Social Spacing
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| Courtesy of Krittercards |
The coyote has a classical territory where all the mating, feeding, and pup rearing activity occurs. One of the primary factors affecting territory size is the abundance and distribution of food resources. Coyote are opportunistic feeders eating ungulates, lagomorphs, carrion and other small animals as well as berries, insects, and plants. Therefore the food source of the coyote can be described as defensible since it is predictable, plentiful, and fairly evenly distributed. Coyotes rarely hunt together unless the prey is large, because it requires member participation to bring down a large animal. The reason for less group hunting compared to other members of the canidae family is that there is a lack of a distinct hierarchy in the coyotes.
Coyotes maintain their territory by scent marking and howling. The alpha pair are the most common members involved in territorial marking and territorial defense. Usually intruders were chased from the territory, but the pursuit ended at the border. After the intruder was evicted the member of the resident pack would then scent mark their side of the border. Rarely was there any intense physical contact between coyotes.
Territorial defense occurred throughout the entire year, but had peaks in the mating season (December-March) and the pup emergence period (June). Defense and marking by alpha pair was fairly constant throughout the seasons, but during peak times, the beta coyotes would participate more. Territorial defense is hard to maintain because the food source is usually mobile, so lots of intrusions occur while nonresidents are trying to find food.
Territorial defense is advantageous because it ensures greater access to food and mates, which leads to higher fitness. Alpha males have the most breeding opportunities in the pack. The survival rate of the alpha pair is greatest, followed by the the betas, and lastly the transients.
