66 



MAMMALS OF AMERICA 



fore legs and feet dirty white, clay color on outer side ; 

 hind legs and feet fulvous on outer side, white on inner 

 side and top of feet; tail tipped with black, underneath 

 white basally. Young: Not so contrastingly marked, 

 the pelage more of a gray monotone. 



Measurements. — Sexes practically equal. Total 

 length, 4 feet; length of tail, i6 inches; hind foot, 7 

 inches ; ear, 41,4 inches. Weight, 30 to 40 pounds. 



Range. — Northern valley of the Mississippi westward 

 on northern edge of the plains to the Rockies in Alberta. 



Food. — Almost entirely carnivorous. Small mam- 

 mals and birds, mice, hares and cotton-tails, occasional 

 deer or antelope, ground squirrels, prairie-dogs, frogs, 

 snakes and sometimes sheep. 



Remarks. — Coyotes of different species are found 

 throughout almost the entire western half of North 

 America from Mexico to Alaska. Accordingly as the 

 influences of environment vary, the species of this 

 genus become dififerentiated, and authorities recognize 

 today no fewer than 12 to 14 species and subspecies 

 e.xclusive of the large wolves. The principal variations 

 in characters are to be found in size and coloration, 

 the general appearance of all these forms being suffi- 

 cient to show clearly their relationships. The most 

 important forms only are mentioned below. 



Related Species 

 Coyote, or Prairie Wolf. — Ca>iis latrans Say. 

 This form is typical of most of the genus and it is one 



of the largest. It ranges the farthest north of the 

 group. 



Nebraska, or Plains Coyote. — Canis ncbraccnsis 

 ncbraccnsis Merriam. Smaller, paler, skull smaller. 

 Arid plains from eastern Colorado and Montana to 

 Assiniboia. 



Texas Coyote. — Canis ncbraccnsis tcxcnsis Bailey. 

 Smaller, brighter and more fulvous than latrans. Gulf 

 region of Texas northward as far as Oklahoma. 



Mountain Coyote. — Canis Icstcs Merriam. Sim- 

 ilar in size and color to lalrans but skull and teeth 

 smaller. High plains of interior of British Columbia, 

 Washington and Oregon southward over the higher 

 lands of the Great Basin, the Sierra Nevada and the 

 Rocky Mountains to the plateau of Northern Arizona 

 and thence along the continental divide as far south as 

 Mexico. 



Oklahoma Coyote. — Canis fnistror Woodhouse. 

 Smaller than latrans, color pale, ears short. Oklahoma. 



Mearns Coyote. — Canis incarnsi Merriam. Size 

 small, color bright, skull and teeth small. Southern 

 .\rizona. 



Desert Coyote. — Canis estor Merriam. Size 

 small, color pale, teeth small. Deserts of eastern Cali- 

 fornia, Nevada and Utah. 



California Coyote. — Canis ochropus Eschscholtz. 

 Smaller and darker than latrans, more highly colored, 

 ears larger, skull and teeth smaller. San Joaquin 

 Valley, California. 



From southern Mexico to northern Alberta 

 in Canada, and from Michigan to the Pacific 

 coast, the Coyote, or Prairie Wolf, may be found 

 pursuing its devious ways. It is much smaller 

 than the Gray Wolf and far less savage ; and 

 its foxlike muzzle and ears seem to be an index 

 to its craftiness and cunning. The typical Coy- 

 ote gained its specific name latrans ( " barking ") 

 from the fact that it habitually barks. Mr. 

 Seton considers " the voice of the Coyote is one 

 of its most remarkable gifts." He thinks that 

 some of the atiimal's calls are " the outcome 

 of the pleasure it finds in making a noise." 

 Soon after the sun goes down the Coyote begins 

 its " evening song." This is " a series of short 

 barks, increasing in power and pitch till it 

 changes into a long sqtiall. One Coyote begins 

 and immediately two or more join in, making 

 so much noise that newcomers think there must 

 be a hundred wolves out there." 



An average male Coyote is about four feet 

 in length, stands a little under two feet at 

 the shoulders, and weighs a little over thirty 

 pounds. The females are less. 



Coyotes mate in February, and the cubs, 

 usually five to seven, but occasionally as many 

 as ten, are born in April. The den is either 

 a hole excavated by the old Coyotes or, it may 



be, the abandoned hole of some other ani- 

 mal. The eyes of the " little strangers " open 

 on the eighth or ninth day from birth. When 

 they are about six weeks old solid food is 

 brought home to them by the parents. The 

 young leave the home nest in the fall. 



The dietary of the Coyote has been described 

 as " every kind of fish, flesh, and fowl that it can 

 master, dead or alive." Turkeys and even sheep 

 it will attack when pressed by htinger, and in 

 some of the Southern States it is said to have 

 developed a liking for watermelon. It will often 

 slink after a hunter and pick up any offal it 

 can. The Coyote shows great cunning in hunt- 

 ing its prey. When after jack-rabbits, a pair 

 of Coyotes will work together; antelope and 

 deer they often hunt in packs, spreading them- 

 selves into a wide circle and endeavoring to 

 exhaust the quarry. 



The Coyote does not attack man, but shows 

 considerable ferocity with animals of its own 

 size. Mr. G. O. Shields thus describes a fight 

 that he saw between a Coyote and a Wildcat 

 over the shoulderblade of a mountain sheep that 

 he had killed : " The Cat, of course, depended 

 mainly on its claws as weapons, while the Coy- 

 ote's best hold was with its teeth. The Cat was 

 quicker and more elastic in his movements, 



