Kentuckians could be hearing more coyotes over the next month or so. February and March are the peak of the winter mating season for the animals. This means coyotes could become more aggressive as they work to establish and maintain their territory.
Jason Nally is the Bluegrass Regional Coordinator for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. In an interview with WEKU, he said coyotes tend to be afraid of humans but there are times to be on alert.
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“A lot of the negative encounters happen when someone is walking a dog. That’s somewhat normal response for a coyote during the breeding season, they’re already territorial, and if they see a small dog, they don’t recognize, they just recognize it as a dog and a potential someone who is trying to get into their territory.”
Nally said people may be surprised to find out most coyotes actually live near people.
“Sometimes when you get into urban, suburban type of environments you actually have a really abundant source of shelter and food for those animals so they can tend to have high density numbers in those areas.”
Nally said during this time of year people need to make to not feed the coyotes. Whether it is intentional or just leaving scraps or even pet food outside, this could draw them in yards. This could present a threat to smaller pets that are left unattended outdoors.
This article is republished with permission from WEKU. Read the original.
