If you don’t see coyotes in New Jersey, they see you

Imagine that you are a guy who lives in a house backing onto the woods. Let’s say you have a 4 year old boy who is plus the size of a 3 year old. Plus, you have a dog the size of a raccoon.

Then imagine that you receive an email from your homeowners association that contains the following passage:

“On another note, we wanted to address the fact that there have been several sightings of coyotes in the neighborhood, even on the backyard porches. Although coyotes reside in the area, it is unusual for them to get so close to dwellings.

So this guy is me. I’ve heard them before; that strange howl. When we got out of our SUV, my son and I saw two glowing eyes following us from the depths of the woods. With my son’s eyes better than my middle age, they said he could make out the rough shape of a coyote. I only saw those eyes. A little disconcerting that these generally elusive creatures are now aggressive enough to present themselves directly against people’s backdoors.

Then I kept reading and found out why. It appears that some of my neighbors have apparently raised backyard chickens when they may not have enough land per ordinance to do so. The working theory is that it attracts these coyotes and makes them lose their fear of humans. A good food source will do what they say.

Grrrreat.

Now, coyotes will usually never bother people. But I don’t want to be outside with our little dog and a coyote trying to make him a snack and put me in this unenviable position. This position of choosing between saving the dog or not fighting a coyote.

How prevalent are coyotes in New Jersey? Very. Here are some random facts about coyotes.

The kind of coyote we have here is called an eastern coyote, and its DNA contains parts of coyote, wolf, and dog.

Eastern coyotes arrived in New Jersey just over 80 years ago.

The first sighting was in Hunterdon County in 1939 and the very first verified report was in Cape May County in 1948.

Coyotes have been spotted in 453 towns in New Jersey. These cities represent 96% of the land area of ​​New Jersey. We even got a call from a woman who saw a coyote standing near a freeway exit near Newark Liberty International Airport.

How many are there exactly? Nobody knows. Coyotes are extremely intelligent and very elusive. Those who stalk my neighborhood, despite most coyotes, will quickly turn away from humans.

Scientists believe there are thousands of coyotes in New Jersey and their numbers are increasing. They know of vehicle collisions, sightings, and game numbers. Basically just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there, seeing you, assessing you and slowly losing. their fear of you.

Although extremely rare, what if a coyote settles on you? Some are the same advice as bears; make yourself as tall as possible with your arms above your head and make a lot of noise. One major difference is that they say to look a dead coyote in the eye.

If he still doesn’t want to leave, try to “hazel” the animal by throwing sticks, stones, whatever is nearby to convince him to leave.

Aren’t you glad we got over it without a single Acme reference or tunnel painted on the side of a mountain?

The above post reflects the thoughts and observations of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Jeff Deminski. All opinions expressed are those of Jeff Deminski.

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