What to Do if Coyotes are in Your Yard

Our home is located directly next to 29 acres of woods, with a creek in the valley.  This land connects to a state park and it is an ideal habitat for a variety of animals. We enjoy watching the wildlife but when the coyote came into our yard it was too close for comfort. This article will tell you what we did to stop the coyote from coming into our yard.

When coyotes come into your yard it is best to scare them off. In general, coyotes are fearful of humans. Normally if you wave your arms in the air, and scream at them they will run away.

We have lived in this house for 15 years and this is the first time coyotes came into our yard so we needed to determine the attraction.

Coyotes' diet consists of small animals, insects, berries, and vegetables. I grow blueberries, Nanking cherries, and vegetables. Since these plants are grown in outdoor gardens husband decided that we needed to install a repellent to keep the coyotes out of our yard.

We bought a motion-activated water repellent; the Scarecrow animal repellent by Contech at amazon.com  Installation was easy; insert it into the ground and attach it to your garden hose. This motion-activated animal repellent protects up to 1200 square feet and is effective at repelling not only coyotes but also stray dogs, deer, cats, raccoons, squirrels, and rabbits.

If the coyote comes into our yard and crosses the motion sensor then the scarecrow's noise will startle the animal and the water burst will come in contact with the coyote, and the animal will feel a sting. The noise and sting of the water will scare the coyote. They will exit the yard because they will be caught off guard. The animal will try a few times to get past the scarecrow but eventually learns that they are not welcome.

Making yard unattractive to wildlife

The following day husband and I decided to clean up our yard. The dog's food had spilled out of his bowl and was lying on the ground. To remedy this food source, we decided to feed the dog in the garage. The husband bought trash cans with locking lids at Lowes.com to prevent coyotes from getting into the trash.

We also cleared away many of the plants that were growing thickly, this created an area that provided no hiding spots. A manicured yard is not a comfortable yard for wildlife.

*** If you reside in a city I would recommend contacting animal control and asking them to set up a live animal trap in your yard to remove the coyote and relocate it outside of the city. Trapping in my situation is not the answer since there are many coyotes in the woods. Repellents and deterrents are best in my circumstance.