Consuming human garbage could lead to bolder coyotes: study

Evidence that coyotes are eating more human garbage could lead to an increase in attacks as the animals lose their fear of people, suggests a Calgary researcher.

New research from the University of Calgary shows about one in six coyotes have remnants of garbage in their waste, an indication that people are either feeding them or leaving garbage around.

Shelley Alexander, a professor in the department of geography, studied several parks in the city over two years with graduate students. In addition to crab apples and Saskatoon berries in coyote droppings, they also found traces of foil, plastic and even rope.

"The problem with this is that there is a direct link between coyotes eating human sources of food and the potential for them to become habituated," said Alexander on Wednesday. "When an animal becomes habituated, it loses its fear of humans and there's an increased risk of conflict or an increased risk of a coyote biting a person."

Coyotes wandering inside city limits, and even living in the backyards of Calgarians, has been an ongoing problem. A family of three pups and their mother have made a home under a shed in a family's yard in Coventry Hills.

"I would love to just see her move on with them," said Cheryl Ehret, who has been videotaping the coyotes in her back yard. "We've tried a few things but nothing really has worked so far and so the big next step is to pepper spray her, and I'd really like not to do that."

Human food sources could create conflict

Alexander, who also analyzed 100 cases over the last 10 years in Canada in which coyotes had bitten humans or pets, said there have been very few incidences of attacks in Calgary.

But she said that situation could change if the animals lose their fear of humans and develop a more aggressive attitude when it comes to seeking food.

"We have a population of coyotes in Calgary that's respectful of human boundaries, that tends to avoid people," she said. "But as they become more habituated to human food sources, I think we're setting ourselves up for a problem of conflict."

In order to avoid potential problems, Alexander advises people to:

• Pick up any fruit that falls on the ground in yards with fruit-bearing trees.
• Store garbage tightly and properly.

In the next phase of the research, Alexander wants to set up a mapping system online, that would allow the public to mark areas where coyotes are spotted so scientists can better track them.