The coyote (canis latrans) has an amazing ability to adapt to the world around it. Originally found only in the northwestern United States, the coyote has expanded its territory to cover virtually all of North America and the northern portion of Central America. The coyote can live in any habitat where it can find food and its diet is as adaptable as its living environment. Increasingly, the coyote has even been found in cities, where it is able to find food by eating garbage and rodents.

The social organization of the coyote can be divided into five categories, but the most frequent are the mated pair, the pack, and lone individuals. The mated pair is the center of the coyote social system. Packs form around the breeding pair and generally include 3-7 individuals and have an advantage over other social organizations in that they are able to bring down large prey.

Mated pairs and packs utilize non-overlapping home ranges. These home ranges include a smaller core area which is defended and generally refereed to as a territory. The territory is needed to provide secure den sites and ensure food nearby. Young pups have high predation risks and close proximity between den sites and food allows more time to be spent at the den. Comparatively, lone coyotes live in semi-overlapping home ranges. They do not have a home range as do the other two social organizations because it is not possible to defend the abundant small prey they depend on for food. Because food is evenly distributed and they have no need for dens, there would be no reason for lone individuals to invest energy in a territory.

The coyote mating system is facultative monogamy because the mated pair remain together year round and are bonded until the death or disappearance of one of the individuals. Monogamy is needed because the coyote female is monoestrus so the window for breeding is very small. Polygyny is discouraged because coyote generally live in low density populations limiting the number of available females. Also, males could not provide defense for multiple dens and this defense is an important aspect in avoiding pup predation. However, despite the male's benefit to the female in his provision of food and support, the system is facultative because if necessary the female would be capable of rearing the pups alone. Offspring that live to independence either disperse in search of their own territory or remain with their parents for another year or two and serve as alloparents. The mated pair and the sub-adult share a cooperative relationship where the mated pair allows the sub-adult to obtain food from their territory, gain parenting experience, and some kin selection benefits. In return the sub-adult helps defend the territory and gather food for the mating pair and the offspring.

As coyote has mingled with man, complaints of predation of livestock and poultry are far too many. Also, individuals have expressed concern over coyotes wandering through neighborhoods where there families live and children play. These concerns have led to attempts at coyote control. Thus far these efforts have had little influence in slowing the coyotes growth. Although the coyote has several mammal predators, such as the wolf and black bear, the most abundant predation for adults and pups come from humans.