Coyote | Facts & Information

Range: North America from the subpolar regions of Canada and Alaska, throughout the U.S. and Mexico to Costa Rica 

Colors: yellowish gray, yellowish brown, white 

Speed: between 64 and 72 kilometers per hour

Average age: 10-14 years in freedom, 18 years in captivity

Features: the sounds made by coyotes are howling, barking and yelping

The coyote-the North american Prairie Wolf – is a species of the genus Canis-Canidae. The genus Canidae can be found almost everywhere in the World: Central and North America, Alaska and Canada but also in Europe, Asia and Africa. One of the species of the genus is Coyotes, which live in Central and North America but can be found even in Alaska and Canada. Other species of the same genus are: gray wolf (Canis lupus), red wolf (Canis rufus) and domesticated dogs (Canis familiaris) that also live in the coyote range but also in other geographical areas of the world. Other species of the genus Canidae are foxes, jackals, raccoons and several subspecies (such as arctic wolf, ses Wolf etc.).

Global warming and human environmental alteration have prompted the emergence of a new species, a top predator that carries a quarter of wolf DNA, two-thirds of coyote DNA and the rest from dogs. Hybrids are now beginning to become the dominant predator in the northeastern US.    

FEEDING THE COYOTE    

The animal consumes mostly corpses, but also rodents such as mice, rabbits, less often birds, snakes or foxes. When they are sick or old, deer can be attacked by a pack of coyotes. Besides meat they consume berries, and in the inhabited regions they consume food leftovers from garbage.

APPEARANCE COYOTE    

The coyote has a length of 110 cm, shoulder height of 50 cm, with a weight between 9 and 22 kg. Its fur is striped with alternating colors of a yellowish gray and yellowish brown, under the chin and chest being white. The animal is smaller and leaner than the Wolf. The coyote has a longer, narrower snout, larger ears and shorter legs than the Wolf. Typical of coyotes is the bushy tail that they hold while walking close to the ground.

Southern Coyotes are smaller than Northern Coyotes. A coyote reaches its maximum size at the age of one year. The fur of a coyote can be gray-brown or gray-yellowish in color. The throat and the inside of the paws are usually lighter or white in color. The front paws, sides of the head and muzzle are reddish-brown in color. They have black-tipped hairs that form a stripe on the back and a stripe along the shoulders. The tail has at the base a gland that secretes a special smell.

Its ears appear to be large, on its head rather small, and its paws are small compared to the height of its legs and the size of its body as a whole. The coyote moults once a year, from May to July. Like domestic dogs, coyotes have sweat glands on the side of their paws. It has 5 toes in the forelimbs and 4 toes in the hindlimbs. When walking, they tread only with their fingers, without touching the ground with the rest of their paws. From this point of view the coyote is a digitigrade animal.

COYOTE BEHAVIOR   

Animals can live in groups like the wolf, in the pack being a respected hierarchy. Coyotes usually hunt in pairs of two, but sometimes the group can be much larger when it comes to picking up larger prey. A pack of American wolves is made up of related adults, one-year-old cubs and newborn cubs. Long ago, Coyotes were diurnal animals, but due to interference with humans they became nocturnal. Coyotes are not very often seen, but they can be heard very easily. The sounds made by coyotes are howling, barking and yelping. In general, coyotes can be heard at sunset and at night, very rarely a coyote is heard during the day. The sounds made by them are more common during the mating season and during the fall, when the chicks leave to find their own territories.

Depending on the prey, the coyote has different hunting techniques. For example, if the prey is small, it lurks out of the grass and uses its sharp sense of smell to find it. When the prey is located, the coyote jumps on it like a cat. If the prey is large, it is hunted by a pack. 

COYOTE BREEDING  

During the mating period it is separated from the group, the female usually having at the end of April and the beginning of May between 4 and 6 puppies that will be fed by both parents and which in autumn are already fit for breeding.  The coyote breeding season runs from January to the end of March. When the female finds the right mate, she becomes monogamous for a few years. The gestation of a female coyote lasts between 60 and 63 days. It can make between 1 and 19 chickens, but the average is 6 chickens. The cub weighs 250 grams at birth, is blind and has drooping ears. His eyes open after 10 days. The cubs emerge from the burrow 21-28 days after birth. They feed on the mother's milk for 5-7 weeks and are weaned immediately after 35 days. After they are weaned, the Cubs are fed regurgitated food by both parents. At the age of 6-9 months, the male cubs leave the burrow, and the female cubs remain with the pack. The chicks become adults at the age of 9 months or one year and also reach sexual maturity, but do not mate until the age of 2 years.