Coyote facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Coyote Temporal range: Middle Pleistocene – present (0.74–0.85 Ma)
Mountain coyote (C. l. lestes) at Yosemite National Park, California
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Modern range of Canis latrans
Synonyms
List Canis andersoni Merriam, 1910 Canis caneloensis Skinner, 1942 Canis clepticus Eliot, 1903 Canis estor Merriam, 1897 Canis frustror Woodhouse, 1851 Canis goldmani Merriam, 1904 Canis hondurensis Goldman, 1936 Canis impavidus Allen, 1903 Canis irvingtonensis Savage, 1951 Canis jamesi Townsend, 1912 Canis lestes Merriam, 1897 Canis mearnsi Merriam, 1897 Canis microdon Merriam, 1897 Canis nebrascensis Merriam, 1898 Canis ochropus Eschscholtz, 1829 Canis orcutti Merriam, 1910 Canis pallidus Merriam, 1897 Canis peninsulae Merriam, 1897 Canis riviveronis Hay, 1917 Canis vigilis Merriam, 1897 Lyciscus cagottis Hamilton-Smith, 1839

The coyote (Canis latrans) is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecological niche as the golden jackal does in Eurasia. The coyote is larger and was once referred to as the American jackal by a behavioral ecologist. Other historical names for the species include the prairie wolf and the brush wolf.

The coyote is listed as least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, due to its wide distribution and abundance throughout North America. The species is versatile, able to adapt to and expand into environments modified by humans; urban coyotes are common in many cities. The coyote was sighted in eastern Panama (across the Panama Canal from their home range) for the first time in 2013.

The coyote has 19 recognized subspecies. The average male weighs 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lb) and the average female 7 to 18 kg (15 to 40 lb). Their fur color is predominantly light gray and red or fulvous interspersed with black and white, though it varies somewhat with geography. It is highly flexible in social organization, living either in a family unit or in loosely knit packs of unrelated individuals. Primarily carnivorous, its diet consists mainly of deer, rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish, and invertebrates, though it may also eat fruits and vegetables on occasion. Its characteristic vocalization is a howl made by solitary individuals. Humans are the coyote's greatest threat, followed by cougars and gray wolves. Despite predation by gray wolves, coyotes sometimes mate with them, and with eastern, or red wolves, producing "coywolf" hybrids. In the northeastern regions of North America, the eastern coyote (a larger subspecies, though still smaller than wolves) is the result of various historical and recent matings with various types of wolves. Genetic studies show that most North American wolves contain some level of coyote DNA.

The coyote is a prominent character in Native American folklore, mainly in Aridoamerica, usually depicted as a trickster that alternately assumes the form of an actual coyote or a man. As with other trickster figures, the coyote uses deception and humor to rebel against social conventions. The animal was especially respected in Mesoamerican cosmology as a symbol of military might. After the European colonization of the Americas, it was seen in Anglo-American culture as a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike wolves, which have seen their public image improve, attitudes towards the coyote remain largely negative.

Description

A closeup of a mountain coyote's (C. l. lestes) head

Coyote males average 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lb) in weight, while females average 7 to 18 kg (15 to 40 lb), though size varies geographically. Northern subspecies, which average 18 kg (40 lb), tend to grow larger than the southern subspecies of Mexico, which average 11.5 kg (25 lb). Total length ranges on average from 1.0 to 1.35 m (3 ft 3 in to 4 ft 5 in); comprising a tail length of 40 cm (16 in), with females being shorter in both body length and height. The largest coyote on record was a male killed near Afton, Wyoming, on November 19, 1937, which measured 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) from nose to tail, and weighed 34 kg (75 lb). Scent glands are located at the upper side of the base of the tail and are a bluish-black color.

The color and texture of the coyote's fur vary somewhat geographically. The hair's predominant color is light gray and red or fulvous, interspersed around the body with black and white. Coyotes living at high elevations tend to have more black and gray shades than their desert-dwelling counterparts, which are more fulvous or whitish-gray. The coyote's fur consists of short, soft underfur and long, coarse guard hairs. The fur of northern subspecies is longer and denser than in southern forms, with the fur of some Mexican and Central American forms being almost hispid (bristly). Generally, adult coyotes (including coywolf hybrids) have a sable coat color, dark neonatal coat color, bushy tail with an active supracaudal gland, and a white facial mask. Albinism is extremely rare in coyotes. Out of a total of 750,000 coyotes killed by federal and cooperative hunters between March 1938, and June 1945, only two were albinos.

The coyote is typically smaller than the gray wolf, but has longer ears and a relatively larger braincase, as well as a thinner frame, face, and muzzle. The scent glands are smaller than the gray wolf's, but are the same color. Its fur color variation is much less varied than that of a wolf. The coyote also carries its tail downwards when running or walking, rather than horizontally as the wolf does.

Coyote tracks can be distinguished from those of dogs by their more elongated, less rounded shape. Unlike dogs, the upper canines of coyotes extend past the mental foramina.

Naming and etymology

The first published usage of the word "coyote" (which is a Spanish borrowing of its Nahuatl name coyōtl) comes from the historian Francisco Javier Clavijero's Historia de México in 1780. The first time it was used in English occurred in William Bullock's Six months' residence and travels in Mexico (1824), where it is variously transcribed as cayjotte and cocyotie. The word's spelling was standardized as "coyote" by the 1880s.

The English pronunciation is heard both as a two-syllable word (with the final "e" silent) and as three-syllables (with the final "e" pronounced), with a tendency for the three-syllable pronunciation in eastern states, near the Mexican border, and outside the United States, with two syllables in western and central states.

Alternative English names for the coyote include "prairie wolf", "brush wolf", "cased wolf", "little wolf" and "American jackal". Its binomial name Canis latrans translates to "barking dog", a reference to the many vocalizations they produce.

Habitat

Coyotes live only in North America and some areas of Central America. They live in the countryside, but also in cities too. The coyote is found throughout North America from California up to as far as Alaska. They normally live in dens about 6 feet wide and four feet tall.

Life

The coyote is an omnivore and can eat many kinds of food: fruits, grasses, and vegetables in the autumn and winter months along with small animals, for example rabbits, mice, shrews, voles, and foxes. They also eat birds, deer, snakes, and lizards. In the city, coyotes find food easily. They dig up plants in gardens and eat food out of garbage cans.

Sometimes, they join small packs (groups), but normally hunt alone. Coyotes live in dens. They dig a tunnel under the ground and then dig out a larger area at the end of the tunnel where they sleep and have their babies or pups. They can have six pups at a time. Often a coyote den will have two entrances, with one that is hidden. Sometimes they dig more than one den, so they can move if an enemy finds the den.

Coyotes do not have many enemies. Wolves used to eat coyotes, but there are not many wolves left in North America compared to the number of coyotes. The biggest enemy of the coyote is people. They do not usually attack people, but sometimes eat small pets such as cats.

In folklore and mythology

Coyote paddling in a canoe in Edward S. Curtis's Indian days of long ago

Coyote features as a trickster figure and skin-walker in the folktales of some Native Americans, notably several nations in the Southwestern and Plains regions, where he alternately assumes the form of an actual coyote or that of a man. As with other trickster figures, Coyote acts as a picaresque hero who rebels against social convention through deception and humor. Folklorists such as Harris believe coyotes came to be seen as tricksters due to the animal's intelligence and adaptability. After the European colonization of the Americas, Anglo-American depictions of Coyote are of a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike the gray wolf, which has undergone a radical improvement of its public image, Anglo-American cultural attitudes towards the coyote remain largely negative.

In the Maidu creation story, Coyote introduces work, suffering, and death to the world. Zuni lore has Coyote bringing winter into the world by stealing light from the kachinas. The Chinook, Maidu, Pawnee, Tohono O'odham, and Ute portray the coyote as the companion of The Creator. A Tohono O'odham flood story has Coyote helping Montezuma survive a global deluge that destroys humanity. After The Creator creates humanity, Coyote and Montezuma teach people how to live. The Crow creation story portrays Old Man Coyote as The Creator. In The Dineh creation story, Coyote was present in the First World with First Man and First Woman, though a different version has it being created in the Fourth World. The Navajo Coyote brings death into the world, explaining that without death, too many people would exist, thus no room to plant corn.

A mural from Atetelco, Teotihuacán depicting coyote warriors

Prior to the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, Coyote played a significant role in Mesoamerican cosmology. The coyote symbolized military might in Classic era Teotihuacan, with warriors dressing up in coyote costumes to call upon its predatory power. The species continued to be linked to Central Mexican warrior cults in the centuries leading up to the post-Classic Aztec rule.

In Aztec mythology, Huehuecóyotl (meaning "old coyote"), the god of dance, music and carnality, is depicted in several codices as a man with a coyote's head. Epigrapher David H. Kelley argued that the god Quetzalcoatl owed its origins to pre-Aztec Uto-Aztecan mythological depictions of the coyote, which is portrayed as mankind's "Elder Brother", a creator, trickster, and culture hero linked to the morning star.

Hunting

Coyote tracks compared to those of the domestic dog

Coyote hunting is one of the most common forms of predator hunting that humans partake in. There are not many regulations with regard to the taking of the coyote which means there are many different methods that can be used to hunt the animal. The most common forms are trapping, calling, and hound hunting. Since coyotes are colorblind, seeing only in shades of gray and subtle blues, open camouflages, and plain patterns can be used. As the average male coyote weighs 8 to 20 kg (18 to 44 lbs) and the average female coyote 7 to 18 kg (15 to 40 lbs), a universal projectile that can perform between those weights is the .223 Remington, so that the projectile expands in the target after entry, but before the exit, thus delivering the most energy.

Coyotes being the light and agile animals they are, they often leave a very light impression on terrain. The coyote's footprint is oblong, approximately 6.35 cm (2.5-inches) long and 5.08 cm (2-inches) wide. There are four claws in both their front and hind paws. The coyote's center pad is relatively shaped like that of a rounded triangle. Like the domestic dog the coyote's front paw is slightly larger than the hind paw. The coyote's paw is most similar to that of the domestic dog.

Fur uses

Fur of a Canadian coyote

Prior to the mid-19th century, coyote fur was considered worthless. This changed with the diminution of beavers, and by 1860, the hunting of coyotes for their fur became a great source of income (75 cents to $1.50 per skin) for wolfers in the Great Plains. Coyote pelts were of significant economic importance during the early 1950s, ranging in price from $5 to $25 per pelt, depending on locality. The coyote's fur is not durable enough to make rugs, but can be used for coats and jackets, scarves, or muffs. The majority of pelts are used for making trimmings, such as coat collars and sleeves for women's clothing. Coyote fur is sometimes dyed black as imitation silver fox.

Coyotes were occasionally eaten by trappers and mountain men during the western expansion. Coyotes sometimes featured in the feasts of the Plains Indians, and coyote pups were eaten by the indigenous people of San Gabriel, California. The taste of coyote meat has been likened to that of the wolf and is more tender than pork when boiled. Coyote fat, when taken in the fall, has been used on occasion to grease leather or eaten as a spread.

Tameability

Coyotes were likely semidomesticated by various pre-Columbian cultures. Some 19th-century writers wrote of coyotes being kept in native villages in the Great Plains. The coyote is easily tamed as a pup, but can become destructive as an adult. Both full-blooded and hybrid coyotes can be playful and confiding with their owners, but are suspicious and shy of strangers, though coyotes being tractable enough to be used for practical purposes like retrieving and pointing have been recorded. A tame coyote named "Butch", caught in the summer of 1945, had a short-lived career in cinema, appearing in Smoky (1946) and Ramrod (1947) before being shot while raiding a henhouse.

Images for kids

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  Toltec pictograph of a coyote

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  Skeleton of Pleistocene coyote (C. l. orcutti)

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  Melanistic coyotes owe their color to a mutation that first arose in domestic dogs.

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  A coywolf hybrid conceived in captivity between a male gray wolf and a female coyote

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  Mearns' coyote (C. l. mearnsi) pups playing

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  A pack of coyotes in Yellowstone National Park

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  A coyote pouncing on prey.

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  A coyote howling

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  An urban coyote in Bernal Heights, San Francisco

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  Comparative illustration of coyote and gray wolf

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  Mountain coyotes (C. l. lestes) cornering a juvenile cougar

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  Coyote expansion over the past 10,000 years

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  Coyote expansion over the decades since 1900

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  California valley coyote (C. l. ochropus) suffering from sarcoptic mange

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  A sign discouraging people from feeding coyotes, which can lead to them habituating themselves to human presence, thus increasing the likelihood of attacks

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  Coyote confronting a dog

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  Coyote with a typical throat hold on a domestic sheep

See also

In Spanish: Coyote para niños