--- title: "Coyote (Canis latrans) | AnimalTracks.wiki" description: "The Song Dog that has faced more than 150 years of large-scale culling and still spread from Alaska to Panama." image: "https://animaltracks.wiki/images/animals/coyote-1.webp" published: "2026-09-01" updated: "2026-09-13" --- # Coyote (*Canis latrans*) > **Status**: Checked against 6 sources, listed under Sources below. > **Tagline**: The Song Dog that has faced more than 150 years of large-scale culling and still spread from Alaska to Panama. > **Soundtrack Vibe**: Gothic Rock & Post-Punk // Timber Timbre, "Demon Host" > **Soundtrack Links**: [Spotify](https://open.spotify.com/track/2cLWFWkZzgHWYajumPFUbg) | [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irPIjJl4ByU) > **Vibe Match**: Twangy electric baritone guitar and dusty snare rattles for a dog that talks over distance: its howl call, one of 3 distinct calls, is a quick series of yelps followed by a falsetto howl, and packs howl to advertise their territory. ## Biological Superpowers & Stats - **Taxonomy**: *Canis latrans* - **Danger Level**: Medium - **Conservation Status**: Least Concern ([IUCN Red List](https://doi.org/10.2305/iucn.uk.2018-2.rlts.t3745a163508579.en)) - **Superpower**: Flexibility in food, behavior and social life: hunting alone for small prey and in groups for deer, and spreading across North and Central America as people cleared land and wiped out wolves, its bigger competitors. - **Habitat**: Forests, grasslands, deserts, swamps and mountains from Alaska and Canada south to Panama, plus farmland, suburbs and cities - **Diet**: Rabbits, rodents, insects, deer fawns, fish, wild fruit, carrion, and whatever a suburb leaves within reach - **Tags**: canid, savanna, desert, woodland, omnivore, pack-hunter ## Natural History & Behavior ## A Third the Size of a Wolf The coyote (*Canis latrans*) is North America's mid-sized wild dog: adults weigh 20 to 35 pounds (9 to 16 kilograms), with males usually about 4 pounds heavier than females, and measure 47 to 59 inches (120 to 150 centimeters) from nose to tail tip. That puts it between a red fox and a wolf, at about a third of a wolf's size with a slighter build. In Yellowstone National Park, coyotes live about six years on average, and up to 13. ## A Menu With Few Limits, and Rules About Bigger Prey Coyotes are carnivores that behave like omnivores: in Yellowstone they mostly eat voles, mice, rabbits and carrion, but the menu also runs to fish, insects, deer fawns, wild fruit, and whatever a suburb leaves in reach, from garden vegetables to trash cans. They rarely bother with birds or eggs. A coyote's ideal prey is predicted to weigh about 13 to 18 pounds, just under half its own weight: for a coyote hunting alone, anything heavier may not be worth the energy it takes to catch, and brings a greater risk of injury. Team up with the rest of the pack, though, and coyotes can bring down a full-grown deer between them. > **A Two-Species Hunting Team** Coyotes and American badgers sometimes team up to hunt prairie dogs and ground squirrels. The coyote can chase down prey that bolts, and the badger can dig out prey that dives underground. Together, the pair outruns and outdigs the rodents it hunts. ## A 150-Year War It's Winning People have run large-scale campaigns to cull coyotes for more than 150 years, yet the coyote has kept spreading: its range now runs from Alaska and Canada south past the Panama Canal, beyond the western deserts, mountains and plains where it historically lived. Part of that spread traces back to wolves, which can hold coyote numbers down: coyote densities ran a third lower where wolves were abundant in Grand Teton National Park, and fell 39 percent in Yellowstone once wolves were reintroduced there. A continent with fewer wolves left more room for coyotes to move into. Shooting and trapping usually dent their numbers only briefly: thin out a coyote population, and coyotes from nearby move in, more young females start breeding, litters grow larger, and numbers quickly climb back. In Yellowstone, coyotes that learn habits like roadside feeding can turn aggressive toward people, and the park has recorded a few attacks. The name coyote comes from the Aztec word *coyotl*, meaning "barking dog," and its knack for learning to dodge many population-control efforts fits the trickster reputation Native Americans gave it. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Do coyotes really hunt cooperatively with American badgers? Yes, sometimes. Coyotes and American badgers are known to team up to hunt prairie dogs and ground squirrels, and the partnership makes both better hunters. The coyote can chase down prey that bolts, while the badger can dig out prey that dives underground. Between them, the pair outruns and outdigs the rodents they hunt. *(Source: [U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Open Spaces Blog 2016]())* ### Why doesn't hunting coyotes keep their numbers down? Because the effect usually doesn't last. Coyote litters average three to seven pups but can run as large as twelve, and when hunting or trapping thins out a population, coyotes from nearby move in, more young females start breeding, litters grow larger, and numbers quickly recover. *(Source: [Gese & Patterson 2025]())* ## Sources 1. [Canis latrans (coyote). Animal Diversity Web, University of Michigan.]() 2. [Coyote. Yellowstone National Park, U.S. National Park Service, 2025.]() 3. [Spotted! A Coyote and Badger Hunting Together. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, Open Spaces Blog, 2016.]() 4. [Gese & Patterson (2025). Chapter 28: Coyote. Wild Furbearer Management and Conservation in North America.]() 5. [Berger & Gese (2007). Does interference competition with wolves limit the distribution and abundance of coyotes? Journal of Animal Ecology.]() 6. [Kays (2018). Canis latrans. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2018: e.T3745A163508579.]() *Published September 1, 2026. 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