Is it illegal to kill coyotes in Southern California?
Asked by
Badfish (
8
)
February 16th, 2016
from iPhone
We live in Southern California , yes the most liberal and most confusing state in the nation. Me and my wife and 2 year old were walking our dogs in an area near the mountains that is all brush and trails. It was getting dark and out of nowhere we heard a lot of coyotes howling, and then more howling that was getting closer and closer, and even scary closer. I panicked and grabbed my son and my wife grabed the dogs and we ran for our lives(literally). I have been on the internet searching if it is legal to kill coyotes. Many links say yes but only for hunting competitions. So what if I was out in the wild not in a competition and this happens. I know you need to have a concealed weapons permit to carry a gun. But what if it was life or death if I shot 1 or a few to save my family is it illegal? I’m not going to go out there and kill any animal for no reason but I just need some clarification on this subject. Please help me.
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3 Answers
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Coyotes live in the hills and howling is what they do, and most of the time you hear howling, it means they just made a kill, a rabbit or deer or turkey or raccoon or a cat.
You can shoot them if you get a depredation permit if they are preying on pets or livestock, but no, shooting them just because you fear they might attack you is illegal. Rarely do they attack humans, might go for a small dog or a cat, but don’t go all paranoid here, the odds of them attacking your family are extremely slim. A very small child unsupervised or small pets yes, an entire family, no.
I live in the Sierra foot hills and they will nab you cats or chickens but I have never had any kind of aggressive encounter as an adult in over 25 years.
Keep your small kids close and pets on a leash or indoors.
While you’re worrying about the howling Coyotes you’re much more likely to step on a rattlesnake. haha
If it is actually presently life or death, that is, if you fear you are actually about to be attacked and you fear for your life, yes you can defend yourself and kill coyotes or even humans that are currently attacking you such that you fear for your life.
You also don’t need a concealed weapons permit to carry, say, a rifle or shotgun in places where that isn’t prohibited (though it’s possible the place you are does prohibit that).
But what Coloma said is accurate – adult humans don’t just get attacked by coyotes. But it might be good to contact your local department of wildlife and let them know what you saw. They can give you more information and may appreciate the report and investigate what is going on.
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