The song dog
Coyotes yip, bark and howl together at dusk. Two can sound like a dozen.
The Great Plains
Coyote
Canis latrans
A slim, grey-brown wild dog, smaller than a wolf, with big ears, a narrow muzzle and a bushy tail.
- Size
- About 60cm at the shoulder
- Look for it
- All year round
- Where
- Almost all of North America, from desert to city
Trots after you, tail low. Move your pointer and see.
When to look
Coyote
Good to know
Six things about the coyote
Spreading out
As wolves disappeared, coyotes spread right across the continent. They now live in most big cities.
Hunting with a badger
Coyotes sometimes hunt with badgers: one digs, the other chases, and both catch more.
A fast runner
A coyote can run at 40 miles an hour.
Not fussy
It eats mice, rabbits, insects, fruit and anything people leave out.
The trickster
In many Native American stories, Coyote is the clever one who plays tricks, and sometimes gets caught out.
The real thing
Photos of the coyote
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Photos are from Wikimedia Commons, used under the free licences shown. They have been resized, and cropped where they appear in link previews.
How to spot one
Listen at dusk for a chorus of yips and howls. You may see one trotting across open ground early in the morning, even in a city park.
How to help
Coyotes do well alongside people. Keeping cats indoors at night and not leaving food out is all it takes to live with them.