Description
Have you ever been in a tent in the middle of nowhere at night? Suddenly, you hear a long drawn out howl. You are hearing a coyote. The coyote weighs 15 to 45 lbs. The coyote is 15 to 20 inches tall. The coyote's colors may contain brown, black, gray, cream, and white. It has large sharp teeth. It has a black nose. It has dark eyes. The coyote has a long bushy tail and long legs. The coyote has good eyesight, hearing, and a keen sense of smell.
Habitat
The coyote lives in the Adirondacks. It can also live in deserts, grassland, prairies, and plains. Coyotes live in dens or in other animals' homes.
Food
The coyote eats fish, snakes and lizards. The coyote also eats rabbits, squirrels and deer. It eats grains and fruit, and will even raid melon patches. The coyote eats almost everything. The coyote hunts day and night. Sometimes it hunts alone and sometimes with a group to get a bigger animal. It runs fast and catches its prey easily. The coyote swallows food in large chunks barely chewing it.
Life
The coyote's enemy is man. There are 100,000 coyotes killed each year by man.
The coyote has 3 to 9 puppies a year, usually in April or May when food is abundant. The coyote's pups are born blind. Their eyes open about 14 days after they are are born. They live 15 years in the wild. Coyotes are killed by wolves when caught scavenging for their food.
Interesting facts
The coyote walks with only its toes touching the ground. One coyote eats about 200 pounds of meat a year. This is equal to 5,000 squirrels or 100 rabbits. The coyote is a good swimmer and likes to eat frogs.
by Matthew and Ricky
