Coyote I've decided, to go a long with one of my goals for 2016 - to learn something new - I'd pick one animal to research each m...

Animal Of The Month: January

Coyote
I've decided, to go a long with one of my goals for 2016 - to learn something new - I'd pick one animal to research each month. This month is a shout out to my days in Canada, the Coyote.

Photo by Edmonton Urban Coyote Project 
Scientific name: Canis lantrans
Mass: 6.8 - 21kg
Height: 58 - 66cm (at shoulder)
Speed: 40mph

Coyotes are known opportunists and survivalists. They have the ability to adapt from living in the prairies and desert land, to living in forests and mountain areas. Their diet consists of small mammals such as rabbits, mice, and squirrels. They have also been known to eat lizards, frogs, and snakes. Generally coyotes will eat almost anything depending on where they're living, from livestock on farms to pets and human rubbish in built up areas.

Generally when hunting large prey, coyotes work in a small group. Unlike the wolf, who approach their prey from the rear, coyotes approach their prey from the front lacerating the throat.
It's been known that when hunting porcupines coyotes sometimes work in pairs in order to flip the animal onto its back to get to its underbelly.

Photo by Eric Smith
A female in heat can attract up to 7 males by scent marking and howling. Once the female choses a partner the rejected males move on. Coyotes mate between late January and March, and some remain paired for many years. On average they have 6 pups in a litter. Coyotes can mate with domestic dogs, creating what is colloquially called a  'coydog', and occasionally grey wolves, to produce 'coywolves'.

Albinism is exceedingly rare, with only 2 out of 750,000 coyotes trapped by hunters between 1938 and 1945 being albino. However, there is a population of non-albino white coyotes found in Newfoundland. It's believed that a coyote mated with a Golden Retriever and a 'white' gene was passed down.

As far back as 1250-1300 AD it's been known that coyotes often from friendships with American badgers, as they help to assist each other in digging up rodent prey. Some coyotes have been seen licking the faces of their badger friends without objection.


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