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Foods
Coyotes are opportunistic carnivores and take advantage of seasonal changes in the abundance of food items. Rabbits, deer fawns, various plants and assorted birds and invertebrates are important summer food. Their winter diet emphasizes larger prey, such as deer (prey or carrion), livestock carrion, rabbits and hares. Occasionally, an individual coyote learns that sheep, lambs and calves are easy prey.
Reproduction
Coyotes reproduce once a year. Pairs are formed and breeding occurs in January-February. Coyotes are capable of breeding at one year of age but do so infrequently. Most are two years old when they breed for the first time. The percentage of females that breed is dependent on food availability and coyote density. Pups are born nine weeks after breeding occurs. The litter size depends on the age of the mother and the amount of available prey in the area. A scarcity of prey results in fewer females breeding and producing smaller litters. There are usually four to seven pups in a litter under average conditions. The pups join parents on hunting trips when they reach eight to 10 weeks of age and they begin to disperse in the fall, but some pups may not leave the family group for up to two years. When a pup leaves the family group it usually relocates within five to 10 miles, but records show some have traveled in excess of 300 miles.
Mortality
As many as 50 to 70 percent of all juvenile coyotes die before they reach adulthood. Those that become adults typically live three to five years, and 30 to 50 percent of the adult population dies each year. Under most conditions, human-related causes, including hunting, trapping and vehicle collisions are responsible for most coyote mortality. Coyotes compensate for that heavy harvest by breeding at younger ages and having larger litters. More one-year-old females breed during periods of heavy harvest and their litter size can rise to as many as 17 pups.
Sarcoptic mange occurs in coyote populations throughout Nebraska. Mange outbreaks occasionally become severe and can seriously reduce coyote populations over large areas for a number of years. Other important diseases and parasites that effect coyotes include canine distemper, canine hepatitis and heartworm. Surprisingly, rabies is not an important disease in coyotes, although they are susceptible to that disease.
Importance
Several million dollars worth of livestock losses are annually attributed to coyote depredation nationwide and several million dollars are spent trying to control those losses. In Nebraska, the coyote is among the top three wildlife species that are responsible for depredation complaints. Livestock losses are predominantly for sheep and young calves. Attempts to control losses involve short-term coyote population reduction and the removal of offending individuals by shooting, trapping, or poisoning. Poisoning must be done only by trained professionals. Changes in animal husbandry practices have proven effective in reducing losses to coyotes.
As Nebraska's dominant terrestrial predator, coyotes can influence the abundance of their competitors. The abundance of coyotes is inversely related to the abundance of red foxes and boboats. When coyote numbers increase, fox and bobcat numbers decrease and when coyote numbers decrease, fox and bobcat numbers can increase.
The coyote is an extremely cunning animal that provides thousands of days of hunting and trapping recreation each year. From 1941-89, 540,000 coyotes were harvested by fur trappers and hunters. Harvest totals 1980-89 indicated an average annual harvest of 20,900 coyotes, their pelts valued at $521,000.
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