Coyote

Coyote

Scientific Name: Canis latrans
English name: Coyote
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Link to Red List page:  Red List IUCN page for coyote

Where to find

Coyote is present in all North-America with extension to central America, Canadian, and Alaskan territories. That it happens after the massacre of wolves and puma.

Habitat

The habitat of the coyote is very diversified. He lives in the arid and semi-arid regions included some deserts.  Anyway, he loves the regions with grasslands because of the presence of many preys.

Dimensions

He is not big like the gray wolf but is similar. The length can be between 100 to 130 cm.  And weighs around 18 kg but it depends on the subspecies, some of these are smaller than northern.

Lifestyle

He is relative of the gray wolf, despite this is different in the body and above all in the behavior. The biggest difference is in hunting technics, gray wolf prefers the group hunting, coyote prefers solitary hunting. Anyway, there are some exceptions in his hunting technics.

Especially when the prey is big like bison where the power of one coyote is not enough to kill him. When the prey is big the join in two or three specimens and they attack with the combined action of both. Anyway, they don’t join a pack like wolves.

Even the attack is different, while wolf attack from behind, the coyote attack from the front. It seems like the big cats, they kill the prey biting at the throat.

Despite he is prevalently carnivore, and his diet includes a lot of mammals and rodents, in minimum part he eats even vegetables and fruits. It depends on the season.

His natural enemy is the grey wolf. When is present in a territory the coyote population is minor.

He became popular especially among children because of a famous comics. Wile E. in pair wit Beep Beep was created by Chuck Jones ie 1949. Their adventures are about Wile E. try to capture Beep Beep but never happen.

Major risk

He is classifier Least Concern by the IUCN Red List. It is meaning that the risk of extinction is minimum.