There are no anvils or giant piles of birdseed involved, but if you need tips on how to avoid coyotes, the state Department of environmental Conservation has you covered.

As the temperatures warm up and spring gets underway, the wild canines are on the move, the state warns, and some common sense will help prevent human-coyote conflicts. The tips basically boil down to not feeding pets outside and keeping a safe distance between you, your kids and any coyotes you see.

With the onset of warmer weather, many of New York’s resident coyotes have set up dens for soon-to-arrive pups. Coyotes are well adapted to suburban and even urban environments, but for the most part they will avoid contact with people. However, conflicts with people and pets may result as coyotes tend to be territorial around den sites during the spring through mid-summer period as they forage almost constantly to provide food for their young.

According to the DEC, there are almost 30,000 adult coyotes in the state during the summer. You can read more about coyotes here.