Sunday, August 05, 2007
Coyote Trivia
In part, I wrote Texas Tea because coyotes fascinate me. We have a lot of coyotes near my home in the Pacific Northwest and I still remember hearing their song during the nights I spent in New Mexico as a child.

Here are some things you may not know about coyotes:
  • The scientific name for coyote is Canis Latrans - "barking dog" and they are sometimes known as prairie wolves.
  • Coyotes were originally residents of mostly the Southwest United States but have adapted so well to humans in the last several hundred years that their home range has expanded to most of the continental United States and into Canada.
  • A coyote can run over 40 mph.
  • A coyote can easily clear an 8' fence.
  • Coyotes do not hibernate in winter.
  • Although coyotes are primarily carnivores, they have been known to eat fruits and vegetables, even to raiding melon patches.
  • Male pups leave the mother's pack at between six and nine months old, female pups stay with the mother's pack.
  • Both male and female coyotes tend to and feed their pups.
  • Coyotes used to be diurnal (day time) but have changed to now be basically nocturnal due to human pressure.
  • Coyotes are the most vocal of all North American mammals.
  • Coyotes will fill the ecological niche of wolves in the absence of wolf populations.
  • Coyotes are preyed upon by wolves, bears and cougars but packs of coyotes will attack wolves.
  • Coyotes are often seen as Tricksters in Native American mythology.
  • Only one fatal coyote attack on a human has ever been recorded.
  • Some Native American oral traditions have Coyote as the personification of the First People, a mythic race that predated humans.

Texas Tea is coming soon from Aspen Mountain Press! You'll have to see what coyote facts have made it into my coyote shifters - the Desert Song People.

1 Comments

  1. Maura, your coyote trivia is fascinating. We have just had a few coyote sightings here in Rhode Island. I can't wait for Texas Tea.


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