Coyote Aggressive Behavior: Warning Signs

This is general information, not veterinary, medical or legal advice. For an injured or aggressive animal, a bite, a pet attack or a suspected rabies exposure, call your doctor, your vet, local animal control, or the Arizona Game and Fish Department (AZGFD).

Reviewed by the editorial desk against the cited sources. The desk claims no wildlife-biology, veterinary or medical credential; see our editorial policy.

Most coyotes keep away from people. This guide explains the behavior the agencies treat as a warning sign, why it develops, and what to do. It supports our guide on how to respond to a coyote, and every “call” below assumes you know who to call in Pima County and Arizona.

What counts as normal coyote behavior

AZGFD describes coyotes as usually timid animals that run away if challenged, and says most are wary of humans and actively avoid them (AZGFD, Living with Coyotes). It also says coyotes are often seen at night or around sunrise, and that seeing one in a backyard, golf course, park or neighborhood is not uncommon. A single sighting is therefore not, on its own, a sign of danger.

Warning signs of bold or aggressive behavior

The agencies do not publish a single checklist, so the signs below come from what each source says.

• A coyote that does not leave when challenged. AZGFD’s baseline is that coyotes run away if challenged. One that stays put, or returns repeatedly, is losing that fear.
• Losing fear of people over time. AZGFD warns that ignoring a coyote near your home can let it lose its natural fear of humans, which “can eventually lead to bold behavior”.
• Daytime activity near people and pets. UC IPM’s table of escalating signs includes coyotes chasing or taking pets in daytime, and coyotes acting aggressively toward adults at midday (UC IPM). UC IPM is a California source; we use it for the general pattern, not for Arizona rules.
• Approaching or following people. UC IPM says coyotes that have lost their wariness may stalk people or attack pets on a leash.
• Seeming unafraid or abnormal. AZGFD advises keeping a safe distance from animals that appear aggressive or that lack a fear of humans (AZGFD news release, April 14, 2025). The CDC advises reporting an animal that is not acting normally (CDC, Preventing Rabies).

Why it develops

AZGFD says coyotes are usually timid, but that the risk rises when they are fed or met with indifference (AZGFD, Living with Coyotes, accessed 2026-11-14). Its advice is to act assertively during encounters “to re-instill a fear of humans”.

AZGFD says human-fed coyotes have, on rare occasions, bitten people. In an April 2023 news release it counted 24 coyote attacks on people in the Phoenix metro area over the previous 26 years, including two on Scottsdale toddlers with minor injuries, and said feeding wildlife makes animals lose their fear of people (AZGFD, April 7, 2023). That is the strongest practical lesson in the sources: what happens at your property and your neighbors’ properties matters.

Under A.R.S. 13-2927, feeding wildlife (other than birds and tree squirrels) is unlawful in Maricopa, Pinal and Pima counties per AZGFD; see our Arizona coyote rules for residents.

What the agencies say to do during an encounter

AZGFD’s Living with Coyotes page lists these steps for a coyote that approaches you (AZGFD, accessed 2026-11-14):

1. Never approach a coyote.
2. Keep eye contact, and make yourself look large, for example by waving your arms.
3. Yell or make loud noises, such as a whistle, loud music or banging pots and pans.
4. Do not run, because that can stimulate a chase instinct.
5. Pick up small pets and protect small children so they do not panic and run.
6. Move toward an area with other people or a building.

AZGFD also lists additional deterrents; this guide focuses on noise, size and distance and does not instruct anything that could injure an animal or a bystander. More on hazing is in our how to haze a coyote safely guide.

When not to haze

Do not try to scare an animal that looks sick, injured or cornered, or one that appears to be protecting pups or a den. In those cases keep your distance and call. The sources we cite describe hazing for coyotes that are wary of people; they do not support confronting an animal that is behaving abnormally. Nobody on this desk can judge whether an animal is sick, so treat unusual behavior as a reason to leave and call.

If someone or a pet is bitten

• A person: wash the wound immediately with soap and water for 15 minutes, then seek medical care. The CDC says to seek care if you have had contact with a wild or unfamiliar animal, particularly if bitten or scratched (CDC, Preventing Rabies). Tell the provider what animal it was.
• A pet: call your veterinarian first. AZGFD advises consulting a vet if any domestic animal is injured by wildlife.
• Then call local animal control or AZGFD and report what happened: tell local authorities what you saw.
• Emergency: if a coyote attacks or has bitten a person, call 911 (AZGFD also says to report an attack to the department) and seek medical care immediately. For wildlife acting aggressively toward people, AZGFD’s 24-hour Communications Center is 623-236-7201 (AZGFD, April 7, 2023).

CDC wording: rabies “spreads primarily through bites or scratches from an infected animal” (CDC, About Rabies). Any bite or scratch, or any contact between a pet and a wild animal, means calling a doctor or vet and local animal control.

How to lower the chance of bold behavior at home

• Never feed coyotes, and remove food sources including pet food, garbage and fallen fruit (AZGFD and University of Arizona Extension).
• Do not ignore a coyote in your yard. AZGFD says an indifferent attitude has the same effect as feeding it.
• Keep pets close. AZGFD says to keep small pets indoors or in a roofed enclosure, supervise them at dawn and night, and always leash them; bold coyotes have attacked small dogs on retractable leashes. It also says a 6-foot fence is not reliable protection.
• Keep small children close during any coyote sighting.
• Tell your neighbors; AZGFD says a regular food source in one yard keeps coyotes active across the neighborhood.

Related reading: protect pets and children from coyotes, mange and sick-looking coyotes, coyote information and the yard and home management guide.

What AZGFD does after an aggressive-coyote report

AZGFD says it does not respond to calls to relocate or remove coyotes unless there is a public-safety concern. It says it responds to immediate public-safety threats, and that coyotes that have attacked people or show predatory or aggressive behavior toward people are removed lethally only as a last resort, because they cannot be relocated for public-safety reasons. It also notes that removing a coyote does not help if attractants remain (AZGFD, April 7, 2023). That is why fixing food, water and shelter sources matters most.

AZGFD lists these attractants: food (rabbits, birds, rodents, livestock, pet food, unattended pets, garbage, fallen fruit), water (pet bowls, fountains, pools) and shelter (shrubs, storm drains, space under sheds or porches) (AZGFD, Living with Coyotes).

What we could not source

AZGFD’s pages do not give a numbered list of “stages” of aggression, so we do not offer one. We also have no Arizona figure for how often aggressive coyotes carry rabies.