Coyotes and Raccoons at the Los Angeles Canyon Edge: Who to Call

Who handles coyotes and raccoons in Los Angeles: a pest company or the state?

The state. Wildlife in California is governed by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the pest-control licence is a separate system for structural pests. This site does not trap, remove or relocate coyotes, raccoons, skunks or opossums. It seals the structure so they cannot get in.

The word pest covers a lot of ground, and homeowners are sometimes surprised that a pest-control call does not extend to a raccoon in the yard. The reason is legal. California's Structural Pest Control Board licenses structural pest work in three branches: fumigation, general pest and termite. Ants, cockroaches, mice and rats fall under general pest, and termites and wood-boring beetles under termite. Coyotes, raccoons, skunks and opossums are not on that list.

They are wildlife, and wildlife has its own agency. CDFW does not allow relocating wild animals. It is illegal to relocate nuisance raccoons and skunks. CDFW also does not pick up wildlife unless it is sick or injured. Whether a pest-control licence covers exclusion work was not confirmed, so this guide describes sealing only as work on the structure. For the animals themselves, the agencies in the table below are the right place to start.

That division is a plain one, and it explains why you will not hear a technician from a call-line pest service offer to catch a coyote. It also explains why the useful question is not who removes the animal but what makes your property attractive and what lets it in.

Why are coyotes and raccoons so close to homes in the hills?

Los Angeles neighborhoods sit against large areas of habitat, including the Santa Monica Mountains, the Verdugo Mountains and Elysian Park. Animals move along streets, channels and landscaped corridors, and dry hills can send coyotes toward yards that offer food and water.

The Hollywood Hills hold coyotes, bobcats, deer, skunks, opossums, squirrels and raccoons, according to local news summaries, and an uncollared mountain lion was reported in Laurel Canyon. The Verdugo Mountains are described as an isolated wildlife island surrounded by Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena, La Cañada Flintridge, Altadena, La Crescenta-Montrose and Sunland-Tujunga. Coyotes there use streets, channels and landscaped corridors to get around.

Elysian Park is the example people quote when they talk about coyote encounters. The Eastsider reports that the park accounts for about 20 percent of the roughly 69 coyote bites in the county over a decade. That is a figure about one park and one stretch of years, and it is no reason for panic. It does show that animals and people share space in the middle of the city, and not only in the far hills.

The dry season matters too. The city's climate station averages under 0.05 inch of rain in July and August, and The Eastsider has described coyotes coming down from parched hills for food and water in July. A yard with a sprinkler, a pet water bowl or fruit on the ground can be an easy stop. If you live near Hollywood, Studio City, Glendale, Burbank, Silver Lake or Echo Park, you are in the zone these reports describe.

What do CDFW and LA County Animal Care actually recommend?

Remove food, water and shelter, use tight-fitting lids on trash and compost, and lock pet doors at night. CDFW and LA County Animal Care give this as the homeowner step because attractants, not the animal, are what draw wildlife to a yard and keep it there.

The advice is not complicated, but it works only if it is done consistently. The list below follows what CDFW and LA County Animal Care publish. None of it removes an animal. All of it makes the yard a less interesting place to visit.

A few of these steps are easy to overlook. Pet food left out overnight is a standard attractant. A pet door that is unlocked at night is a way into the house for a raccoon or opossum. A woodpile, a deck with an open underside or a gap beneath a shed gives an animal shelter, so those spots are also worth checking.

• Bring pet food and water inside at night, and feed pets indoors if you can.
• Use tight-fitting lids on trash cans and compost, and put bins out on the morning of collection, not the night before.
• Pick up fallen fruit and clear bird seed spilled under feeders.
• Lock pet doors at night, and do not leave small pets outside unattended.
• Close off the undersides of decks, sheds and porches so animals cannot den there.
• Do not feed wildlife on purpose; a fed coyote or raccoon returns.

What can a technician seal, and why does sealing come first?

A technician can close gaps in the structure: vents, rooflines, crawl-space openings, gaps under decks and similar entry points. Sealing is work on the building, not on the animal. It matters most because animals that cannot get in must stay outside, where the agencies above give the advice.

The wildlife-proofing work offered here is an exclusion job. A technician looks for the openings animals use, such as gaps at the roofline, damaged vents, loose crawl-space screens or holes beneath a porch, and closes them with durable material. See wildlife-proofing and entry sealing for the structure side of the work, and attic and crawl space rodent exclusion for rats and mice.

Order matters. If an animal is already inside, closing the opening can trap it inside the wall or attic. CDFW does not allow relocation, and it is the agency to ask about an animal that is sick, injured or denned in a structure. The order of work, and who handles the animal, should be settled before anything is sealed. A technician who finds an occupied space will say so and tell you to call the agency first.

Seasons change the picture. In the dry months the pressure comes from animals looking for water and food, and the calendar notes in this site's dry-season guidance point to July and August as the driest stretch at the city's downtown climate station. In the Santa Ana season that starts in October, the dry wind and fire weather can push animals and people around in other ways. None of this changes the basic steps. It does mean a lid, a lock and a closed gap are worth checking before the dry season peaks, not after.

Sealing also does not fix an attractant problem. A structure with every gap closed will still draw coyotes to a yard with fruit on the ground and pet food on the patio. Sealing and yard changes work together.

When can a depredation permit apply?

CDFW issues depredation permits for coyotes, raccoons and skunks only to property owners who have damage or livestock or pet losses and who have already taken exclusion steps. People call CDFW at (916) 358-2917 to ask. A permit is a state decision, not something a pest company can arrange.

A depredation permit is not an easy shortcut. It is meant for owners who have shown damage and who have first done what CDFW calls exclusion, which means closing the gaps and removing the attractants. This is one more reason sealing comes first. A record that you sealed the structure and changed the yard is useful if you do need to ask the state.

If you are weighing this step, keep notes: dates, photographs of damage, and what you have changed. Call CDFW with the details, not the pest-control line. A call-line technician can tell you what a seal job involves but cannot decide whether CDFW will issue a permit.

How does this fit with rats, mice and the rest of your pest plan?

Rodents are different from wildlife. Rats and mice are structural pests, and a technician can treat them and seal the structure. Coyotes and raccoons are handled by CDFW and LA County Animal Care. A yard that attracts one often attracts the other, so the fixes overlap.

Garbage, fruit and unsecured pet food draw rats and mice as well as raccoons and coyotes. A few changes help on both fronts. For rats that climb, our guide to roof rats in palms, citrus and attics covers the trimming UC IPM recommends. For a seasonal view of when each pest is most active, see the Los Angeles pest calendar.

If you are not sure which category your problem falls into, call (855) 974-4733 and describe what you see, hear or smell. The dispatcher can tell you whether it is a job for a technician or a call to CDFW or LA County Animal Care. The price for any structural work is confirmed on site before it begins.