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Range and Habitat: From Central America to the Arctic, including most of the continental United States. They can adapt to many habitats and thus live in deserts, swamps, tundra, grasslands, brush, dense forests, and even suburbs and small towns. Their preferred habitat is open grassland and thinly wooded bush.
Habitat and Distribution: Coyotes are most active at night and early morning, but where there is minimal human interference, they will be active throughout the day during cool weather. They sleep in sheltered areas, and use dens only when raising young. Average running speed is 25 - 30 miles per hour. They can reach 40 miles per hour for short distances. They can jump distances of up to 13 feet. Territories average 5 to 10 square miles but for some males as much as 36 square miles have been observed. Most travel is done in search of food. They communicate in a variety of ways, most commonly by howling. The howl is a high pitched yapping barking howl that can be heard for miles on a clear night. They also communicate through snarls, barks, growls and whines. They use scent marking to indicate their territorial boundaries. When hunting small animals, they will stalk and then pounce on their prey.
Diet: They are opportunistic feeders as well as scavengers. Omnivores, they eat rabbits, rodents, birds, insects and other small prey that are relatively easy to capture. They sometimes eat livestock and poultry. In late summer they will eat watermelon, berries and other fruit. They usually hunt alone or in pairs. They occasionally will hunt in packs as wolves do, but their packs are less stable than wolves. Although they prefer fresh food, they will sometimes eat carrion.
Breeding and Maturation: Coyotes breed in February and March and give birth after a 2 month gestation. Pups are born blind and helpless. The usual litter is 5 to 7 pups, although litters of 13 to 19 have been reported. Pups are raised in dens in steep banks, rock crevices, sinkholes and underbrush. Both the adult male and female bring food to their young for several weeks. Other adults may also help in feeding and caring for pups. At about 3 weeks of age pups begin to eat solid food that has been regurgitated by the parents. They begin leaving the den at that time and are taught to hunt at 6 to 12 weeks. They are fully grown at about 9 months of age and are sexually mature at 1 year although many will not mate until the second year. Some coyotes are believed to mate for life. Lifespan in the wild is usually about 4 to 5 years but they have been known to live 10 years. Lifespan in captivity is up to 18 years.
Miscellaneous: Coyotes, foxes and wolves are all members of the canid family and compete with each other. Field studies show that the closer animals are in body size and in the size of preferred prey, the stronger the competition, with the larger animals driving off the smaller animals in their common range.
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