City of West Hollywood
Home MenuCoyote Management
Coyotes are curious, smart and adaptable creatures and our urban areas provide the perfect balance of food, shelter and water for them. What you may not know is that even in fragmented and urbanized landscapes, coyotes can play an integral role in their environment by providing ecosystem services and helping to maintain species diversity. Coyotes in urban areas not only provide free rodent control by feeding on mice and rats, but also help to regulate the population size of other species that may cause conflicts with people in urban areas.
- View our comprehensive Coyote Management & Coexistence Plan [PDF]
Generally, coyotes are reclusive animals who avoid human contact. Coyotes in urban and suburban environments, however, may learn that neighborhoods provide easy sources of human-associated food while presenting few real threats. These coyotes, having lost their fear of humans, may visit yards and public areas even when people are present and may cause conflicts with people and pets. Humans have contributed to this habituation of coyotes by not reacting when they see a coyote. We have a tendency to either ignore them due to fear or to be enamored by them because they are wild and it is “cool” to see one. To coexist safely, it’s important to modify this behavior and attitude in resident coyote populations.