Editing Coyote (section)

===Attacks on humans===
{{Main|Coyote attacks on humans}}
[[File:No Feeding.jpg|thumb|A sign discouraging people from feeding coyotes, which can lead to them habituating themselves to human presence, thus increasing the likelihood of attacks]]
Coyote attacks on humans are uncommon and rarely cause serious injuries, due to the relatively small size of the coyote, but have been increasingly frequent, especially in [[California]]. By the middle of the 19th century, the coyote was already marked as an enemy by humans. (Sharp & Hall, 1978 Pg. 41-54) There have been only two confirmed fatal attacks: one on three-year-old [[Kelly Keen coyote attack|Kelly Keen]] in [[Glendale, California]]<ref name="AOH"/> and another on nineteen-year-old singer-songwriter [[Taylor Mitchell]] in [[Nova Scotia]], Canada.<ref>{{cite AV media|date=October 27, 2009|title=Attack in the Wild: Coyote Mystery|medium=documentary|publisher=National Geographic Channel|url=http://natgeotv.com/asia/attack-in-the-wild-coyote-mystery/about|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130626035450/http://natgeotv.com/asia/attack-in-the-wild-coyote-mystery/about|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 26, 2013|access-date=November 5, 2016}}</ref> In the 30 years leading up to March 2006, at least 160 attacks occurred in the United States, mostly in the [[Los Angeles County]] area.<ref name="smithsonian200603">{{cite magazine | url=http://smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/City-Slinkers.html?c=y&story=fullstory | title=City Slinkers | magazine=Smithsonian | date=March 2006 | access-date=June 14, 2012 | author=Dell'Amore, Christine | archive-date=December 20, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131220122714/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/City-Slinkers.html?c=y&story=fullstory | url-status=dead }}</ref> Data from [[United States Department of Agriculture]] (USDA) [[Wildlife Services]], the California Department of Fish and Game, and other sources show that while 41 attacks occurred during the period of 1988–1997, 48 attacks were verified from 1998 through 2003. The majority of these incidents occurred in Southern California near the suburban-wildland interface.<ref name="AOH">{{cite web| title = Coyote Attacks: An Increasing Suburban Problem|url = http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/awm/docs/coyoteattacks.pdf |access-date =August 19, 2007 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070926044522/http://www.co.san-diego.ca.us/awm/docs/coyoteattacks.pdf |archive-date = September 26, 2007|date=March 2004}}</ref>

In the absence of the harassment of coyotes practiced by rural people, urban coyotes are losing their fear of humans, which is further worsened by people intentionally or unintentionally feeding coyotes. In such situations, some coyotes have begun to act aggressively toward humans, chasing joggers and bicyclists, confronting people walking their dogs, and stalking small children.<ref name="AOH" /> Albeit rarely, coyotes in these areas have targeted small children, mostly under the age of 10, though some adults have been bitten.<ref name=attacks>{{cite conference |last=Baker|first=Rex O.|title=A Review of Successful Urban Coyote Management Programs Implemented to Prevent or Reduce Attacks on Humans and Pets in Southern California |year=2007 |book-title=Proceedings of the 12th Wildlife Damage Management Conference |pages=382–392|url=http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1057&context=icwdm_wdmconfproc}}</ref>

Although media reports of such attacks generally identify the animals in question as simply "coyotes", research into the genetics of the eastern coyote indicates those involved in attacks in northeast North America, including Pennsylvania, New York, New England, and eastern Canada, may have actually been [[Coywolf|coywolves]], hybrids of ''Canis latrans'' and ''C. lupus,'' not fully coyotes.<ref>{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rsbl.2009.0575 |pmid=19776058|pmc=2817252| title = Rapid adaptive evolution of northeastern coyotes via hybridization with wolves| journal = Biology Letters| volume = 6|issue=1| pages = 89–93| year = 2009| last1 = Kays | first1 = R.| last2 = Curtis | first2 = A.| last3 = Kirchman | first3 = J. J.}}</ref>