and garbage cans. It’ll take a lot more maintenance (and funds) to keep the odors pungent, but it’s another layer of precaution if you want to go the extra mile.
Coyote Repellent Tip #2: Build a Fence
Wondering how to keep coyotes out of your yard for good? One strategy is to make it harder for them to get in. If you don’t already have a fence around your property, we highly recommend building one.
But how high can a coyote jump, you wonder? Will a fence really keep them out for good? Well, if you want a fence to be an effective coyote deterrent, taller is definitely better. Coyotes have been known to clear six-foot fences. And even if it’s too tall to easily jump, coyotes have been known to climb fences seven feet tall (their back legs are quite strong).
Besides building a taller fence, you can install coyote rollers on the fence to prevent their back climbing legs from getting a grip. As an extra layer of insurance, install PVC pipe, chicken wire, or barbed wire on top.
Leaping and climbing coyotes aren’t your only concern, however; you’ll also want to make sure the fence is buried deep enough to prevent them from easily digging under. We recommend a fence depth of 12 to 18 inches to quickly dissuade any determined diggers.
Coyote Repellent Tip #3: Coyote Hazing
Yes, we’re actually advising you to haze a coyote if you encounter one.
Every encounter with a coyote should be unpleasant if not frightening, and result in the coyote running away. There are several ways to get on their nerves and encourage them to quickly leave your property and presence.
Coyotes should never feel comfortable being around humans. Making noise is one way to make them cringe. Try screaming, yelling, blowing a whistle, or using an air horn. You can add to the show by waving your arms over your head to make yourself seem like a larger threat.
Spraying coyotes with a hose or by activating an installed sprinkler system is one way to both startle them and make the experience unpleasant. Water guns and spray bottles filled with vinegar water are other spray tactics (assuming the coyote is within spraying range, that is).
The Humane Society’s coyote hazing resource also suggests throwing sticks and small rocks in the coyote’s direction. Read The Humane Society’s complete guide to coyote hazing.
Coyote Repellent Tip #4: Keep Critters Close
If you’ve got small dogs or other small pets, make sure you keep your animals close to home — and close to you. Even guard animals can be in danger if allowed to freely roam. Fences (as mentioned above) are one precaution you can take to help keep your pets close to home and protected from coyote conflict.
In an interview with Dogster, a National Park Service ranger in the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area recommended that dog owners always act as if a prowling coyote nearby. Keep your pets leashed and near you while you’re out on walks together so you’re never caught off guard.
Coyote Repellent Tip #5: Use Nite Guard Solar Lights
Dog owners across the country use Nite Guard Solar lights as protection from predators like coyote. The lights are most effective when installed in all four directions at a coyote’s eye level (20-30 inches off the ground). Instead of being motion activated, Nite Guard Solar lights automatically turn on at dusk and continue to flash all night, making sure that coyotes don’t get close.
Will Nite Guard Solar lights actually deter coyotes and prevent coyote attacks? We hear story after story from grateful customers who’ve solved their coyote problems just by using our lights.
Here’s what two once-coyote-bothered customers had to say about Nite Guard Solar Lights:
- “We heard coyotes every night until we put up Nite Guard Solar lights. Now we haven’t heard them for months.” ― Gary Fowler in Georgia
- “Absolutely stops coyotes! My neighbors laughed at me when I bought this product. They are not laughing now because the coyotes are starting to go to their rightful place after I installed Nite Guard Solar lights.” ― J. Fendrick in Windsor, Colorado