FIELD BOOK OF MAMMALS 



Sonoran areas of northern Sonora and southern Arizona." 

 (Miller) 



Desert Coyote. — Canis estor Merriam. 



Size small; coloration pale; teeth small, Upperparts buffy, 

 with light sprinkling of black hairs; pale yellowish on muz- 

 zle; ochraceous buff on nape and ears; legs bright, deep 

 buff; underparts whitish, long hairs of throat black-tipped; 

 underside of tail ochraceous, black tip short. Total length, 

 males, 42 inches; tail vertebras, 12 inches; hind foot, 7.2 

 inches. Found in "Lower Sonoran deserts of eastern Cali- 

 fornia, Nevada, and Utah." (Miller) 



San Joaquin Valley Coyote. — Canis ochropus Eschscholtz. 

 "Externally similar to C. latrans and testes, but smaller, 

 darker, and much more highly colored, with very much 

 larger ears, and very much smaller skull and teeth." 

 (Merriam) Upperparts buffy ochraceous, sprinkled with 

 black; tawny ochraceous on ears, legs, and underside of 

 tail; muzzle grayish cinnamon; underparts whitish, with 

 some buffy tinge; long hairs of throat and breast more or 

 less tipped with black. Total length, males, 45 inches; 

 tail vertebrae, 12 inches; hind foot, 7.2 inches. Found in 

 "Lower Sonoran region of San Joaquin Valley, California." 

 (Miller) 



* * * * * * * 



The voice of the Coyote is one of the most characteristic 

 and distinctive mammal calls heard on the North American 

 continent. Singly, or in twos or threes, these small Wolves 

 "tune up" at sunrise or sunset and send a chorus of long 

 howls and yapping barks on the still air. The Coyote fre- 

 quently howls during the night and sometimes in broad day- 

 light, but since he is a cautious beast, he is not so apt to adver- 

 tise his presence after the sun is high. There is an indescrib- 

 able quality in the howling of the Coyote which, to me, sets it 

 apart from the obnoxious disturbance of a night-howling Dog 

 and makes it a true voice of the wilderness. 



It is granted that the stockman, the rancher, and the farmer 

 may call down curses on the head of the Coyote. To many, 

 however, who have heard this ecstatic little Prairie Wolf 

 greet their camp-fire from out of the dusk, or have arisen at 

 break of dawn and heard his frenzied hymn to the sun, a 

 West without the Coyote seems colorless and flat. 



In settled districts the Coyote may become troublesome, 

 for he catches poultry and kills sheep. Furthermore, he 

 quickly learns to avoid ordinary traps and the devices of the 

 average hunter. Instead of retreating before the forces 



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