Photo Copyright © 2005 Jim Jung and licensors. All rights reserved.

Coyotes

Coyotes are fairly recent immigrants to our area and are here as a result of two factors, both of which are our fault: the wholesale clearance of the forests for crop land which allows these prairie animals corridors and increased habitat in the formerly forested east; and the extinction of the wolf, the coyote's most serious predator and competitor. Over the last seventy years Coyotes have spread from their Great Plains homeland in the west to New Hampshire, Florida, and all points in between.

Unlike wolves, Coyotes live in family units that consist of a mated pair and their offspring. In the late winter Coyote pairs renew and strengthen their pair-bonds. This courtship eventually results in mating and the pair then settle down and raise their pups which will be born, in our area, about the middle of April. When this happens Mom stays with the newborns and Dad brings home the bacon for his growing brood.

By the end of May the Coyote puppies are able to follow their parents and learn to hunt mice and voles, eat berries and fruit, find and devour roadkill and steal watermelons from truck gardens. While the family bonds gradually loosen as the puppies grow, many, if not most, of the litter remain with their parents until the end of winter when Mom and Dad drive out the youngsters in preparation for another round of child-rearing.

Coyotes are poor hunters of big game - or even medium sized game for that matter. While they have been known to attack and kill new born fawns their depredations as predators on the deer herd are negligible. They also have no measurable effect on other game animals like turkeys, quail and doves. In fact their hunting prowess is restricted to mice and other small rodents and while they're an alien species in this area their overall effect on the region is probably largely beneficial.

Offsite Links:

• The World Conservation Union Canid Specialist Group coyote page
• Coyote and the Another One

Suggest a link! Send suggestions to Webmaster