Coyotes are mating again. Here’s how you can protect your pets while they do it.

It’s the time of year when coyotes start to get amorous — they’re looking for mates for the purpose of breeding, and that potentially leads to considerably less friendly interactions between the wild animals and domestic dogs.

From now through early March is the most likely time that coyotes attack large dogs, according to Dave Wattles, a biologist for MassWildlife.

“Mating pairs are actively protecting their breeding locations,” he said. “Coyotes will protect their territory from other coyotes and will look at other larger breed dogs the same way they look at other coyotes. This time of year has the greatest likelihood of a coyote attacking larger breed dogs — dogs as large as labs, shepherds or retrievers.”

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There are several steps people can take to prevent unwanted coyote interaction, he said.

1) Eliminate food sources

The first is to eliminate food sources. Urban coyotes, Wattles said, have more access to food than rural coyotes due to the sheer number of food sources. He said people need to make sure their trash barrels are secure, as well as their composting piles and dumpsters.

2) Keep pets indoors

Also, Wattles said people should make sure to keep pets and small dogs indoors because they are seen as prey for coyotes. Outdoor feeding of animals, such as feeding feral cat communities, is also a big meal item for coyotes.

“These resources supplement the coyotes’ diets, so it it allows for a higher number of coyotes,” Wattles said.