Captured Coyote

Pets such as free roaming house cats and smaller dogs are considered legitimate prey species  by coyotes.  When people attempt to feed or otherwise “tame” coyotes, they run the risk of being bitten or acclimating the wild canines to the point where they lose all fear of humans and are apt to start looking upon small children as possible food sources. 

The  number of attacks by coyotes on humans is usually directly related to the behavior of the people within a coyote’s territory.  “Abnormal behavior” on the part of humans is likely  to draw a similar response from wild animals. 

Distemper, mange, and rabies are diseases that sporadically affect coyote populations. Since the rabies virus is both transmittable to  humans and invariably fatal, being bitten by a coyote should be avoided at all costs. 

For the most part coyotes live both on the edge of our physical environments as well as on the  fringes of our imaginations, cunning, wary, and the epitome of a true survivor.  They are the tricksters in numerous Native American legends and are viewed either as an icon or  the scourge of our modern desert environment.

A special thanks to Dexter K. Oliver for writing this section.