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January 2026

Altadena’s Coyote Comeback

People weren’t the only ones who fled the Eaton Fire over a year ago; so did most of our wildlife, including Altadena’s coyotes. Jane Brackman, a Village member with an impressive background, recently presented a report on coyotes to Village members. It was a full house of attentive listeners, many Altadena residents.

Jane has lived in Altadena for 42 years, and has been active as a volunteer with the Altadena Historical Society and Caltech. Her career journey has been varied, but just about every job she has held had to do with dogs (wild and domestic). She worked with blind people and guide dogs for 20 years and then went on to be a science writer, focusing on canine genetics, disease, and domestication. She has a PhD from Claremont Graduate University in linguistics and material culture.

Jane’s hobby is to work on coyote projects as a field citizen scientist. She has been involved with coyote diet research in Southern California, genetic studies in the Santa Monica Mountains, and the wolf reintroduction project in Yellowstone National Park.

Jane started the presentation with a bit of history about coyotes and explained the canine family tree that goes back millions of years. Coyotes evolved in North America and are native to the desert southwest, having lived here for more than ten thousand years. It’s no wonder that Los Angeles has more coyotes than any other US city. 

We also learned that urban coyotes eat foods mostly provided by us, like urban garden produce, trash, and delicious fruit from our trees. Among other human-sourced foods, they eat figs, palm fruit, berries, rats, avocados, pet food, and - if provided the opportunity - our small pets.

Much of Jane’s volunteer work involves studying scat (poop) to learn about coyote diet and their way of communicating by leaving their scent. Scat distributed in strategic places can tell other coyotes about territory boundaries, reproductive status, or signal a food source. If you ever find coyote scat near your house or in your garden, wear protective gloves and remove and discard it in a plastic bag. It could be a signal to the pack that there is food nearby. Removing coyote scat helps keep pets safe.

Another interesting thing about coyotes, and dogs in general, is that their sense of smell is up to 100,000 times more effective than ours. Whereas only 3% of our brain is devoted to scent,  35% of the canine brain is dedicated to scent information. Olfaction is their primary way of communicating and understanding their surroundings. 

Most coyotes in our area are quite small, between 19 and 30 pounds. They often look much bigger but that’s because of their thick fur coats. Breeding season begins in January when the alpha couple breed, with pups arriving in March. Young coyotes from the previous season are welcomed home to the den site if they have not yet found their own life-time mate. They work as “helpers” with the young pups until about late May. In June, we see more coyotes in our neighborhoods because adolescent coyotes join their parents and siblings. Around October they disperse and neighborhood populations decline.

The audience was unanimous in their appreciation of the presentation Jane offered:  “It was an excellent presentation”, said Lorraine Gray, while Dan Guerrero exclaimed enthusiastically “I loved it!” Beverly Braun touted Jane’s ability to deliver so much scientific knowledge as amazing.

The main message I personally got from Jane’s excellent presentation is that coyotes are wild, and they are here to stay. We must respect their wildness and understand how to live with them safely. Having spent my entire life in Altadena, I look forward to returning to our beautiful community, and that includes enjoying the varied wildlife we have as neighbors. While keeping my pets safe, I have always enjoyed the howling and yipping of coyotes at night in my neighborhood.

For more in-depth coyote information, please refer to these two articles written by Jane Brackman:  

Coyote Scat

https://localnewspasadena.com/2024/coyote-social-media/

Coyote Diet

https://localnewspasadena.com/2024/please-dont-feed-the-coyotes/