Editing Coyote (section)

===Habitat===
[[File:Urban Coyote, Bernal Heights.jpg|thumb|upright|An [[urban coyote]] in [[Bernal Heights]], [[San Francisco]]]]
Prior to the near extermination of wolves and cougars, the coyote was most numerous in [[grassland]]s inhabited by [[American bison|bison]], [[pronghorn]], [[elk]], and other deer, doing particularly well in short-grass areas with [[prairie dog]]s, though it was just as much at home in semiarid areas with [[sagebrush]] and [[jackrabbit]]s or in deserts inhabited by [[cactus]], [[kangaroo rat]]s, and [[rattlesnake]]s. As long as it was not in direct competition with the wolf, the coyote ranged from the [[Sonoran Desert]] to the alpine regions of adjoining mountains or the plains and mountainous areas of [[Alberta]]. With the extermination of the wolf, the coyote's range expanded to encompass broken forests from the tropics of [[Guatemala]] and the northern slope of [[Alaska]].<ref name="gier1974" />

Coyotes walk around {{convert|5|–|16|km|mi|0}} per day, often along trails such as logging roads and paths; they may use iced-over rivers as travel routes in winter. They are often [[crepuscular]], being more active around evening and the beginning of the night than during the day. However, in urban areas coyotes are known to be more nocturnal, likely to avoid encounters with humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Franckowiak |first1=Gregory A. |last2=Perdicas |first2=Marlo |last3=Smith |first3=Gregory A. |date=2019-12-30 |title=Spatial ecology of coyotes in the urbanizing landscape of the Cuyahoga Valley, Ohio |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=14 |issue=12 |pages=e0227028 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0227028 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=6936805 |pmid=31887177|bibcode=2019PLoSO..1427028F |doi-access=free }}</ref> Like many canids, coyotes are competent swimmers, reported to be able to travel at least {{convert|0.8|km|mi|1}} across water.<ref name="Saunders">{{cite web |last1=Saunders |first1=D.A. |title=Adirondack Ecological Center: Coyote|url=http://www.esf.edu/aec/adks/mammals/coyote.htm|publisher=College of Environmental Science and Forestry, SUNY}}</ref>