🌱 Happy Spring 🌱

In this issue:

• Congratulations 2025 Coyote-palooza poster contest winner: Randi Vaughan!
• Coyote-palooza is about two months away (May 31st)
• The Coyote Crew volunteer program has launched!
• Seasonal Notes: Spring is pupping season! This is the best time to give coyotes a little extra space.
• Check out our new and improved self-serve coyote encounter tool!
 

Congratulations Poster Contest Winner, Randi Vaughan!

We are thrilled to announce the winner of this year's Coyote-palooza poster contest! The winning design was created by Randi Vaughan! His gorgeous artwork (above) featuring downtown Portland in neon cranberry and deep purple captures the spirit of Portland and places coyotes at the heart of the city on our iconic Portland, Oregon/White Stag sign.

Follow Randi's work (@gartockcreative) on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X/Twitter and check out his portfolio at gartockcreative.myportfolio.com!

We will be posting, printing, and promoting his design on social media and in town in the next two months leading up to Coyote-palooza on May 31st. Coyote-palooza will be held in the same location as last year—just north of the PSU Farmers Market from 8:30am to 2:00pm. We hope to see you there!

We've also selected two runners-up in the poster contest who will be featured on our website in the next few weeks.

More celebration to come!

🗓️ Coyote-palooza 2025

Saturday, May 31st |8:30am - 2:00pm

Just north of the PSU Farmers Market

Seasonal Notes

Spring is Pupping Season!

This is the best time to give coyotes a little extra space.

What are coyotes up to right now?

Coyotes generally mate between January and March, and coyote pregnancy lasts about 2 months. Coyote litters average about 4-7 pups. Coyote pups are born between March and May and stay with their parents until at least late summer. During this time, coyotes teach their young important skills, like how to hunt.

This time of year it can be difficult to differentiate between a habituated coyote you should haze and a coyote parent that is concerned about you (or your dog) near their den (which could already be full of pups). Coyote parents will be extra wary during this time, so try to give them some extra leeway. 

While it is appropriate to give coyotes a little extra space and grace this time of year and to keep an extra close eye on pets, it is always okay to discourage a coyote from approaching you by hazing. On the other hand, consider turning around or taking a different route if a coyote seems concerned about your presence and appears hesitant to leave a specific area (especially if you are walking your dog).

In San Francisco, the Presidio National Park takes a proactive approach to pupping season. Since they agree that "Coyotes may also be protective of their young during pupping season," they take the step of "proactively clos[ing] large sections of the Park Trail and the Bay Area Ridge Trail to dog walking from April to October." This practice is thought to get out ahead of potential conflicts.

So far, Portland's coyotes have tended to find hidden spots to den and there aren't major conflicts, so proactive closures aren't necessary. If you suspect there might be a den in your area, please let us know so we can monitor the area and make sure people are aware of the extra care needed.

Introducing the Coyote Crew Volunteer Program!

We are thrilled to have started a new volunteer program in partnership with the Bird Alliance of Oregon, the Feral Cat Coalition, Humane World for Animals (formerly the Humane Society of the United States), the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Portland Urban Coyote Project (us!).

The response to this program has already been amazing! We have a growing team of volunteers helping to share evidence-based coyote advice around the metro area.

Thank you so much to everyone who has signed up, participated in orientation, and completed their initial volunteer activities!

Sign up to become part of the Coyote Crew—you’ll learn all about the coyotes in your neighborhood, how they live, what they need, and how to keep everyone safe and healthy.

Coyote Crew Activities Include:

• Learning from experts about urban coyotes
• Educating your neighbors
• Posting flyers
• Hosting yard signs

Pssst! If you join, you will get access to exclusive Coyote Crew merch featuring our new badge design!

📷 Michael Smith-Sardior

Our New Self-Serve Coyote Encounter Tool

We have a new report form on our website that we hope you will use, share, and provide feedback on!

The new form is both an evaluation and report form. So far, about 30% of people who use the form take advantage of our new evaluation feature—that's fantastic!

While some of you are familiar with our resident coyotes and what to do when you see them, others may be very surprised to see a coyote in a populated area and may desire custom information about their encounter; we aim for this tool to provide options for both! If you don't need help evaluating your encounter and aren't seeking advice, you can always skip straight to the old report form.

You can share and access the tool using the links and buttons on our main page or directly at portlandcoyote.com/report. Please spread the word! This tool can be a great resource to share with neighbors and friends who are unsure about living with coyotes.

We would love to hear what you think and to continue to refine our tools to best serve the community. Please send any feedback to portlandcoyote@gmail.com.

📷 Daniel

Thank you for your support!

This project is mostly run in the little bits of time we can snag on the edges of our other responsibilities; your support substantially increases our capacity to continue our work.

You can always help support our mission—to understand human-coyote interactions and provide evidence-based information about living with coyotes to our community—by making a tax-deductible donation to our project through our EZRA Foundation account. You can also support us by purchasing a lovely new sticker or sign in our shop. All proceeds go directly toward our mission thanks to fiscal sponsorship from the EZRA Foundation. Thank you so much for your continued support!

Want more in-depth info about coyotes?

Visit our website to explore our updated tutorial, fact sheets, videos, and more. Or, join the Coyote Crew and to get more involved with coyote education in your community!

🌸 Happy Spring 🌸

—Zuriel van Belle