Urban coyotes prey on rodents and spread plant seeds. It’s OK to observe them from a distance, but then you should chase them off.
Coyotes have become practically ubiquitous across the lower 48 United States, and they’re increasingly turning up in cities. The draws are abundant food and green space in urban areas.
In rural areas coyotes may feed on bird eggs, rabbits, deer and a wide range of nonanimal matter, like plants and fruits. In urban environments they’ll supplement their natural diet with human-provided food sources, such as outdoor pet feeders and garbage cans. Some wild species need very specific types of habitat to survive. For example, the Kirtland’s warbler is a rare North American songbird that breeds only in young jack pine forests in Michigan, Wisconsin and Ontario. In contrast, coyotes are habitat generalists that can live on and around a wide variety of land types and covers.
Despite their trickster portrayal in folklore and popular media, coyotes tend to avoid conflict. They enter urban landscapes because they’re opportunistic. And because cities don’t have apex predators like wolves or bears, there are lots of smaller wild prey species, such as squirrels and rabbits, running around for coyotes to feed on.