Coyote Encounter Checklist

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).

This checklist helps you decide what to do in the moment, and it supports our guide on what to do if you see a coyote. Reviewed by the editorial desk against the cited sources; the desk holds no wildlife-biology, veterinary or medical credential. See the editorial policy.

How to use it

Find the situation that matches yours below and follow the steps. An interactive version, where you pick your situation and see only those steps, will sit above this text. The plain-text checklist below is the same content and is meant to be printed or saved. Nothing you read here is stored. Find more helpers on our tools page.

Printable checklist

1. A coyote at a distance

• Do not approach it.
• Keep pets leashed or close, and keep small children near you.
• Leave the area calmly, or wait for the coyote to move off.
• Note whether anything in your yard might be attracting it (food, pet food, garbage) and remove it.

2. A coyote is following or approaching you

• Do not run; AZGFD says running can stimulate a chase instinct.
• Stand tall, keep eye contact, and be loud: yell, use a whistle, bang pots or blare music.
• Make aggressive gestures with your arms and legs, or wave an object.
• Move toward an area with other people or a building.
• Pick up small pets and protect small children so they will not panic and run.

3. A coyote near your pet

• Gather a small dog in your arms or keep a dog as close to you as possible.
• Use noise and large gestures, and move toward people or a building.
• Afterward, call your vet if your pet was touched or bitten, and tell local animal control.
• See protecting pets and children from coyotes.

4. A coyote at your door or in your yard

• Go inside, bring pets and children in, and watch from indoors.
• From a safe spot, make noise so the animal knows it is not welcome; AZGFD says an indifferent attitude toward a coyote in your yard has the same effect as feeding it.
• Remove food sources: pet food, garbage, fallen fruit. Feeding wildlife is unlawful in some counties under A.R.S. 13-2927; confirm with AZGFD.

5. A coyote that looks sick, or is cornered, or near pups or a den

• Keep your distance and do not haze it.
• Keep pets and children away.
• Call AZGFD or local animal control; CDC says never to approach animals that appear injured, sick or dead.

6. A bite, scratch or pet contact

• Person: wash the wound with soap and water for 15 minutes, then call your doctor and health department.
• Pet: call your vet and local animal control.
• Emergency: 911.

Who to call

AZGFD’s 2015 brochure listed a Tucson office number of (520) 628-5376 and a Phoenix number of (602) 942-3000. Confirm numbers at azgfd.com. See who to call and report a coyote encounter. A printable neighborhood summary is in the printable neighborhood flier.

What this checklist leaves out

This checklist does not cover trapping, relocating, poisoning or shooting. AZGFD says coyotes can only be captured or killed by someone with a proper license or in defense of a person; check with AZGFD about the law. We also leave out measures from the brochure that involve throwing objects or spraying animals.