The coyote next door

Mary Ellen Snell remembers neighbors calling her about coyotes seen around Saulter Road and Broadway Street in 2012. Then she saw one at the old Homewood Middle School site while walking her dog. When they started appearing downtown and near major roadways “in every ward,” that’s when Snell knew the city had a coyote problem.

“People just wanted coyotes to be where they were supposed to be,” said Snell, the president of the East Edgewood Neighborhood Watch. “There’s a point where it intrudes on your day-to-day activity. That’s a problem.”

While Homewood’s coyote population has decreased since 2012, the canines are still living in the city and are more common than their human neighbors might realize.

“Coyotes are everywhere. They’re a very adaptable creature,” said Keith Gauldin, the assistant chief of the wildlife section at the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.

With their natural habitats being replaced by neighborhoods and businesses, coyote populations are adjusting to life in the suburbs. They will eat almost anything, from fruit and birdseed to garbage and pet food. They are normally shy and nocturnal creatures, but as the coyotes become used to living around humans, Gauldin said it becomes more common for people to spot them on roadways or in yards, especially near wooded areas.

Coyotes have made a bad name for themselves by sometimes eating small pets, which are the same size as the rabbits and other wildlife they naturally hunt. When the coyote population peaked in 2012, Snell said a large number of Homewood cats went missing and a few coyotes were spotted with the remains of dead pets. 

It is almost impossible to catch and relocate coyotes with traps, so Homewood simply had to wait out its overpopulation. Snell said she rarely hears of sightings now, although there have been a few this year in the wooded areas near Homewood Middle School. Homewood Animal Control Officer Robbie Bagby has also seen a decrease in the number of coyote reports. Despite a decrease in numbers, Bagby said coyotes have made a permanent home in the Birmingham area.

“All these Over the Mountain communities have a large population of wildlife,” Bagby said.

It is relatively simple to deter coyotes from pets and property. Gauldin said supervising outdoor pets and removing accessible food sources will cause coyotes to move on to other areas. He also noted that coyotes are rarely aggressive toward humans unless they are defending pups, and they are not something to fear.

Since coyotes will not be leaving Homewood any time soon, residents will have to take a few precautions and learn to coexist with their wild neighbors.

Keeping coyotes out of your yard

• Don’t leave pet food or water outside for long periods of time.
• Clean up messes from bird feeders, and secure trash cans.
• Make sure fences are too tall for a coyote to jump over and are secured to the ground.
• Supervise small pets when outdoors, and don’t let animals wander without a leash. At night, bring cats and small dogs indoors.
• If you see a coyote, wave your arms and yell loudly, approaching it if necessary.
• If the coyote does not leave, make more noise by banging pots together, sounding an air horn or shaking a can of coins. Spraying a garden hose or throwing sticks and rocks near (but not at) the coyote may also scare it away.
• Continue making noise until the coyote is out of the area, pursuing it if needed. You should only have to repeat this once or twice for the coyote to get the message.