If you live around Pickens, Pumpkintown, Table Rock, or just about anywhere else in the South Carolina Upstate, there is a good chance a coyote has passed closer to your house than you realize.

The trail-camera photos above were captured at night in the Upstate. At first glance, the animal looks almost like a thin German shepherd. The pointed ears, narrow muzzle, long legs, and bushy tail give it away. It is a coyote.

Today coyotes are common across South Carolina, but that was not always the case. In fact, the Upstate played an important role in the beginning of South Carolina’s modern coyote population.

Coyotes Are Relatively New to South Carolina

Coyotes are not historically native to South Carolina in the way that animals such as bobcats and gray foxes are. Their traditional range was primarily in western North America.

That changed dramatically during the 20th century as coyotes expanded eastward.

According to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources, coyotes were first documented in Pickens and Oconee counties in 1978. Some of those early animals were associated with coyotes illegally brought into the state for hound running. Natural expansion from other states also contributed to their spread. By the mid-1990s, coyotes had been documented in every South Carolina county.

That means the Pickens County area was essentially ground zero for establishing coyotes in South Carolina.

There is also a persistent rumor that SCDNR released coyotes to control the deer population. SCDNR specifically says that is false. The agency has never stocked coyotes in South Carolina for deer management or any other purpose.

Why Coyotes Do So Well in the Upstate

The Upstate is nearly perfect coyote country.

Coyotes are remarkably adaptable. They can live in mountains, forests, agricultural land, swamps, suburbs, and even developed areas. SCDNR notes that their tolerance for people allows them to occupy most habitats found in South Carolina.

The mixture of woods, pastures, creeks, neighborhoods, farms, and mountain foothills around places such as Pickens and Pumpkintown provides plenty of food and cover.

They also do not need wilderness.

A strip of woods behind a subdivision can be enough for a coyote to move through an area without being noticed. Creek bottoms, power-line corridors, old logging roads, field edges, and wooded property lines can essentially become wildlife highways.

That is one reason trail cameras reveal so much wildlife that homeowners rarely see during the day.

What Do Coyotes Eat?

Pretty much whatever is available.

Coyotes are opportunistic feeders rather than specialized hunters. Much of their diet consists of rodents, rabbits, insects, and other small animals. They also eat fruit, berries, carrion, and other available foods.

They will also prey on deer fawns.

SCDNR has studied coyote predation on whitetail deer in South Carolina and considers coyotes an important source of fawn mortality. Coyotes can occasionally take adult deer as well, particularly injured or otherwise vulnerable animals.

Around homes and farms, their menu can potentially include poultry, young livestock, outdoor cats, and small dogs.

That does not mean a coyote wandering through your yard is hunting your pet. But anyone living where coyotes are regularly present should take sensible precautions with small animals.

Are Coyotes Dangerous to People?

For the average person, coyotes pose relatively little danger.

Wild coyotes generally want nothing to do with humans. Seeing one does not automatically mean it is aggressive, sick, or preparing to attack.

Problems are more likely when coyotes become accustomed to people or begin associating houses with food.

Pet food left outside, unsecured garbage, fallen fruit, livestock feed, and intentional feeding can encourage coyotes to spend more time around homes.

If a coyote regularly approaches people or refuses to leave when confronted, that behavior deserves more attention than simply seeing one cross the yard.

Never intentionally feed a coyote.

What About Dogs and Cats?

Homeowners should be more cautious.

Coyotes can prey upon domestic pets, and SCDNR specifically lists pet predation as a potential problem in suburban areas.

Small dogs and outdoor cats are at the greatest risk.

A fenced backyard should not automatically be considered coyote-proof either. Coyotes are athletic animals that can get over or around many ordinary barriers.

If coyotes are regularly appearing around your property, bringing small pets inside at night is a simple precaution. Also remove outdoor pet food.

Clemson Extension recommends confining small pets, particularly at night, as one way to reduce coyote conflicts.

Why Do You Hear Coyotes Howling at Night?

One of the strangest Upstate nighttime sounds is a group of coyotes suddenly erupting into howls, yips, and barks.

They are sometimes called “song dogs” because of these vocalizations.

The sound can make it seem as though a huge pack of coyotes is nearby. In reality, considerably fewer animals may be making all that noise.

Clemson Extension explains that howling helps coyotes communicate with family members and advertise their territory to other coyotes. What people call a “pack” is also commonly a family group rather than a large group of unrelated animals hunting together.

Coyotes can also travel alone.

So the lone animal appearing on a trail camera may simply be making its normal rounds.

How Big Are Upstate Coyotes?

They often look larger than they really are.

SCDNR lists an average adult coyote at roughly 35 pounds, although individuals can exceed 50 pounds. Their long legs, thick winter fur, and bushy tails can make them appear considerably larger, particularly in poor lighting or trail-camera footage.

Typical coloration ranges from grayish-brown to reddish-tan.

But there is an interesting exception.

South Carolina also has black coyotes.

Clemson Extension notes that coyotes can vary considerably in color and sometimes have black coats.

So seeing a strange dark canine crossing an Upstate road at night does not necessarily mean someone lost a German shepherd.

When Are Coyotes Most Active?

Coyotes can be active at any time.

Around people, however, much of their activity occurs at night and around dawn and dusk. That allows them to move through surprisingly developed areas without attracting much attention.

Seeing one during daylight is not by itself evidence that the animal has rabies.

A coyote might simply be hunting, traveling, feeding young, or moving between areas.

The more important thing to watch is its behavior. A wild animal that appears disoriented, unusually aggressive, unable to move normally, or strangely unconcerned about people deserves caution.

Spring and Summer Can Be Particularly Interesting

Coyotes generally breed during late winter. Clemson Extension says breeding begins around January and can continue into March.

After a gestation period of about 63 days, females typically produce around five to seven pups.

During spring and summer, adults feed and protect their young.

Coyotes may use brush piles, banks, gullies, abandoned structures, or enlarged animal burrows as den sites while raising pups. Outside the period when they are raising young, they generally do not depend heavily on dens.

If you discover what appears to be an active coyote den, giving the area plenty of space is the best approach.

Coyotes Are Extremely Difficult to Eliminate

One of the most fascinating things about coyotes is how well they respond to pressure.

Simply removing coyotes does not necessarily result in a permanent population reduction.

Clemson Extension describes coyotes as compensatory breeders. When population density falls, surviving coyotes can produce larger litters because more resources are available.

That adaptability is one reason attempts to eliminate coyotes across large areas have generally been unsuccessful.

They have learned how to survive around us extraordinarily well.

What Should You Do If You See One?

Usually, not much.

A coyote crossing the back of your property and disappearing into the woods is behaving like a wild coyote.

Give it space and let it continue on its way.

If one begins lingering around houses, remove possible food sources. Keep garbage secure. Bring pet food inside. Supervise small pets, especially after dark.

A coyote that becomes unusually comfortable around people can be discouraged by making your presence obvious rather than quietly allowing it to remain nearby. Never corner or approach one.

A New Predator in an Old Landscape

Coyotes have only been part of the South Carolina landscape for about half a century.

Yet in that relatively short period, they have managed to occupy every county in the state.

Perhaps nowhere is their history more interesting than here in the Upstate.

The same Pickens and Oconee County landscape where some of South Carolina’s first coyotes were documented in 1978 now supports a well-established population. They roam the mountains, farms, forests, neighborhoods, and backyards around us.

Most will pass through without anyone ever knowing they were there.

Then a trail camera catches one walking across the yard in the middle of the night.

For a few seconds, one of Upstate’s most adaptable predators steps out of the darkness and reminds us how much wildlife moves around after we go inside for the night.

Sources: South Carolina Department of Natural Resources – Coyotes and Clemson Cooperative Extension – Coyotes in South Carolina.