Coyote
The song of the coyote is a symbol of the Southwestern United States, and can be heard throughout Colorado.
About This Species
The coyote is a small, wild canine that can be found in almost every habitat across Colorado. They are highly vocal and known for their high-pitched yips and howls communicating with other coyotes in the area. Coyotes are managed as furbearers in Colorado.
Living with Coyotes
Coyotes, the trickster of the southwest, is a highly intelligent animal that can adapt to almost any environment. Because they can often be found living amongst humans, it is important to follow common sense suggestions in order to safely live with this wild dog and understand what CPW is doing to manage their populations.
More Information:
Physical Characteristics
Size
The coyote is the size and shape of a small husky dog: about two feet tall at the shoulder and four feet long with a full, black-tipped tail around 14 inches long, which they carry down when running. Weights are 30 to 40 pounds. Coyotes have a long, narrow muzzle, yellow eyes, and large, triangular ears.
Color
Coyotes have long fur that varies in color with geography and season from pale grayish buff to rich reddish brown with a rusty red color behind the ears.
Tracks
Paw prints are oval with toes close together and visible claw marks at least on the front two toes. Prints are small, only 2.5-3.5 inches long.
Range
Coyotes live statewide in Colorado and in many areas are quite common. They thrive despite widespread attempts to control or eradicate them. Individuals may be very bold, attracted to open garbage dumps where carcasses of poultry or livestock are discarded.
Habitat
Coyotes live just about everywhere in Colorado, from the plains to forests and high mountains, and even in towns and urban areas. Anywhere they can find a food source, they will establish a territory.
Diet
Coyotes eat plants and meat. On a hunting circuit three or four miles long, they forage for birds, eggs, mice, rabbits, carrion of large wild mammals or livestock and occasionally insects and fruit – in short, just about anything organic. They are active day or night, but are mostly crepuscular: active at dawn and dusk.
Reproduction
Females breed just once annually, in January to March, and produce a litter of about six pups after a gestation period of nine weeks. The expectant female burrows up to 20 feet into a hillside or bank to prepare a nursery den for the young, and frequently digs a second burrow in case the litter is disturbed in the first. The male brings food to the nursing mother. The young weigh only about nine ounces at birth, but develop rapidly and are weaned at seven weeks. As they mature, pups spend much time and energy wrestling, playing, and otherwise establishing their social order and skills. Coyotes can live up to 20 years, but a rough average is a 10 year lifespan.
Additional Information
In an extermination effort from 1915 to 1947, bounties were paid on 1,884,897 coyotes in the United States.