The adaptable Coyote

By Al Lowe
Contributor

When the white man first explored North America, he found three types of wolves - the Timber Wolf, the Red Wolf and the Coyote. The Coyote originally populated mostly the prairie regions.
When settlement began, the settlers started a war of wolves of all kinds. Wolves kill sheep, calves, poultry, even full grown cattle. Wolves and range-type animal husbandry just don't mix. All species were hunted with guns, dogs, poison and traps. The 'wolf-men' made their living going around eliminating wolves.
As far as the large wolves are concerned, this program has been quite successful. The Timber and Red Wolves have almost disappeared. Not so the wily Coyote, however. The little wolf has extended his range north through B.C. to Alaska, through North Ontario to Hudson Bay, and through the whole Great Lakes basin to the Atlantic.
Coyotes have readily adapted to city life. There are several thousand within Los Angeles city limits, happily sorting through the garbage, and drinking from the swimming pool of your favourite movie stars. Almost all cities have their resident populations, including Toronto and other Great Lakes urban areas. They are mostly at home, however, in openly wooded areas or in agricultural ones.
Prairie wolves, or brush wolves, as they are often called, are considered by man to be either a terrible pest, or a decided benefit, because of their food habits. They are very fond of poultry, lambs and other small farm animals, which brings them into direct conflict with those who are in the business of raising such things. However, their main source of food is rabbits, mice, ground squirrels and voles. In parts of the country where orchards or tree farming are big business, the coyote is much desired.
Even in western ranching areas, there are two views. The sheep rancher despises the coyote, and would like an extermination program. But the cattle rancher, who detests sheep anyway, finds the coyote a distinct benefit. A single coyote is estimated to be worth about $100 a year for the pasture he saves for cattle by eating rabbits and prairie dogs. As one cattleman said 'Sure they eat a few sheep, but they don't eat near enough!'
Coyotes pose other problems for man, too. For one thing, they interbreed with domestic dogs. These 'coy dogs' are themselves fertile, and are even more adaptable to civilization then the real coyotes. For another, and in places a very serious problem, they carry rabies.
An additional name for this animal is the song-dog. The high pitched yipping and querulous howling are a positive means of identification of this adaptable little wolf.
The Coyote, Canis latrans, has learned to live with man right from the earliest times. As the Indians are quoted - the last animal on earth will be either a crow or a coyote.