Skip to content
Grow In Backyard
Squirrels & Wildlife

What Attracts Coyotes to a Yard? Food, Water, Cover

Pet food, fallen fruit, rodents, compost and unsecured bins draw coyotes in. The five attractants to remove, in the order they matter.

By Salma 2 min read Save to Pinterest — opens Pinterest in a new tab
A coyote standing alert on open sagebrush grassland, looking to one side
Photo: mathey, Pixabay Content License, via Pixabay
On this page

Coyotes follow food, and in most gardens the food is not what people assume. The rodents under the bird feeder matter more than the feeder.

The five attractants, in order

attractantwhy it worksfix
Pet food outsidedirect, high-value mealfeed indoors, bring bowls in
Unsecured binsreliable nightly foodlocking lids, store in a shed
Fallen fruiteasy calories, draws rodents toopick up daily in season
Spilled seed and feedfeeds the rodents they huntsweep beneath feeders, metal bins
Meat in compoststrong scent trailgreens and browns only

Cover, which people forget

Coyotes rest during the day in whatever dense cover is available: woodpiles, brush heaps, overgrown shrubs at a boundary, and the space under a deck or shed. Closing off decking with mesh skirting and thinning boundary cover removes the daytime refuge that makes a garden worth returning to.

Supervise small pets after dark, and keep cats in

Dawn and dusk are the risk windows and unfenced gardens are where it happens. A cat flap that lets a cat out at four in the morning is the common pattern behind a missing cat.

Hazing, done properly

  1. Stand tall, open your coat, make yourself look big
  2. Shout — a firm voice, not a shriek
  3. Bang a pan, shake a can of coins, use an air horn
  4. Advance toward the animal; do not turn and walk away
  5. Repeat every single time, not just when it is convenient

Never feed a coyote, and never let one get food by accident

Almost every serious incident involves an animal that learned people mean food. Removing the accidental sources is the whole job, and it is the part you control.

Common questions

What attracts coyotes to a yard?

Food, in roughly this order: pet food left outside, unsecured rubbish bins, fallen fruit under trees, compost containing meat or cooked food, and the rodents that bird feeders and chicken feed support. Water sources matter in dry regions, and dense cover — woodpiles, overgrown shrubs, decking with an open underside — gives them somewhere to rest. Small pets left out unsupervised are themselves an attractant.

Do bird feeders attract coyotes?

Indirectly, and it is one of the most common routes. Spilled seed feeds mice, rats, voles and squirrels, and those rodents are what the coyote is actually coming for. The same applies to spilled chicken feed and to pet food bowls left on a porch. Clearing spill beneath feeders and storing feed in sealed metal bins removes the prey base rather than arguing with the predator.

Will a coyote take a cat or small dog?

Yes. Cats and dogs under about 11 kg (25 lb) are taken, most often at dawn and dusk and most often from unfenced gardens. Keep cats indoors in areas with coyotes, supervise small dogs outside after dark, and do not use a retractable lead where one could appear. Larger dogs are rarely taken but can be drawn into a fight, which goes badly for both.

How high a fence keeps coyotes out?

At least 1.8 m (6 ft), and even then they climb or dig. A roller bar along the top stops the climb, and a wire apron buried or laid flat 30–45 cm outward at the base stops the dig. A standard 1.2 m garden fence is no obstacle at all — coyotes clear it without breaking stride.

Are coyotes dangerous to people?

Attacks on adults are very rare and almost always involve an animal that has been fed, directly or through accessible rubbish. A coyote that has lost its wariness is the dangerous one, which is why feeding — deliberately or by leaving food out — is the single behaviour that creates the problem. Children should not be left unsupervised in gardens where coyotes are regular visitors.

What should you do if a coyote is in your garden?

Haze it: make yourself large, shout, clap, bang something metallic, and move toward it rather than away. The aim is to restore the wariness that proximity to people erodes. Do it every time and consistently — half-hearted hazing teaches a coyote that humans are noisy and harmless, which is worse than doing nothing.

Backyard Weekly

Know what to plant, week by week

Join the weekly email for seasonal jobs, fixes for what is going wrong, and gear worth buying.

Not ready to subscribe? The planting calendar is free and needs no email.

By subscribing you agree to our privacy policy. Grow In Backyard will never sell your address.

Keep reading