General Information and Habitat

Photography by Earle A. Robinson

General Information
Includes: Description and Distribution

Description: The coyote is a medium sized member of the order Carnivora. Coyote most commonly weigh between 8 kg (17.6 lbs) and 20 kg (44.1 lbs), with the average coyote weighing 14 kg (30.9 lbs) (Bekoff & Wells, 1986). The wide weight range is generally attributed to the variation in environments in which they live (Bekoff & Wells, 1980). In general, desert coyotes weight less than those located in the mountainous habitats. Also, in most cases males are slightly larger than females (Hill, 1997). A study by Hilton, on the Eastern coyote in Maine, reported the gender size difference to be approximately ten percent. The most significant difference between the genders however, was in their skull dimensions (1976). Coyote are approximately 1-1.4m in length (Bekoff& Wells, 1986). The coyote’s thick bushy tail, erect pointy ears, and long nose help distinguish it from other canine. In comparison to domestic dogs, the coyote has an extremely narrow chest, and its paws are proportionately small in relation to its body size. The coyote coat contains a variety of colors, with the main color patterns including dark brown, brown, reddish brown, gray, light tan, and white. The most common coloring is a darker dorsal surface of browns or gray, with a whitish ventral surface. The coat coloring tends to vary with region. Desert coyote are often light gray or a reddish tan. The tip of the desert coyote's tail is usually black. (The Coyote, 1996). Younger pups sometimes have a white tail tip, but this appears to fade with age (Hilton, 1976). Coyote in higher elevations often have thicker, longer, and darker fur. These coyote may have a white tip on their tail. In winter the coat thickens to providing increased warmth (The Coyote, 1996). The coyote can be distinguished from the wolf and domestic dogs, such as the German Shepherd, because when running the coyote carries its tail low, whereas the others carry their tails high (Hill, 1997).

Distribution: The coyote is widely distribute throughout all of North America and northern Central America (Scarff, 1998). Originally found mainly in the northwestern United States, the coyote has steadily expanded its range over the past several decades. A key contributor to the coyote's expansion was partially made possible by man. As forests were replaced by farmland, tall grasses, brush, and other plants provided good coverage for the coyote (Canadian Wildlife Service, 1990). Also, the increase in agriculture provided livestock, which the coyote can sometimes use as food. Most importantly, however, deforestation and human predation virtually eliminated wolves. Prior to the wolf's elimination, it was a major predator to the coyote. The wolf competed with the coyote for food and territory. With the wolves no longer a threat, the coyote were able to expand eastward to territories previously inhabited by the wolves (Davis & Schmidly, 1997). Many of the prey that the wolves used to hunt are greatly multiplying in number and providing an abundance of food for the coyote, further promoting its ability to thrive.

 

 

Habitat
Includes: Habitats, Food and Food Distribution, Hunting, and Predation

Habitats: Coyotes are very adaptive and are able to live in a wide variety of environments. Unlike the wolves, the coyote have been successful despite human exploitation. The coyote can live anywhere they are able to find suitable food (Scarff, 1998). The coyote may live in habitats ranging from sea level to 2000-3000 m. This includes deserts, low valleys, open grasslands, broken and dense forests, mountainous areas, and even large cities (Bekoff & Wells, 1986; The Coyote, 1996). Coyote are becoming increasingly abundant near and in towns because garbage provides an easy and constant source of food.

In additon to providing food, den sites are also a vital aspect of the coyote habitat for breeding pairs. Natural sites used for dens include dense brush coverage, steep banks, hollow logs, or rock ledges, and thickets (Davis & Schmidly, 1997). Also, it is often preferred to use pre-dug dens when available instead of spending the time and energy to produce a new one. For this reason, abandoned habitats of rabbits, badgers and porcupines are sometimes used. As with food resouces, the coyote is also adaptive in its ability to create den sites. For example, coyote dens may also be found under railroad ties, in old sheds and barns, and in urban areas. There have even been coyote found in large drain pipes (Young, 1951b).

Food and Food Distribution: The coyote is not limited in what it will eat. In a study of fecal analysis to determine diet, Bowen (1981) found over thirty different food items identified in the test. Although an opportunistic eater, the coyote consumes mainly flesh. In the summer, mammals provide 86.5% of the diet and in the winter they provide 94.4%. Another study found 90% of the coyote diet to be mammalian flesh. However, it is likely that this percentage fluctuates between populations (Laurence & Michael, 1985). A study by Andelt, Kie, Knowlton, and Cardwell (1987) reported that diet varied both annually and seasonally with changes in various food abundances. In Blacktail Butte, an area in the southeast region of Grand Teton National Park, the coyote diet varied significantly by season. In summer the coyotes fed mainly on rodents such as field mice, pocket gophers, and ground squirrels (Bekoff & Wells, 1980). In many areas rodents are the bulk of live prey consumed by the coyote. Rodents and other small prey, such as rabbits, are a common source of food because not only are they abundant in most habitats, but they can also be hunted by solo individuals (Bekoff &Wells, 1986). In addition to flesh, the coyote also consumes insects, plants such as the pricklypear cactus, berries, and fruits(Andelt et al., 1987; Davis and Schmidly, 1997). These items are much more seasonal than mammalian options.

Although rodents and small prey were still consumed in the winter, overall the major food supply was carrion of ungulates, including elk, deer, and moose (Bekoff &Wells, 1980,1986; Andelt et al., 1987). Large prey is more common in the winter than in the summer because it is generally easier to kill during this season. Coyote do not kill most large prey unless it is young, old, sick, or defenseless. For this reason, most of the large animal consumption is from carrion. (Laurence & Michael, 1985).Unlike the small prey which can be hunted alone, large prey is hunted in groups. Group hunting generally occurs when prey is larger than the individual because the coyote cannot handle an animal of that size alone (Laurence & Michael, 1985). For individuals not in packs, small mammals remain the dominant source of food in the winter.

Bekoff and Wells (1980) also observed that not only did coyote consume larger mammals during the winter months, but also the average group size increased from 1.3 to 1.8 individuals during the winter. From their findings, they concluded that large prey increases sociability among individuals in order to hunt the larger prey. This argument is supported by a study in the Rocky Mountain National Park where a lack of ungulate carrion forced the coyotes to eat small rodents year round. In these groups there was no change in the group size between seasons. (Bekoff & Wells, 1980). Another explanation for the association between groups and large prey could be that groups developed first and made obtaining larger prey more adaptive (Bowen, 1981).

Also, the coyote is using man as a provider of food resources. Agricultural development has provided easily obtainable food for the coyote. Coyote are viewed by many as a problem due to their predation on poultry and domestic livestock (Canadian Wildlife, 1990; Scarff, 1998). Also, with an increasing number of coyote in urban environments, garbage is becoming a progressively common food source (Davis and Schmidly, 1997). Garbage, although not the mammalian flesh the coyote normally prefers, takes virtually no effort to obtain and is in high abundance year round. Overall, the coyote finds food wherever it travels by making about anything into a meal.

Photograph by David and Valerie Peters

Hunting: Hunting takes place in two main forms. Coyotes are able to hunt efficiently alone, but they also hunt in pairs or as packs (Althoff & Gipson,1981). As indicated in the discussion of food, lone individuals hunt smaller prey and groups of individuals work together to hunt larger prey.

The coyote has very acute senses that are especially important in its ability to hunt. In an experiment run by Wells and Lehner (1978), conducted at Colorado State University, coyotes were placed in a small room with a rabbit. The importance of sight, hearing, and visual senses in hunting were tested in multiple combinations by depriving either one, two, or all three senses (e.g., only visual cues and removing olfactory and auditory). They then compared the amount of time it took to locate the rabbit using the different senses. Sight was the most important followed by hearing and smell. A duplicate study conducted outdoors, however, reversed the finding between hearing and smell. This result was probably due to the added component of wind in outdoor environments, which would increase the importance of smell because the wind may carry a sent to the coyote much before it could locate it with its eyes. (Bekoff & Wells, 1980)

Photo from http://www.coyotehunter.freeservers.com/photo.html

Small prey: Coyote activity patterns appear to be correlated with those of smaller prey. Coyotes are especially active during early morning and sunset. This may be an adaptation to the activity patterns of its prey. Common prey, such as the black-tailed jackrabbit, have diel patters of behavior so it is necessary for the coyote to hunt during these active periods (Laundré and Keller, 1981).

Coyotes demonstrate several different activities in their predatory behavior. For small prey the coyote may use all or some of the below methods:

a) Long-distance searching - the coyote covers large areas while scanning the ground for prey
b) Close searching - searches through the ground cover
c) Orientation - demonstrates an alert position that may be used to help locate prey
d) Stalking - silently sneaking up on the prey
e) Pouncing - coyote rises up on its hind legs and falls forward on the prey to trap the prey beneath it.
f) Rushing - a rapid dash at the prey (This is generally not used in catching smaller rodents, such as mice.)
g) Killing - generally by biting it in the head (i.e., for rodents and small animals)

Coyote may use one or a combination of these methods in hunting their prey (Bekoff & Wells, 1980). For small prey, acute senses are especially important in order to detect and track the prey. Also, coyotes can run at speeds of up to 50 kph (30 mph) for short burst but can maintain a 30 kph (20mph) lope for long periods (Hill, 1997). These speeds work to their benefit especially when using the rush attack described above.

Large Prey: Large prey are more difficult for the coyote to hunt and are nearly impossible for a single coyote to kill on its own. In most cases, groups are used when taking down larger animals and the attack is generally made on either young ungulates or the weak ones (Bekoff & Wells, 1980). In observations by Gese and Grothe (1995), all predation attempts began by attacking the prey from the rear. Once the animal fell the attack focused on the head, neck, belly and rump of the animal. Coyote will begin feeding on prey once it is down, even if the animal is not dead yet (Gese & Grothe, 1995).

Although a group is needed to make a large kill, not all the members of a group always participate. Younger coyote more frequently watch the kill than participate. These coyote were still allowed to eat from the kill and were all offspring of the alpha pair. Despite the varied participation by group members, the alpha male was consistently the main aggressor in successful group kills (Gese & Grothe, 1995).

 

Predation and Other Threats: Predation from other animals is not a great threat for the coyote. The main animal predators to the adult coyote are wolves, black bears, and mountain lions . The greater threat to coyotes is humans. Humans cause 90% of coyote deaths that occur after 5 months of age. Human threats include hunting, traps, automobiles, farm machinery, and poison (Canadian Wildlife, 1990). Coyotes have a typical lifespan of no more than 6-8 years in the wild (Davis and Schmidly, 1997).

Pups are at greater risk of predation from other animals than adults. While adults' main predator is man, pups are often killed by hawks, owls, eagles, mountain lions, and sometimes other coyotes (Davis and Schmidly, 1997). Infanticide is not overly common in the coyote, however, neighboring coyote will sometimes kill the young of a resident pair if the den is left unprotected (Camnezind, 1978). Hilton (1976) reported that pup survival rate to the 2nd year was only 4-7 percent. Coyote can reduce their risk to predation and man by remaining in the same area over time because they gain familiarity with the environmental threats and learn where to hide (Althoff, 1978; Gese, 2001).