Coyote

It is mostly nocturnal and crepuscular in settled areas, with normal daylight activity. It uses habitats including forests, farms, wetlands, suburbs and urban green space. It feeds on rodents, rabbits, deer carrion, insects, fruit and other seasonally available foods.

Coyotes hunt rodents, rabbits, white-tailed deer (fawns), wild turkeys, small mammals, and other prey but also eat fruit, insects and carrion. They adjust activity to human traffic and often become more nocturnal where people are abundant.

Coyotes alter diet and movement with local conditions, which is one reason they can live in both rural landscapes and major cities.

In suburban and urban areas, where the availability of rodents and rabbits may be uncertain, coyotes may turn to preying upon domestic cats and small dogs (less than 20 pounds), but pets are not their natural choice of prey.

Coyotes are a major medium-sized predator, consuming rodents and carrion and influencing the behavior and abundance of other mammals.

Their flexible social system lets one animal live alone, a mated pair defend a territory or a family group cooperate around pups.

Coyotes are models of family values and humans would do well to learn from coyotes in this regard. Coyote families (not packs) take care of each other, divide labor and responsibilities, and do so across family generations. It's not unusual for pups to grow up and stick around to help mom and dad take care of the next litter, before striking out on their own.

Pairing and mating — mainly January through March, later in the north.
Gestation — about 63 days.
Pups — commonly 4–7 are born in a den in spring.
Dependency — adults and sometimes older siblings provision pups through summer.
Dispersal — many juveniles leave the family territory in autumn or winter.

Coyote "escorting" is a natural territorial behavior where a coyote follows a human — and often their dog — at a safe distance as they pass through or near the coyote's home range. Although humans frequently mistake this behavior for stalking or predatory hunting, escorting is actually a defensive tactic designed to push perceived intruders out of the coyote's space.

Despite public fear about the potential for coyote attacks, only about 150 non-rabid coyote attacks on humans have been documented in the United States since the late 1970s, occurring predominantly in suburban regions of California, Arizona, and the western states. Studies of wild canid behavior show that non-rabid attacks stem almost exclusively from human habituation, intentional or unintentional feeding, or pet defense rather than natural predatory instincts toward adults.

There has only been one fatal non-rabid coyote attack in the U.S. The victim was three-year old Kelly Keen, and it occurred in Glendale, California on August 26, 1981.

In stark contrast, an estimated 4.5 million domestic dog bites occur every year in the United States, with an average of 30-50 of those being fatal.

Here are some tips for coexisting with coyotes without conflict:

• Keep cats indoors and supervise small dogs, especially from dusk through dawn.
• Secure rubbish, pet food and fallen fruit so coyotes do not learn to forage near doors and patios.
• Never intentionally feed coyotes.
• If a coyote lingers very close to people, use assertive hazing from a safe position while keeping pets controlled; normal wariness is safer for both people and the animal.

• A coyote seen in daylight is probably rabid. Daylight activity can be normal, especially when adults are feeding pups; abnormal neurological behaviour is more meaningful than time of day.
• Coyotes form huge wolf-like packs. Coyotes often live as pairs or small family groups, and many travel alone.
• Killing one coyote permanently removes coyotes from a neighbourhood. Vacant territories can be recolonised if food and habitat remain attractive.

• Red fox
• Gray fox