The Skeptics Guide #1109 - Oct 10 2026

Kara Santamaria (0:03)

You're listening to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Your Escape to Reality.

Steven Novella (0:09)

Hello and welcome to The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe. Today is Thursday, October 8th, 2026, and this is your host, Stephen Novella. Joining me this week are Bob Novella. Hey, everybody. Kara Santamaria.

Kara Santamaria (0:20)

Howdy.

Steven Novella (0:21)

And Jay Novella. Hey, guys. So guys, I know I told Jay and Bob this already, but Kara, you're going to love this. The other night, right after we went to bed, my wife and I heard like a full pack of coyotes in our backyard.

There was probably, I estimate, like 8 to 12 It was a big, it was a lot. They were all, and it wasn't that, so every now and then we hear the howling in the woods. But this was not howling, this was more like whooping. You know what I mean? Like this was, I think they were hunting. They were also growling.

Could have been a party.

Kara Santamaria (0:54)

Could have been a party, could have been a fight, could have been an orgy.

Steven Novella (0:56)

You never know. So it was scary, actually. I mean, the sound itself was scary, but that was like at 10 o'clock at night. So now I'm getting concerned about letting my dog out at night.

Kara Santamaria (1:05)

Yeah, I was going to say, what if you actually auditorily witnessed dogicide or caticide?

Steven Novella (1:11)

Something. They were attacking, maybe even a deer. The deer come to eat the apples under my apple tree.

But I looked, I didn't see any carcasses anywhere. But anyway, so I have to be worried about letting my dog out after dark. Is there a deterrent for them? What could you do?

Kara Santamaria (1:27)

Okay, so welcome to the life of an Angelina.

There are many A discussion forums dedicated to keeping your pets from becoming coyote snacks. There are outfits that people have developed that are covered in spikes for their dogs. I would not recommend that. I have no idea how well that works. Definitely, you should just monitor. Don't let your dog out without watching, especially at night. And have some sort of deterrent handy, like a jar full of coins or something that's very, very loud and scary handy, so that if you do detect that they've come close, that you can scare them away.

Steven Novella (2:07)

Big, loud noise.

Kara Santamaria (2:08)

Yeah. But also, like you don't have a teeny tiny dog. I'm not saying that like your dog's not going to become a snack, but I think it's less likely the larger the dog.

Steven Novella (2:16)

Yeah. He's pretty scary himself. He's a medium-sized dog.

So I'm hoping, but a full pack, they might get a little bit more aggressive.

Kara Santamaria (2:24)

Yeah, they totally could. I mean, but it's not uncommon here in LA for people's little chihuahuas or house cats to become dinners. Yeah.

Steven Novella (2:36)

So the encounters with these larger predators is definitely increasing in the last 10, 20 years. Bob recently saw a bobcat. I've seen coyotes in daytime in my property.

Black bears, foxes, seeing a ton more foxes than I have in previous years.

Kara Santamaria (2:54)

Gosh, they're beautiful.

Steven Novella (2:55)

I see all of it, Steve.

Kara Santamaria (2:56)

I know.

Steven Novella (2:57)

I mean, I haven't laid eyes on coyotes, but I hear them all the time and they're always doing some weird thing in the woods. It just sounds like they're doing something and it's serious.

Kara Santamaria (3:07)

Of course. Yeah, they definitely have. I think for me out here in a very urban environment, it's coyotes and then it's the typical raccoons, possums and squirrels and things like that. Things that get into your trash, things that cause big messes but aren't necessarily dangerous other than the coyotes. But again, I don't think that these are animals that we should fear. I think the problem isn't, they're coming in and they're causing all this havoc. The problem is we are increasingly invading where they live.

Yeah.

Steven Novella (3:41)

That's part of the reason is that there's fewer wild places for them to be.

We're encroaching on them, so they're encroaching on us basically. There's also a lot more small gain out there.

Kara Santamaria (3:51)

Well, yeah.

Steven Novella (3:52)

Peaceful coexistence.

Bob Novella (3:54)

What's that from? Star Trek Next Gen.

Kara Santamaria (3:57)

With habitat loss also comes the loss of their prey animals.

Not only are some of these animals food insecure, and that's why they're looking for more food, sometimes it's just a function of efficiency. A bear is going to eat out of the garbage because it's just easier.