Coyotes-Amazing and Fascinating Animals

Coyotes belong to the Dog FamiNly.They are very similar to the wolves.The dog Family include Dogs,Jackals,wolves and Coyotes.Coyotes are generally found more in number in North America and Canada. San Diego is the finest and beautiful city of USA.There are many mountains and Hills and magnificent Landscapes .Around the Landscapesc there are green jungle growth and places to dig holes .The Coyotes stay in such places made by them.They are never seen in the days .But in urban areas towards evening when darkness approaches ,they come out of their shelters to go for hunting their food. Mainly they look for livestock, mices and rabbits.They are afraid of human beings but at the same time they do not avoid them as enemies.They come out in the open even in Highways where heavy traffic forms in the evenings. Recently, we had an encounter with a Coyote while we were on Evening walk in the late hours of SanDiego,USA. In San diego ,nowadays ,night is small and Day longer.Until 8-00 PM Sunlight is available.The incident occurred around 7-15 PM.We as well as the Coyote remained stunned for about five seconds staring each other face to face. And then the Coyote crossed over the road to the other side without indulging in any attack on us.It looked as though the Coyote was more afraid of us than it did to us.To be frank,we were really nervous during those 5 seconds. Any how,this unexpected encounter prompted me to attempt a study on Coyote.The results are berifly as under: Wolves and Coyotes share many common features.They both are members of dog family besides Jackals and Dogs. Both Wolves and Coyotes are Doglike in appearance.Both are threat to livestock.There are also differences between Wolf and Coyote.Though both look similar in first glance,the Coyotes have longer ears and Sharper nose than Wolves. Their legs are shorter and thinner than wolves.Coyotes have bushier tails

The above illustration would more or less distinguish the Coyotes and Wolves. Besides,one major difference is in their size.Wolves are much larger and heavier than Coyotes.A male wolf can have Length of 7 feet inclusive of 20 inches of their tail and may weigh 100 to 125 Pounds( 2.2 pounds =1 KG) whereas Coyotes' length can be 5 feet and Weight 25 to 75 Pounds.Eastern Coyotes are Larger than Western counterparts. Coyotes have amazing capability of adapting to Wide ranges of Environment including urban Areas. Wolves and Coyotes ,as large predators often compete for same habitats and food. The Coyote population in the World is on an increasing trend while Wolves appear to be decreasing.However,where wolves population is existing,the Coyotes population is found to be reducing. Both Wolves and Coyotes are well known for their Howling habits.Even jackal also howls. Both Wolves and Coyotes howl to communicate with their packs to co ordinate hunting or to locate their pack members. Coyotes rarely attack people in urban landscape.instead if people offer them any kind of food they accept and try to become friendly and habituated to people. Coyotes are ,however,not advice able to get friendly or tamed because they also like any warm blooded animal may contract rabies. Their close kinship to Dogs Places Coyotes at greater risk Where there are population of Unvaccinated Domestic dogs. Coyotes are amazing creatures.Theyv tricksters and have many cunning ways tobsurvive. Unlike wolves who always stay in packs ,Coyotes stay single,with mate or in packs like wolves. Coyotes ,generally being threat to livestock,they are sometimes in some places are being subjected to mass killing also. Despite all threatsbto them from human beings,Coyotes are Adaptable,intelligent,Socially complex creatures and deserve respect from human. Coyotes are model animals for adaptability in amazing ways and should be lovedvand respected for these qualities. Ssreedharan 28th July 2015