Editing Coyote (section)

===Diet===
[[File:Coyote at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge (31034864347).jpg|thumb|A coyote with a scrap of road-killed [[pronghorn]] in [[Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge]], [[Wyoming]]]]
The coyote is ecologically the North American equivalent of the Eurasian [[golden jackal]].<ref>{{cite book|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=tj60BQAAQBAJ|page=156}}|title=Wolf and man: Evolution in Parallel|first1=Robert L. |last1=Hall|first2=Henry S. |last2=Sharp|year=1978|publisher=Academic Press|location=New York|page=156|isbn=978-0-12-319250-9|oclc=3607816}}</ref> Likewise, the coyote is highly versatile in its choice of food, but is primarily [[carnivorous]], with 90% of its diet consisting of meat. Prey species include [[American bison|bison]] (largely as [[carrion]]), [[white-tailed deer]], [[mule deer]], [[moose]], [[elk]], [[bighorn sheep]], [[pronghorn]], [[rabbit]]s, [[hare]]s, [[rodent]]s, [[bird]]s (especially [[galliformes]], [[roadrunner]]s, young [[water bird]]s and [[Columbidae|pigeons and doves]]), [[amphibian]]s (except [[toad]]s), [[lizard]]s, [[snake]]s, [[turtle]]s and [[tortoise]]s, [[fish]], [[crustacean]]s, and [[insect]]s. Coyotes may be picky over the prey they target, as animals such as [[shrew]]s, [[Mole (animal)|moles]], and [[brown rat]]s do not occur in their diet in proportion to their numbers.<ref name="gier1974"/>
[[File:Coyote, Marin County, CA, USA imported from iNaturalist photo 99934561.jpg|thumb|Hunting for [[Botta's pocket gopher|gophers]], California]]
[[Terrestrial animals]] or burrowing small mammals such as [[ground squirrel]]s and associated species ([[marmot]]s, [[prairie dog]]s, [[chipmunk]]s) as well as [[vole]]s, [[pocket gopher]]s, [[kangaroo rat]]s and other ground-favoring rodents may be quite common foods, especially for lone coyotes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Minta |first1=S. C. |last2=Minta |first2=K. A. |last3=Lott |first3=D. F. |date=1992 |title=Hunting associations between badgers (Taxidea taxus) and coyotes (Canis latrans) |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=73 |number=4 |pages=814–820|doi=10.2307/1382201 |jstor=1382201 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bartel |first1=R. A. |last2=Knowlton |first2=F. F. |date=2005 |title=Functional feeding responses of coyotes, Canis latrans, to fluctuating prey abundance in the Curlew Valley, Utah, 1977–1993 |journal=Canadian Journal of Zoology |volume=83 |number=4 |pages=569–578|doi=10.1139/z05-039 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Best |first1=T. L. |last2=Hoditschek |first2=B. |last3=Thomas |first3=H. H. |date=1981 |title=Foods of coyotes (Canis latrans) in Oklahoma |journal=The Southwestern Naturalist |volume=26 |number=1 |pages=67–69|doi=10.2307/3671333 |jstor=3671333 }}</ref> Examples of specific, primary mammal prey include [[Eastern cottontail|eastern cottontail rabbits]], [[thirteen-lined ground squirrel]]s, and [[white-footed mice]].<ref name="tokar">{{cite web |last=Tokar |first=Erik |url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Canis_latrans/ |title=Canis latrans |website=Animal Diversity Web |access-date=16 February 2023}}</ref> More unusual prey include [[Fisher (animal)|fishers]],<ref>{{cite thesis |url=https://www.esf.edu/aec/publications/abstract/brundige.htm |last=Brundige |first=G. C. |year=1993 |title=Predation ecology of the eastern coyote (''Canis latrans'' var.) in the central Adirondacks, New York |publisher=State University of New York, College of Environmental Science and Forestry, Syracuse |type=PhD |access-date=November 28, 2020 |archive-date=December 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201207214323/https://www.esf.edu/aec/publications/abstract/brundige.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> young [[American black bear|black bear]] cubs,<ref>{{cite journal |author=Boyer, R. H. |year=1949|title= Mountain coyotes kill yearling black bear in Sequoia National Park|journal=Journal of Mammalogy|volume= 30 |page=75 |doi=10.1093/jmammal/30.1.75 |issn=1545-1542 |oclc =39098574}}</ref> [[harp seal]]s<ref>{{cite journal|author1=Way, J. G. |author2=Horton, J. |year=2004 |url=http://www.canids.org/canidnews/7/Coyote_kills_harp_seal.pdf |title=Coyote kills harp seal |journal=Canid News |volume=7 |issue=1 |issn=1545-1542|oclc=39098574|url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20060513151608/http://www.canids.org/canidnews/7/Coyote_kills_harp_seal.pdf |archive-date=May 13, 2006}}</ref> and [[rattlesnake]]s. Coyotes kill rattlesnakes mostly for food, but also to protect their pups at their dens, by teasing the snakes until they stretch out and then biting their heads and snapping and shaking the snakes.<ref>{{cite book|last=Klauber|first=Lawrence Monroe |title=Rattlesnakes: Their Habits, Life Histories, and Influence on Mankind|volume=1|edition=2nd |location=Berkeley, California|publisher=University of California Press|year=1997|pages=1072–1074 |isbn=978-0-520-21056-1 |oclc=39523012 |url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=W8Tz8QaJ2HoC|page=1095}}}}</ref> Birds taken by coyotes may range in size from [[thrasher]]s, [[lark]]s and [[Passerellidae|sparrows]] to adult [[wild turkey]]s and, rarely, brooding adult [[Trumpeter swan|swans]] and [[American white pelican|pelicans]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Sperry |first1=C. C. |year=1939 |title=Food habits of peg-leg coyotes |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=20 |issue=2| pages=190–194 |doi=10.2307/1374376| jstor=1374376}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=MacCracken |first1=J. G. |last2=Uresh |first2=D. W. |year=1984 |title=Coyote foods in the Black Hills, South Dakota |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=48 |issue=4 |pages=1420–1423 |doi=10.2307/3801809|jstor=3801809}}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Smith |first=J. W. |date=1988 |chapter=Status of Missouri's experimental Trumpeter Swan restoration program |title=Proc. and Papers of the 10th Trumpeter Swan Society Conf. |editor-first=D. |editor-last=Compton |pages=100–103 |location=Maple Plain, MN |publisher=The Trumpeter Swan Society}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bunnell |first1=F. L. |last2=Dunbar |first2=D. |last3=Koza |first3=L. |last4=Ryder |first4=G. |date=1981 |title=Effects of disturbance on the productivity and numbers of white pelicans in British Columbia: observations and models |journal=Colonial Waterbirds |volume=4 |pages=2–11|doi=10.2307/1521105 |jstor=1521105 }}</ref> 

If working in packs or pairs, coyotes may have access to larger prey than lone individuals normally take, such as various prey weighing more than {{convert|10|kg|lb|abbr=on}}.<ref name= Gese>{{cite journal |last1=Gese |first1=E. M. |last2=Rongstad |first2=O. J. |last3=Mytton |first3=W. R. |date=1988 |title=Relationship between coyote group size and diet in southeastern Colorado |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=52 |issue=4 |pages=647–653|doi=10.2307/3800924 |jstor=3800924 }}</ref><ref>{{cite thesis |last=Bowen |first=W. D. |date=1978 |title=Social organization of the coyote in relation to prey size |type=PhD. |publisher=University of British Columbia}}</ref> In some cases, packs of coyotes have dispatched much larger prey such as adult ''[[Odocoileus]]'' deer, cow [[elk]], [[pronghorn]]s and [[Ovis|wild sheep]], although the young fawn, calves and lambs of these animals are considerably more often taken even by packs, as well as [[domestic sheep]] and [[Cattle|domestic cattle]]. In some cases, coyotes can bring down prey weighing up to {{convert|100|to|200|kg|lb|abbr=on}} or more. When it comes to adult ungulates such as wild deer, they often exploit them when vulnerable such as those that are infirm, stuck in snow or ice, otherwise winter-weakened or heavily pregnant, whereas less wary domestic ungulates may be more easily exploited.<ref name= Gese/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Arjo |first1=W. M. |last2=Pletscher |first2=D. H. |last3=Ream |first3=R. R. |year=2002 |title=Dietary overlap between wolves and coyotes in northwestern Montana |journal=Journal of Mammalogy |volume=83 |issue=3| pages=754–766 |doi=10.1644/1545-1542(2002)083<0754:dobwac>2.0.co;2| doi-access=free}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gese |first1=E. M. |last2=Grothe |first2=S. |date=1995 |title=Analysis of coyote predation on deer and elk during winter in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming |journal=American Midland Naturalist |volume=133 |issue=1 |pages=36–43|doi=10.2307/2426345 |jstor=2426345 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Whitlaw |first1=H. A. |last2=Ballard |first2=W. B. |last3=Sabine |first3=D. L. |last4=Young |first4=S. J. |last5=Jenkins |first5=R. A. |last6=Forbes |first6=G. J. |date=1998 |title=Survival and cause-specific mortality rates of adult white-tailed deer in New Brunswick |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=62 |issue=4 |pages=1335–1341|doi=10.2307/3801999 |jstor=3801999 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bruns | first1 = E. H. | year = 1970 | title = Winter predation of golden eagles and coyotes on pronghorn antelopes | journal = Can. Field-Nat. | volume = 84 | issue = 3 | pages = 301–304 | doi = 10.5962/p.342975 | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Boggess |first1=E. K. |last2=Andrews |first2=R. D. |last3=Bishop |first3=R. A. |date=1978 |title=Domestic animal losses to coyotes and dogs in Iowa |journal=The Journal of Wildlife Management |volume=42 |issue=2 |pages=362–372|doi=10.2307/3800272 |jstor=3800272 }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Connolly |first=G. |date=1992 |title=Coyote damage to livestock and other resources. Boer, AH, Ecology and management of the eastern coyote |publisher=University of New Brunswick |location=New Brunswick}}</ref>

Although coyotes prefer fresh meat, they will [[scavenge]] when the opportunity presents itself. Excluding the insects, fruit, and grass eaten, the coyote requires an estimated {{convert|600|g|lb|abbr=on}} of food daily, or {{convert|250|kg|lb|abbr=on}} annually.<ref name="gier1974"/> The coyote readily [[cannibalism (zoology)|cannibalizes]] the carcasses of [[conspecifics]], with coyote fat having been successfully used by coyote hunters as a lure or poisoned bait.<ref name="young63">{{Harvnb|Young|Jackson|1978|pp=63–4}}</ref> The coyote's winter diet consists mainly of large ungulate carcasses, with very little plant matter. Rodent prey increases in importance during the spring, summer, and fall.<ref name="bekoff1977"/>

The coyote feeds on a variety of different [[produce]], including [[strawberry|strawberries]],<ref name="tokar"/> [[blackberry|blackberries]], [[blueberry|blueberries]], [[Smilax|sarsaparilla]]s,<ref name="tokar"/> [[peach]]es, [[pear]]s, [[apple]]s, [[Opuntia|prickly pears]], [[chapote]]s, [[persimmon]]s, [[peanut]]s, [[watermelon]]s, [[cantaloupe]]s, and [[carrot]]s. During the winter and early spring, the coyote eats large quantities of grass, such as green [[wheat]] blades. It sometimes eats unusual items such as [[Cottonseed meal|cotton cake]], [[soybean]] meal, domestic animal droppings, [[bean]]s, and cultivated [[grain]] such as [[maize]], wheat, and [[sorghum]].<ref name="gier1974"/>

In coastal California, coyotes now consume a higher percentage of marine-based food than their ancestors, which is thought to be due to the extirpation of the grizzly bear from this region.<ref name=reid2018/> In [[Death Valley]], coyotes may consume great quantities of [[hawkmoth]] [[caterpillar]]s or [[beetle]]s in the spring flowering months.<ref>{{cite book|last=Cordey|first=Huw|year=2013|title=North America: A World in One Continent |location=Philadelphia|publisher=Running Press|url={{Google books|plainurl=yes|id=JCAVAgAAQBAJ|page=305}}|isbn=978-0-7624-4843-2|oclc=808413615}}</ref>