Coyote (Canis latrans)

County List:

Rule:

Forested or Mixed Forested/Nonforested Landscapes

Habitat Requirements may be distributed across the NEIGHBORHOOD

      (Any Forested Upland (Regen))
      or (Any Forested Lowland (Regen))
      or Grass
      or Upland Brush
      or Savanna
      or Fields/Pastures
   containing:
      Mast
   neighboring:
      Sedge Meadow
      or Lowland Brush
      or Bog
      or Treed Bog
   neighboring:
      (Any Forested Upland Except Conifer Plantations (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw of Uneven))
   neighboring:
      (Any Forested Lowland (Pole or Sm Saw or Lg Saw or Uneven))

Habitat List:

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Literature:

The coyote is most at home in prairies, brushy areas, and wooded edges and least tolerant of unbroken forest tracts. Before European settlement, the coyote was absent from most of the Great Lakes drainage. Today, however, the mosaic of farms and woodlots in the south, as well as the patchwork of forests and clear-cuts in the north, are quite acceptable as coyote habitat.

The coyote is an opportunist and feeds on just about any wild mammal. Documented prey include shrews, squirrels, voles, mice, rabbits, hares, muskrats, porcupines, deer, and moose. The coyote rarely kills species larger than itself and prefers, instead, to scavenge off a reasonably fresh carcass. Although 90% of the diet consists of mammals, a coyote occasionally eats birds, snakes, frogs, fish, and even insects. Fruits and vegetables are taken in small amounts, especially in autumn.

Habitat: Edges of second growth forests, open brushy fields, fallow agricultural land, forest openings created by fire or logging.

Special Habitat Requirements: Coyotes may concentrate in low-lying areas with abundant snowshoe hares and deer.

Habitat Preferences: Extensive and dense woodlands may discourage the coyote, but lumbering and other clearing have reduced much of Michigan's "trackless" forest environments to patchwork, providing numerous openings and brushy glades conducive to the coyote's survival. Studies in the Upper Great Lakes Region have shown how the coyote has effectively adapted to the mixed forest and cleared environments. Berg and Chesness found Minnesota coyotes frequenting woodland cover of aspen, aspen-fir, and lowland conifers (mostly white cedar) in winter. These cover-types were also being used by favored prey: snowshoe hare and white-tailed deer. In summer and autumn, Minnesota coyotes made abundant use of open grassy fields, where small rodents were common. In Michigan, Ozoga and Harger found the coyote mostly in aspen-conifer, swamp conifers, lowland brush and occasionally in upland hardwoods. In open country, coyotes tend to use, and hunt on the woodland edges. Windswept shorelines and frozen stream-ways generally serve as travel routes between habitats. The combination of farmlands, fallow fields, orchards, woodlots, and forested strips along streams in the southern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula would seem to be favorable habitat for the coyote.

Density and Movements: The movements and distribution of the coyote are highly correlated with topography, vegetative cover, and food supply. In addition, population numbers fluctuate due to such factors as mortality of the annual pup crop, ups and downs in abundance of the food supply (notably microtine rodents and the snowshoe hare), outbreaks of mange, and kills by animal control specialists.

Ozoga and Harger estimated winter areas of activity for Michigan coyotes as 20 to 25 sq miles. Tagged coyotes were found to move in a straight line as far as 36 miles from Beaver Island, across at least 15 miles of Lake Michigan water (or ice) to Emmet County in the Lower Peninsula to Mackinac County in the Upper Peninsula.

Behavior: Ground dens are often constructed by enlarging the burrow of a woodchuck or badger, although the coyote is also perfectly capable of digging its own burrow as long as 30 feet and as deep as 4 feet. Burrows can be used year after year. Surface resting beds may be on elevated places, in dense conifers, or by tree falls. Winter coyote beds are often located on snowdrifts or on top of snow-packed brush.

Key Components of Habitat: Expansion of range chiefly a result of clearing of forests and agricultural development that has directly and indirectly increased food availability.

Management Actions to Enhance or Maintain Habitat Quality: Elimination of competing large predators, urbanization, and agricultural expansion have all enhanced habitat conditions and have contributed to range expansion of the species. Specific procedures to enhance habitat quality for the species are probably unnecessary.

Habitat: Since the land-clearing era of the mid-1800s, coyotes have moved eastward along both northern and southern routes, entering previously unoccupied habitats. Encroachment in agricultural areas, such as the present movement into southwestern Minnesota has been continuous. Almost any habitat, including urban areas, that supports prey populations also supports coyotes. Coyote distribution is limited by snow or arctic conditions, prey size and density (with a general north to south increase in the availability of small prey), and competition with larger predators such as wolves and mountain lion.