Spring Coyote

by Mitch Shindelbower

Title

Spring Coyote

Artist

Mitch Shindelbower

Medium

Photograph

Description

The coyote (US /kaɪˈoʊtiː/ or /ˈkaɪ.oʊt/, UK /kɔɪˈjoʊteɪ/, or /kɔɪˈjoʊt/;[a] Canis latrans) is a canid native to North America. It is a smaller, more basal animal than its close relative, the gray wolf,[2] being roughly the North American equivalent to the Old World golden jackal, though it is larger and more predatory in nature.[3] It is listed as "least concern" by the IUCN, on account of its wide distribution and abundance throughout North America, even southwards through Mexico and Central America. It is a highly versatile species, whose range has expanded amidst human environmental modification.[1] This expansion is ongoing, and it may one day reach South America, as shown by the animal's presence beyond the Panama Canal in 2013.[4] As of 2005, 19 subspecies are recognized.[5]

The ancestors of the coyote diverged from those of the gray wolf, 1–2 million years ago,[6] with the modern species arising in North America during the Middle Pleistocene.[2] It is highly flexible in social organization, living either in nuclear families or in loosely-knit packs of unrelated individuals. It has a varied diet consisting primarily of animal matter, including ungulates, lagomorphs, rodents, birds, reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates, though it may also eat fruit and vegetable matter on occasion.[7] It is a very vocal animal, whose most iconic sound consists of a howl emitted by solitary individuals.[8] Humans aside, cougars[9] and gray wolves[10] are the coyote's only serious enemies. Nevertheless, coyotes have on occasion mated with the latter species, producing hybrids colloquially called "coywolves".

The coyote is a prominent character in Native American folklore, usually depicted as a trickster who alternately assumes the form of an actual coyote or a man. As with other trickster figures, the coyote acts as a picaresque hero which rebels against social convention through deception and humor.[11] The animal was especially respected in Mesoamerican cosmology as a symbol of military might,[12] with some scholars having traced the origin of the Aztec god Quetzalcoatl to a pre-Aztec coyote deity.[13] After the European colonization of the Americas, it was reviled in Anglo-American culture as a cowardly and untrustworthy animal. Unlike the gray wolf, which has undergone a radical improvement of its public image, cultural attitudes towards the coyote remain largely negative.[14][15]Coyote males average 8–20 kg (18–44 lb) in weight, while females average 7–18 kg (15–40 lb), though size varies geographically. Northern subspecies, which average 18 kg (40 lb), tend to grow larger than the southern subspecies of Mexico, which average 11.5 kg (25 lb). Body length ranges on average from 1 to 1.35 metres (3 ft 3.37 in to 4 ft 5.15 in), and tail length 40 centimetres (16 in), with females being shorter in both body length and height.[16] The largest coyote on record was a male killed near Afton, Wyoming on November 19, 1937 which measured 1.6 metres (5 ft 3 in) from nose to tail, and weighed 33.9 kilograms (75 lb).[17] Scent glands are located at the upper side of the base of the tail and are a bluish black color.[18]

The color and texture of the coyote's fur varies somewhat geographically.[16] The hair's predominant color is light gray and red or fulvous, interspersed around the body with black and white. Coyotes living on high elevations tend to have more black and gray shades than their desert-dwelling counterparts, which are more fulvous or whitish-gray.[19] The coyote's fur consists of short, soft underfur and long, coarse guard hairs. The fur of northern subspecies is longer and denser than in southern forms, with the fur of some Mexican and Central American forms being almost hispid.[20] Albinism is extremely rare in coyotes; out of a total of 750,000 coyotes harvested by Federal and cooperative hunters between March 22, 1938 to June 30, 1945, only two were albinos.[19]

The coyote is typically smaller than the gray wolf, but has longer ears and a larger braincase,[16] as well as a thinner frame, face and muzzle. The coyote also carries its tail downwards when running or walking, rather than horizontally as the wolf does.[21] Coyote tracks can be distinguished from those of dogs by their more elongated, less rounded shape.[22] Scent glands are smaller than the gray wolf's, but the same color.[18] Its fur color variation is much less varied than that of a wolf.

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June 2nd, 2015

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