But they actually make an array of sounds, particularly when agitated or alarmed. They don’t call out across the night like many animals on this list. Most people don’t think of raccoons as particularly vocal animals. They’re now one of the most wildly distributed carnivores on Earth. Read more about red foxes and their wily ways. In fact, it’s so sensible that the Maryland Department of Natural Resources regularly posts stories on Facebook assuring people that the screams, cries and shrieks they hear are red foxes, not people being assaulted in their backyards. Which, I assured her, locking herself in a room, and calling the police was a completely understandable and sensible reaction to one’s first encounter with red fox screams shattering the night. I ended up sending her a link to a YouTube video of the scream to convince her to come out of the room where she’d locked herself in with her kindergartner. “That’s a fox? That’s not a fox! Are you sure that’s a fox?” Clearly audible through the phone and from the woods between our yards. “A woman’s being stabbed in our woods! I’m calling the police!” As I remember, the late-night call with my new-to-Maryland neighbor went something like this: “Do you hear a woman screaming?” she sounded breathless and a little frantic. Preventing conflicts requires increasing awareness of local coyote activity, protecting pets, eliminating food and habitat and, whenever possible, hazing coyotes that encroach into yards and parks. This proximity causes occasional attacks on humans – including, in relatively rare instances, predatory attacks on small children. Coyotes living in populated areas get used to people, and are drawn to yards by pets, pet food, garbage and potential denning sites. Although coyotes are susceptible to rabies, documented reports of rabid coyotes are uncommon in comparison to other canid species.Ĭoyotes that have been fed, particularly in neighborhoods, parks, and campgrounds, pose the greatest risk of attacking people. Attacks on small dogs and cats are uncommon but sometimes occur, primarily in areas where coyotes have become habituated to humans.Attacks on people are rare but increasing in areas where coyotes are being fed or are accustomed to humans. In populated areas they also eat garbage and pet food. They are also scavengers and will eat carrion of large animals like deer.

Their diet tends to reflect the most abundant prey species in their area and commonly includes small rodents, rabbits, carrion, deer, waterfowl, livestock, poultry and sometimes free-ranging pets.

They use sheltered areas such as burrows, hollow trees, rock crevices, and thick underbrush, as well as spaces under sheds and decks, as dens and resting areas.Ĭoyotes are primarily carnivorous, but also opportunistic. They are most active at night and in early morning. Coyotes are social animals and commonly yip, bark, and howl to communicate however, urban dwelling coyotes tend to be quieter. typically weigh 40-45 pounds and females average 30-35 pounds. Their color, size and appearance varies across the range, but they are usually light gray to brownish-yellow with a light gray to cream-colored belly.

Incredibly adaptable, coyotes are found in almost every habitat type, even in our most urban areas. Although the coyote is currently found throughout almost all of North America, it is a relatively new inhabitant of regions east of the Mississippi.

Rabid coyote sounds