Cats and Coyotes
Do coyotes eat cats?
Can a cat defend itself from a coyote?
Many people ask, do coyotes kill cats?
"What are the chances a coyote got my cat?"
What happens when cats and coyotes are in the same area?
In these cases, most owners keep their cats indoors because of the risk of predation by coyotes. Outdoors cats must co-exist with coyotes as best they can.
There is little data on the risk to cats from coyotes or the extent to which populations overlap. A fascinating study of free-roaming cats in Chicago (Gehrt et al 2013) provides some answers.
Chicago is one of the largest cities in North America with a human population of over 8 million. The study took place from at various locations in the northwestern suburbs, including public parks, conservation areas, and a private wildlife reserve. The research team was already collecting data on coyotes in this area, making it the perfect location for a study of how cats manage to co-exist with coyotes.
Savvy free-roaming cats (not pet cats) were the focus.
Traps baited with canned cat food were set up at the study locations and checked twice a day. One of the sites was close to a cat colony, where a local Trap Neuter, Return group kept an eye on the cats. Any cats that appeared to be owned or wearing a collar were released and excluded from the study.
Cats that were considered ‘feral’ were sedated, weighed, measured, and blood samples were taken to test for infectious diseases: feline leukemia (FeLV), FIV, feline heartworm, and toxoplasma gondii. Then they were fitted with radio collars and released in the evening.
The scientists tracked the cats at night using the radio-collars. This is the time of day that free-ranging cats are most active (although we know that owned cats adapt their routines to those of their owners).
Forty-three cats were captured for the study, almost all adults, and an equal number of males and females.
Most of the cats were of reproductive status, with five of the females being pregnant or lactating, and three other females having recently had kittens. 21% of male and 28% of female cats were sterilized, and these were mostly found near the site where the TNR group maintained a colony. The researchers did not sterilize any of the cats themselves, just in case any turned out to be owned cats.
Tests for disease found the cats were very healthy, with few getting positive results for the four infections. However, more than half had been exposed to Toxoplasma gondii at some point. This is higher than found in studies in other parts of the US. Other wildlife in the Chicago area was also found to have a high rate of T gondii exposure, including raccoons, skunks and coyotes.
Thirty-nine of the cats were fitted with radio-collars. It is sad to note that 20% of them (eight cats) died during the course of the study, although this is actually a much better survival rate than the scientists expected. Three were apparently killed by coyotes, two died after being hit by a vehicle, one died of disease, and it wasn’t possible to determine the cause of death of the other two deceased cats.
Another surprising finding is that almost a quarter of the cats were kidnapped, “removed from the system by cat advocates” who were opposed to the study. It is not clear what happened to these cats. Another 28% were legally adopted or removed, the transmitters expired for 13% of the cats, and there was no data on the remaining ten per cent.
Data showing the range of cats and coyotes is fascinating. In general, the cats avoided the areas where the coyotes lived.
While coyotes were mainly found in woods and natural landscapes, the cats lived mostly in urban landscapes. One cat lived in an area surrounded by coyote habitat. Sadly, this was one that was indeed killed by a coyote.
Studies that estimate predation of feral cats probably overestimate it significantly if they fail to take account of coyote distribution. This is because the coyotes were living in the areas with the most wildlife, while the cats tended to stay in the more urban areas, around people.
This study suggests that coyotes are one reason cats tended to stay in urban landscapes. The authors note that studies in areas without coyotes do find many free-roaming cats in natural landscapes.
Is your lost cat indoor-only or allowed outside? Do you see have any reports on Nextdoor of coyotes sightings within a mile of where you live?
Coyotes would rather eat easy prey away from human areas or snack on fallen fruit than go after a cat, but it can happen.
Look for the chapter that covers looking for clues in case you think your cat was killed by a coyote in the Lost Cat Kit and use the tips on what to do if you find your lost cat's collar. Cats being taken by coyotes is not as common as people think, so do your best and never assume the worst.
Your cat may be up a tree or in hiding, counting on you to find them before a coyote does.
Reference
Gehrt, Stanley D., Wilson, Evan C., Brown, Justin L., & Anchor, Chris (2013). Population ecology of free-roaming cats and interference competition by coyotes in urban parks PLoS ONE, 8 (9) DOI:
NO CAT WAS HARMED in this video! Coyote tries to catch the cat. Failed attack. This clip shows how a coyote tries to draw a cat in and grab the cat by darting forward and back to make the cat panic. This cat was able to bluff the coyote and escape up a tree.