Coyotes and foxes

Coyotes live in every Sunshine Coast community, mostly unseen — active at dawn, dusk, and night, eating rodents, rabbits, berries, fallen fruit, and unfortunately, whatever people leave available. You hear them more than you see them: the yipping chorus at night is a family group, not a pack of dozens.

To a coyote, a cat or small dog can read as prey, and a larger off-leash dog reads as a rival — especially in denning season (April–June), when coyotes will escort or confront dogs near their pups. Keep cats in at night, walk small dogs on a leash, and give any coyote that stands its ground extra space — pups may be nearby.

Red foxes — which come in red, silver, and almost-black coats — are about the size of a house cat with a big bushy tail. They eat mice, voles, berries, and insects, and they're far more timid than coyotes. A fox trotting through your yard at dusk is doing you a favour: free rodent control.

In spring, a vixen may den under a shed or deck to raise her kits. It's temporary — the family moves on by summer. Give them space, keep pets from bothering them, and enjoy the show from a window. If you truly need them gone, wait until the kits are mobile, then make the den site unappealing (noise, lights) so the mother moves them herself.

A fox or coyote that stumbles, walks in circles, seems tame and confused, or is out in the open acting strangely may have distemper or mange. Keep people and pets well away and call the Conservation Officer Service.

Secure garbage until pickup morning, clean up fallen fruit, feed pets indoors, and never leave food out "for the foxes." Wildlife that learns to associate people with food always loses in the end.