The coyote represents many things to different people. To the Navajo, he was the trickster, a thinking animal with a playful intelligence. To the first European settlers, he was the scourge of the plains, second only to the wolf in its rapacity against flocks of sheep. A modern view sees them as an integral part of the ecosystem, keeping the numbers of rodents and rabbits in check. Predators cast a shadow into the psyche. The coyote is no exception. It is through this shadow that we view the animal as a villain, a teacher, or an ecological asset. My view of the coyote goes something like this:
On a crisp night in October, a cacophony of wails, yips, and whines begins to rise from the ridge that towers across the ravine from my backyard. The howling din fills the autumn air, setting off all the neighborhood dogs, which emit growling barks of territoriality. My normally sedate golden retrievers bark their own warnings at the demons across the hollow, but I know fully well that they are safe. The animals making that noise are half the size of these dogs, and, they fear big dogs and people above all else, thanks to the local foxhounds and their owners. I take a moment to enjoy what I know to be the chorus of Eastern coyotes, the largest canid in these parts. They have taken the place of wolves that once roamed the hollows and ridges of central West Virginia. Most locals hate the coyotes as much as their forebears hated the wolves. Coyotes are shot, trapped, and run down with packs of hounds in much the same way that the wolves were hundreds of years ago. However, unlike the wolves, the coyote population has expanded in spite of this persecution. It is because of their resistance to our depredations that one cannot help but admire the coyote, which has spread from the deserts, mountains, and plains of the West to inhabit almost the entire continent of North America from Alaska to the Isthmus of Panama.
Classification
Coyotes are close relatives to wolves and domestic dogs. In fact, coyotes and wolves can interbreed and produce fertile offspring. This interbreeding is now a major threat to the endangered red wolf, which has been reintroduced into some parts of the South. (Some authorities, though, think that the red wolf as we know it now is a hybrid between a race of Southern gray wolf and the coyote). Domestic dogs also can interbreed with coyotes and produce fertile offspring, but this event is rare. Coyotes, both male and female, are only fertile during a certain time of the year, while most female dogs are fertile twice a year and male dogs are fertile all year around. Generally, female coyotes will not mate with a male dog, because coyotes are more selective in their mates. Male coyotes typically are not fertile when female dogs come into season, and thus, the incidence of "coydogs" is lower than one might expect. However, coyotes are still closely related to dogs and wolves that some populations of wolf may have coyote in them and some populations of coyote may have wolf in them.
It is because of this close relationship that the coyote is placed in the genus Canis. In this genus are gray wolves (including domestic dogs and dingoes), red wolves, the rare Ethiopian wolf, and the three species of jackal. They vary in size from the 15 pound black-backed jackal to the 175 pound gray wolf. The size variance is most extreme in the domestic form of gray wolf, the domestic dog, which varies from a less than 2 pound Chihuahua or Yorkshire terrier to the over 200 pound mastiff or St. Bernard. The coyote falls roughly in the middle of those extremes, with the smaller Central American subspecies weighing as little as 15 pounds and the larger Eastern Canadian and Northeastern US subspecies weighing 30 to 50 pounds. The record weight for a coyote was an Eastern coyote that weighed 74 pounds when it was killed. All of these species form pair bonds that last longer than the breeding season, and the father plays a role in caring for the offspring. (Domestic dogs are the notable exception). Often helpers assist the pair in rearing their young. These helpers are often offspring from previous litter but can also be siblings or other close relations of the mated in pair. In some wolf packs, the helpers are wolves that are in no way related to the mated pair, but this is less common.
Coyotes were originally thought to be the North American form of jackal. They closely resemble the golden jackal of Africa, Asia, and Southern Europe. This species of jackal is adaptable and widespread, like the coyote, and it is not strictly a scavenger, often taking small prey when it is available. The two species look similar, but the coyote has a reddish or grizzled tone to its coat, while the jackal has a yellow or golden tone. Because of these similarities, the coyote was called the American jackal and placed in the now defunct jackal genus Thos. Today, the coyote is thought to be more closely related to the wolf species than the jackals.
The coyote's scientific name is Canis latrans, the "barking dog" in Latin. Like most wild dogs, the coyote does not frequently bark, however. This name comes from its unusual high-pitched howls that are often preceded with yips. Its common name has varied from the aforementioned "American jackal" to prairie wolf or brush wolf. In German, the species is referred to as a "Steppenwolf," which roughly means "prairie wolf." The animal is generally thought of as a Western species, inhabiting the short-grass prairies, the Rocky Mountains, and the Desert Southwest. However, it is found today throughout most of North America.
Killing the Wolf Created an Opportunity for the Coyote
When European settlers arrived, however, the coyote was entirely situated in the West. Wolves were dominant throughout the continent. A wolf of some form existed in every state in the US, except Hawaii, and every province of Canada, except Prince Edward Island. Wolves also lived on the Arctic islands of Northern Canada and on Greenland, and from there, they ranged all the way south to the Valley of Mexico. Wolves were larger predators that hunted in packs, and they could easily dominate the smaller coyotes, driving them from their home ranges and killing them.
Europeans arrived in North America with a long history of wolf hatred. The British Isles had nearly lost its entire wolf population when the English began to settle the New England, Virginia, and Newfoundland, and they soon began to kill wolves in those regions, too. As European civilization spread across the continent, the wolf began to disappear. By the middle of the twentieth century, only a few populations of wolf existed in the Lower 48 states. The wolf was nearly extinct in Mexico, and the only healthy populations of wolf were in the muskeg and boreal forest regions of Canada and Alaska, as well as the Canadian Rockies. The coyote's main competitor was now largely extinct over a wide range of territory.
The coyote began to spread east and north. As it entered the northern-tier of states and southern Canada, it is assumed that coyotes met with a few wolves that had escaped the great persecution. Because they had no other wolves to mate with, the wolves supposedly interbred with the coyotes. The more wolf-like offspring joined wolf populations, while the more coyote-like offspring became the Eastern coyote. It is because of this interbreeding that some argue that Eastern coyotes became larger than their Western counterparts and also may have led to some populations of Eastern coyote actually forming packs to hunt deer.
It also explains why some Eastern coyotes do not sweat through their feet. Wolves do not sweat through their feet, but dogs and most coyotes do. Wolves developed this adaptation to prevent the build up of snow around their feet, which can slow them down on long journeys. As ice and snow builds up between the toes, chafing becomes a real concern. If the chafing becomes severe, the wolf could get an infection or become lame, making it impossible for the wolf to travel through its large home range in pursuit of prey. It is possible that these coyotes developed this adaptation.
Whatever the reason for these adaptations, the coyote has spread across the continent. The coyote suffered the same persecution that the wolf suffered, but coyotes largely benefited from the wolf's demise. The reasons for this different response to persecution are still being explored in the scientific literature. Some have suggested that coyotes were able to build their numbers up more quickly because a female coyote can breed at ten months of age, while the average female wolf cannot breed until she is nearly two years old. Further, many female wolves do not get a chance to breed because they are stuck in their natal packs. In most wolf packs, only one female breeds, and she relentlessly prevents the other females in the pack from breeding. A female wolf usually does not breed unless she finds a mate and gets a chance to move to another home range. This process is much simpler for coyotes, because potential home ranges are more abundant for a small animal predator than a large animal predator. A female coyote can more quickly find a mate and a home range than a female wolf, which cannot even reproduce until she is older. This difference in reproduction could explain why the coyote benefited from persecution, while the wolf nearly died out.
Adaptable Predator
The coyote also was able to expand its range because it is an adaptable predator of small game. Coyotes hunt all sorts of rodents, rabbits, hares/jackrabbits, and other small species. Coyotes sometimes hunt with badgers, particularly in times of drought. The badger is a fast digger and can pursue rodents that take cover in burrows, while the coyote is an excellent pursuit predator, catching its prey before it can bolt down the burrow. When coyotes follow badgers, the prey goes to ground, while the coyote scouts out the other entrance to the burrow. Often, the prey will try to escape out the other entrance into the coyote's jaws. The original hypothesis was that coyotes and badgers were hunting cooperatively, but recent analysis of the number kills between the coyotes and badgers shows that the coyote catches more prey. Thus, the coyote is opportunistically using the badger to chase prey out of burrows. It is because the coyote can intelligently exploit food sources, such as hunting badgers, that the coyote can live in such a wide array of habitats.
Often this ability to hunt a wide range of species gets the coyote into trouble. Coyotes do kill sheep, goats, and calves, as well as poultry. Hunters widely believe that coyotes are a major predator of deer, but analysis of deer mortality rates shows that more deer die from automobiles than from coyotes. The coyotes also get into trouble in suburban environments, because they often begin preying on small dogs and cats. Coyotes rarely have attacked humans. One killed a small child in California in 1981. Because of these attacks on livestock, pets, and some people, the coyote is not a popular animal.
The Coyote Laughs at Persecution
Humans continue persecuting the coyote. New poisons and trapping methods have been used against them. Hounds are trained to run them down, and many deer hunters and livestock produces shoot coyotes on sight. Coyote killing contests exist in parts of the country, which include prizes for the largest number of coyotes killed, wagers on the number of coyotes than a person can kill, and citations for the largest coyote killed. None of these pressures have seriously reduced coyote numbers. In fact, coyotes have continued to grow in numbers. The only places in North America that have seen coyote populations drop are those areas where wolves have been reintroduced. Wolves do a far better job driving off coyotes and killing them than any human contrivance.
One school of thought actually argues that shooting coyotes makes livestock predation more likely. A pair of coyotes will establish a home range. When they have offspring, they will be hunting small animals to feed those offspring, because they are less likely to risk injury in hunting livestock from either people or the animals themselves. Killing off the adult coyotes leaves a vacuum, which is soon filled by young coyotes that are still testing out their hunting skills. Those coyotes are more likely to attack livestock. If one had merely left the adult coyotes there, the predation probably would not have occurred. Of course, this theory does need some scientific exploration.
It does not matter how many coyotes are killed. The animal is clearly resistant to our continued attempts to do it in. The widespread persecution of North American canids that saw the wolf nearly go extinct merely caused the coyote's numbers to increase. As society has become more and more urban, hunting has become less common, as has the small farm. It is unlikely that coyotes will ever suffer the same persecution that they suffered in the early days of settlement. It is likely, then, that the coyote numbers are going to remain high for the foreseeable future. It laughs at our vain attempts to kill it off.
Living with Coyotes
Because the coyote is here to stay, we must learn to live with them. Attacks on humans are not that common, but they have happened. Usually this occurs in a suburban environment where the coyotes have become habituated to people, either through eating garbage, small dogs, or intentionally placed handouts. (People often feed coyotes). This habituation causes the coyotes to not fear people, and might cause them to consider small children a food source. The best thing to do is to not feed the coyotes. People should not put out dog food or table scraps for the coyotes. Garbage should be secured in cans with the lids on. Cats should be kept indoors, and small dogs let out only in fenced yards or on a leash. All of these steps keep the coyote from becoming habituated to humans and makes coyotes less dangerous.
People who raise livestock can buy guard dogs, donkeys, or even llamas and install electric fences to protect their herds and flocks. In Eastern and Southern Europe and throughout Asia have kept breeds of dogs that bond with the livestock and protect them from predators. There are too many breeds to discuss them all, but the most common are the Great Pyrenees of France, Spain, and Andorra, the Maremma of Italy, the Kuvasz and Komondor of Hungary, and the Anatolian shepherd of Turkey.
Donkeys often bond with other herd species well, and they have an almost pathological hatred of dogs and dog-like animals. These behaviors make them excellent guardian animals. Llamas descend from the guanaco of southern South America, and in the wild, guanacos often protect their young from the coyote-like South American "false foxes"-so named because they are not related to the true foxes, like the red fox and the fennec. Llamas also instinctively dislike dogs and coyotes and can be used just like donkeys. Electric fencing also works, but remember, coyotes can crawl underneath fences. If they are to deter coyotes, the fences must extend lower to the ground.
Although hunting may not reduce coyote numbers substantially, hunting coyotes does teach them to fear people. A scared coyote is a safe coyote. If hunters use hounds in their hunts, the coyotes learn to avoid dogs, too. Coyotes are a challenge to hunt. Some deer hunters have set out to kill off the coyotes to increase deer numbers, but they soon found the coyotes as far more rewarding game species than the deer. Some coyotes may have been even introduced to parts of the US solely for hunting purposes, despite the widespread laws that prevent moving wildlife across state lines. Clearly, hunting did not reduce the numbers of coyotes, if this story is true.
Humans can learn to live with the coyote, because the coyote has already learned to live with us. Coyotes are a common suburban species, and at least one coyote has turned up in Central Park. The coyote can change its food sources. All we have to do is come up with ways to deter them. The coyotes that live in my part of the world are deeply frightened of people. If you see one, it is normally its backside as it runs headlong into deeper cover. I can walk my dogs in coyote territory without any fear of the coyotes attacking them. The coyotes have learned that dogs are dangerous and so are people. The coyotes are kept wild, and I can share they forests and overgrown pastures with them. I enjoy sharing my world with such a resourceful predator that I know is helping keep the rodents and rabbit populations in check. The coyote provides balance to the ecosystem, filling part of the niche left behind when the wolf was extirpated. Nature is more complete with the coyote in it. Yes, they can stay, but I have no choice in the matter.