Dead coyote in Belvedere likely pup of mated pair, expert says

A coyote found dead in a Golden Gate Avenue driveway Aug. 22 was likely a 5-month-old pup of Belvedere’s resident mated pair, according to the city’s wildlife expert.

Despite initial concerns the pup may have been poisoned or killed on purpose, consultant Rebecca Dmytryk of Humane Wildlife Control said there were no obvious signs of poisoning, though a toxicology test is pending.

A resident reported the coyote to the Belvedere Police Department after spotting the animal about 6 feet down from the top of their driveway. Marin Humane was called to document the incident and remove the animal carcass.

It was the second such coyote death reported in less than a year, as a male coyote carcass was discovered by a resident on Belvedere Way in October. In that case, California Department of Fish and Wildlife toxicology tests determined the animal had likely died after ingesting antifreeze, while it also tested positive for six rodenticides, five of which were anticoagulant compounds that caused mild but nonlethal hemorrhaging.

It was unclear if the coyote had been exposed to the substances accidentally or intentionally amid an ongoing debate among residents about how to best deal with coyotes on the peninsula.

Animals can ingest anticoagulant rodenticides either by directly consuming bait, by eating rodents that have ingested the poison or by eating those rodents’ predators.

Local coyote family is two adults, four to five pups

Dmytryk said she could not comment definitively on the cause of death for the pup found Aug. 22, but she noted photographs showed that the animal’s body was not exhibiting some of the telltale signs of poisoning, including straight, stiff legs.

She said the results of the toxicology tests will likely take several weeks.

The pup was one of a litter born about five months ago to the resident male and female pair, Dmytryk said. She said she’s unsure about the exact number of pups but that Marin Humane believes it to be four or five.

The male adult coyote that died in October had been the mate of the resident female. Those two animals had a litter of five pups that remained on the peninsula while young but have since dispersed to other areas, Dmytryk said. The female then took on a new partner, and their current litter will follow the same pattern, she said. They’ll explore the peninsula and most will likely disperse to wider areas in the coming months, with the exception of one or two that may stick around.

Dmytryk called the adult pair the “king and queen” of the island, noting that the mated pair will defend their territory and keep other adult coyotes out.

“The population of coyotes in a territory will increase when the pups are born and then decrease again in the fall when the pups start to disperse out of the area, leaving the king and queen and potentially a helper or two,” she said in an email.

Belvedere police on Aug. 26 received another report from a resident who spotted a coyote that reportedly looked ill, though no further details were available as of The Ark’s press time.

Some continue call for bolder city action

Belvedere in recent years has fielded an array of complaints from residents who say sightings are becoming more frequent and the animals appear to be less wary of humans. Reports of coyote attacks on pets have become common, and at least four dogs have been killed by coyotes in the past five years. Frequent posts on NextDoor complain of dogs chased or stared down by local coyotes.

One of those posts came Sept. 4 by resident Kimberly Barron, who said two coyotes scaled a 6-foot-tall fence to gain access to her backyard and tried to attack her 75-pound Labrador.

“We screamed loudly when we saw it happening, and our dog ran towards the house,” she wrote. “Luckily, our dog outran the coyotes, and it just barely made it inside as we slammed the door shut.”

The post drew more than 30 comments, with many expressing concern.

“They are getting more and more brazen and aggressive,” Tiburon resident Danielle Lepe said of coyotes, adding that the issue was “problematic for toddlers and small children,” noting she and her husband see coyotes “frequently” in the Old St. Hilary’s Open Space Preserve. “I know there are strong opinions around preserving coyote freedoms, but the city needs to take action and move out these dens as it has long been a public safety issue.”

City protocol based on science, state laws

Coyotes are now common in most suburban communities in California. Weighing from 10 to 35 pounds, they hunt mostly at night, sheltering in dense brush during the day. They prefer small rodents, but they will happily eat fallen fruit, pet food and even dog feces. Cats and small deer are occasional prey.

While they seldom attack people — and the only confirmed fatal attack in the U.S. occurred in 1981 — they have been known to harass dogs in their territories, typically viewing them as competition for resources rather than a food source itself. If a coyote bites a human, it is generally because it has been fed by people, wildlife experts say.

Belvedere’s coyote-management plan, developed with Dmytryk using prevailing science informing both wildlife-management policy and state laws, stresses coexistence through removal of attractants, aggressive hazing and community education.

This comes to the chagrin of some residents who have called for more drastic measures, including trapping and relocating the animals or bringing in sharpshooters from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services to eradicate them.

Studies repeatedly show that lethal methods don’t work. A 2017 study in the Journal of Wildlife Management found that killing coyotes disrupts their social structures and both stimulates breeding and their migration, with areas immediately reinhabited by neighboring individuals. This supported a 2016 study of predators, using jackals, in the Journal of Applied Ecology.

This already occurred in Belvedere last year when a new male quickly replaced the one that died.

A November 2024 study by researchers at the University of New Hampshire used data from more than 4,500 camera traps and found that human hunting led to an increase in coyote numbers. Those findings support a 1975 simulation model published in the University of California Division of Agriculture Science Bulletin and repeated in 1995, which showed that killing coyotes at a rate of up to 70% of their population “merely stimulates reproduction and aggravates the problem.”

Studies that make recommendations for lethal solutions focus on targeted removal of specific problem animals over broad population control by lethal means.

In 2023, when Belvedere first explored its options to address resident concerns, it considered lethal means but quickly abandoned them as impractical due to effectiveness, cost and potential exposure to lawsuits by governmental agencies, wildlife organizations and activists.

Officials consulted with two communities in other states that were making headlines for hiring sharpshooters. They said they did so only where aggressive hazing techniques didn’t work and specific animals became a threat to humans. Belvedere’s coyote response plan also allows for targeted extermination under similarly narrow conditions.

In California, state laws greatly restrict what actions can be taken. Under Fish and Game codes, it’s illegal to poison the animals or to trap and relocate them. Hunting coyotes isn’t allowed in Belvedere, while it’s against city law to discharge a firearm in city limits.

Meanwhile, killing for the purpose of property protection requires coyotes must first be “found to be injuring growing crops or other property,” according to state Fish and Game laws — meaning actual damage, not just concern about potential threats.

Once property damage occurs, a potential solution is trapping, which requires immediate release or humane euthanasia. Further, Fish and Game code requires permission from the owner of the land where the trap is being set, as well as written permission from every neighbor within 150 yards of the trap, according to Dmytryk and confirmed by Department of Fish and Wildlife representative Mairan Smith.

Remove attractants, haze aggressively

Smith is a wildlife biologist for the department’s Wildlife and Lands Management Program for the Bay Delta Region, which serves Bay Area counties. In an email, she said lethal removal is “not a long-term solution to human-wildlife conflict.”

“Coyotes are a very resilient urban-adapted species that will continue to find their way into Belvedere while the draw of outdoor pets, rodents and denning space occur,” she said. “A combination of aggressive hazing and attractant removal is the best way forward for long-term coexistence.”

That’s the crux of Belvedere’s response plan, which focuses on prevention, education and nonlethal intervention.

The city protocols call for eliminating attractants — from properly securing trash, attending to fruit trees and gardens, bringing pet food indoors and closing off access to yards — as well as offering free hazing kits and training residents how to use them.

Research shows that hazing alone isn’t enough, particularly once a coyote has already been food-conditioned and associates humans with a food source.

The city operates a coyote awareness and reporting portal at cityofbelvedere.org/coyote-awareness-and-reporting. It says those with emergencies requiring immediate assistance should call 911. For non-emergencies, residents can call the city’s coyote hotline at 415-435-8942 or complete the reporting form at arkn.ws/coyotereport.

For the city’s yard and neighborhood checklist to eliminate attractants, visit arkn.ws/coyotecheck. To schedule a free phone consultation with Dmytryk, contact her at help@humanecontrol.com or 855-548-6263.

For site visits to learn hazing techniques or discuss property protection, contact Belvedere Coyote Task Force Lead Jane Cooper at jcooper@cityofbelvedere.org.

Reach Belvedere, Strawberry and public-safety reporter Tyler Callister at 415-944-4627.