Coyote | Coyotes (prairie wolf) are native to North and Central America although they are believed to have split off from the European grey wolf.
They are a species in their own right, differing from wolves in
vocalization patterns, ecology, pack structure. The coyotes scientific
name Canis latrans actually means barking dog. Coyotes grow up to
about 90cm in length, which is a similar size to a medium dog. The
northern subspecies of coyote generally grows bigger than the southern
subspecies of coyote. The Eastern coyote is the largest of all
and has been found to be the result of a few remnant wolves mating with
incoming coyotes in the northeastern states of the USA.
The coyote is able to
reach sprinting speeds of around 40 mph which the coyote is able obtain
for extended periods of time. The coyote can also jump to heights of up
to 4m! There are 19 different subspecies of recognised coyote with only 3
of these coyote subspecies found in central America. The remaining 16
subspecies of coyote can be found distributed throughout Mexico, Canada and the USA.
Historically the coyote has generally been nocturnal but
now can often be seen during the day in areas where they are not
persecuted by humans. In areas where they are heavily hunted and trapped
they tend to remain nocturnal. Coyotes adapt very well to suburban life
and can often be seen drinking out of swimming pools.
The coyote tends to reside in a burrow when its not looking for food and the coyote is
more than capable of digging the burrow itself. The coyote is
intelligent enough to find and inhabit an empty badger burrow if at all
possible. This becomes the center of the coyotes territory which can
extend to 19 km around the den. The size of the territory depends on how
much food is available. Coyotes tend to associate in mated pairs,
though in areas where large prey live a loose pack structure is
observable. They are considerably less social than wolves and their threat displays are much more primitive.
They arch their backs and gape their jaws and do not have the
repertoire of facial expression the more social wolf has. The coloring
of the coyote varies considerably according to location. In the
northernmost parts of its range coyotes can be pale to almost white in
color. In the west they tend to be a rich reddish hue with black
markings. In the plains states they are plain grayish brown. The
occasional black coyote is seen in the great plains states and in the
eastern states; those may actually be the result of hybridization with wolves. It would take DNA analysis to be sure.
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