Ask a Santa Cruz coyote: Why are sightings spiking around town this summer – or are they?

Yes, it’s coyote season once again. And by that we mean, social media is reporting multiple sightings of the creatures in urban and suburban areas. 

Has there been a surge in coyote activity?

We asked a couple of local experts.

Not exactly, said Eve Egan, executive director of Native Animal Rescue in Santa Cruz.

“We haven’t had an increase in sightings,” she said. It’s an annual phenomenon – pups in the spring, more activity in the summer. “If you see a young coyote, there’s likely an adult nearby watching out for it,” Egan said. 

Which brings us to our other expert. 

Lookout has been able to connect with an actual coyote – Mr. A. Coyote, late of the hills and ravines along Branciforte Drive, but currently located closer to town in the lower Carbonera neighborhood.

We caught up with Mr. Coyote recently behind a dumpster on Ocean Street, where he agreed to a brief Q&A. 

(Editor’s note: Mr. A. Coyote is a fictional spokesperson for the local coyote community. However, his comments are based on behavioral research and expert tips provided by wildlife agencies and Santa Cruz animal care professionals.)

Lookout: Hello, thanks for talking with us. How’s the scavenging going?

Coyote: A little hit-and-miss, to be honest. Too many abandoned buildings, too little quality trash. A few rats, that’s about it.

Lookout: So, every year in the summer there’s a spate of coyote sightings, and there’s a lot of advice out there about how to live with them in our midst. Mind if we ask you about some of the commonly dispensed tips?

Coyote: Shoot – figuratively speaking, mind you. 

Lookout: Noted. The current advice is to keep trash and recycling containers inside until the night before pickup, or even until the morning of pickup. Valid?

Coyote: Yes, absolutely. Granted, it can be a little frustrating for us. Sort of like when you forget that a favorite diner is closed on Mondays. But when that happens, we just end up expanding our range. As we like to say, “It’s always trash day somewhere!”

On that note …

Lookout: Yes …?

Coyote: You know those little brown compost buckets? The aroma is like ambrosia to us. Seriously, it smells divine. But here’s a hot tip, which I probably should not be telling you: The compost bucket is locked only if the black handle is placed in the forward-down position. If the handle is pointing up, the most adept among us (me) can knock it open. (Santa Cruz Public Works Department, you’re welcome.) 

Lookout: Who knew! Moving on, we assume you understand that the sight of a coyote walking down a sidewalk at 10 a.m. might be alarming to people. According to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, if a person does encounter a coyote, they shouldn’t run, but they should try to appear large, yell, bang things, lunge. Is that effective?

Coyote: Yes it is, to a point. We’ll slink away from that type of craziness, but not because we’re afraid. We just have delicate sensibilities, sound-wise. And, to be perfectly frank, we’ll be back once things quiet down.

Lookout: We know you’re joking about some of this stuff …

Coyote: Oh, are we …?

Lookout: … but you can understand the emotional reaction to some of your comments from someone who has had a pet snatched from a porch or driveway, right? 

Coyote: Oh, for sure. But did you know there are bobcats in this area, too? Vicious, stinky little things. You might want to ponder that possibility, OK? Certainly, no one wants to lose a loved one. But gosh, if only there were a way to protect them. 

Lookout: Meaning …?

Coyote: For Wile E.’s sake, man! Keep your cats and small- to medium-sized dogs in the house during our business hours! Yes, we are brazen and resourceful – wily, you might say – but we haven’t (yet) figured out how to pick a front-door lock or shimmy down a chimney.

Lookout: One of the other suggestions from state Fish and Wildlife is to install motion-activated lights and cameras that come on when you’re out there sniffing around in the middle of the night. Does that work? 

Coyote: Ha! The only thing those lights do is make us look even more spectacular when the photos and videos are posted to Reddit and Nextdoor. But we appreciate the effort. 

Lookout: Those are all interesting perspectives, Mr. C. Although some of your answers will need to be thoroughly vetted, as we’re sure you understand. That said, any final thoughts? 

Coyote: I’ll just say that, yes, I imagine it can be scary to see semi-wild animals roaming your streets, harassing your pets, acting like they own the place. But it wouldn’t be happening if you’d simply stop building where we live. Would that be so hard? 

In the meantime, just think of us as those quiet but shifty-seeming neighbors of yours. Which is to say: Best to steer clear. 

See you in the morning!

Have something to say? Lookout welcomes letters to the editor, within our policies, from readers. Guidelines here.