What Are Coyotes Afraid Of? (With Examples)

Hearing the howling of coyotes at night can be an incredible thing to witness, however, it can be somewhat unnerving if they are too close to your property or home.  

In this guide, we are going to discuss what coyotes are afraid of, and how to scare them off. These methods can be an effective way to keep your pets and animals safe and keep coyotes from causing property damage

How to Scare Off Coyotes

Coyotes are afraid of humans, loud noises, vehicles, and certain scents. Yelling loudly, putting out scents of predators, and fortifying your property can be the best methods for deterring coyotes. Despite being scared of human activity, coyotes continue to press closer to urban areas.

Now that you know a little bit more about what scares a coyote, let’s take a closer look at why these things scare them, methods to deter them, and how to keep your home and animals safe.

What Do Coyotes Hate Most?

Coyotes hate many things, some of which you may already have. Here is a list of things that coyotes hate.

• Bright Lights
• Wolf Urine
• Loud noises
• Guardian Animals
• White Vinegar
• Perfumes
• Ammonia
• Large Dogs

Since coyotes can be spooked away by many things, there is a good chance you will be able to find a safe effective way to scare away coyotes from your home or property. The best way to get rid of them is always a safe, humane way.

If they are harming your pets and creating property damage, you may have to use other methods. If you cannot find your own solution, you could have them relocated by someone.

When identifying if the canid is a coyote, you can start with their weight and size, they are around 30 pounds and their tracks in the dirt are more narrow than dog tracks. Source.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MuGc8aAPLjQ&t=151s

What Noises are Coyotes Afraid Of?

Coyotes can be scared away with most loud noises. This includes your own voice, as well as external noises, such as sounds coming from speakers. If you have large dogs, one of the best ways to scare away coyotes is by letting your dogs bark loudly.

As long as your dogs are in a fenced-in area and not able to get at wild animals, this may be enough to keep your pets safe as well as scare away coyotes who were probably just passing through anyway.

Noises that scare coyotes:

• Yelling loudly
• Clapping your hands
• Playing music loudly
• Dogs barking
• Whistling loudly

Some of these things may sound silly, but coyotes really do not like to be around humans, so anything louder than they are can be a good method for scaring them off.

How To Scare Coyotes Away at Night

The best way to scare coyotes away at night is with bright lights. Coyotes are nocturnal and are most active at night when it is dark. Their eyes can be sensitive to bright lights in the dark, and in many cases, this is a good way to deter them from your home.

Having bright external lights as well as a few motion lights is a great combination for scaring them. They already do not like the bright lights, and when one comes on with motion, this can spook them even further.

If you are alone at night and you hear coyotes very close by, the best thing you can do is use the light on your phone to flash at them, combined with yelling loudly at them. Playing music loudly on your phone could also help.

What Are Coyotes Attracted To?

One of the best ways to keep coyotes away from your home is to make sure you are not attracting them in any kind of way. Coyotes may come around for many reasons, some of which you can prevent.

List of what attracts coyotes:

• Garbage
• Pet food
• Fallen fruit
• Food scraps
• Bird feeders
• Small pets

Food is the biggest thing that attracts coyotes. They can be attracted to just about any kind of food scraps, or food scents. This can be anything from food scraps to bird feed. Bird feeders also attract small animals like squirrels and rabbits, which are food sources for coyotes.

You can secure garbage by keeping the bins in the garage instead of outside. If you think you have a coyote problem, you should also feed your pets inside.

What To Do if Coyotes are Near Your House

You should start by fortifying your yard. If you have a fence, make sure that all of the fencing is secure and that there are no holes or areas where coyotes could slip in. You can also put out animal urines, such as wolf urine. They come in granules and are easy to apply to your property.

As we have mentioned, lights and sound can be very effective. Also having large dogs or other guardian animals is very helpful. If coyotes are near your house you need to let others in the neighborhood know, so that the neighborhood can get together and work on strategies to keep them away.

One of the biggest problems is when people in the neighborhood leave food out on purpose to feed them. This attracts them and makes it difficult to deter them since they can become used to getting food that way. Coyotes sometimes live in packs, so if there is one then there are likely others close by.

See our article for Do Coyotes Live in Packs here.

How to Keep Coyotes Away From Cats

Coyotes may prey on small animals such as cats. To keep your cats safe you should start by keeping them inside. If you really feel like coyotes are getting onto your property then your animals are not safe at night. Bring them inside and do not feed them outside.

Pet food left outside is another thing that attracts them. If they smell food, no matter what it is, they are going to investigate it. Secure your fences, keep your small pets inside, and leave the lights on.

What Animals Are Coyotes Afraid Of?

There are some animals, such as guardian animals, that coyotes may be afraid of. This includes large dogs, horses, and donkeys. These animals can be loud and aggressive, and that can be enough to deter predators.

Guardian animals, such as dogs that look after sheep are good at doing just that, guarding them. They run off predators like coyotes and keep the other animals safe. Many times, these guardian animals live, eat, and sleep with the livestock.

Coyotes can be a problem for livestock, such as chickens, and small calves. Luckily, many farm animals can keep the coyotes away, while the other animals that cannot protect themselves stay safe and secure.

Frequently Asked Questions