Eastern coyote

The Eastern coyote is much larger than its western counterpart. Adult males in Pennsylvania weigh 45 to 55 pounds. Females are smaller, weighing 35 to 40 pounds. Total body lengths of eastern coyotes range from 48 to 60 inches. Their pelage colors range from light blond to reddish blond to gray, and from dark brown washed with black to black. Generally, coyotes are gray to a German shepherd coloration. Their legs are gray, tan and reddish, often with black markings or lines down the front of the front legs. The cheeks and behind the ears are reddish or chestnut colored. Blond, reddish and black coyotes might not have any noticeable black stripes on their front legs. A coyote's ears are erect and its bottle-brush tail usually is held in a downward position. Normally, its eyes are yellow, but some with brown eyes have been found.

Coyotes are monogamous; they maintain pair bonds for several years. The social unit centers around the mated pair and its offspring. However, the delayed dispersal of some offspring might result in extended family relationships beyond a year. A social group occupying a territory might include a pair of adults (generally more than a year old), transients (ages 6 to 18 months), pre-dispersing subadults (usually less than a year old) and nonbreeding associates that are more than a year old. Observations indicate other coyotes living in a territory might help provide food to a growing litter.

Normally, females do not breed until their second winter, but there are cases of some yearling females breeding and producing litters. They have one heat period that lasts four to five days, usually in February. The litters are born from mid-April to early May, and litter sizes average five to seven pups. Coyotes compensate for unusually high mortality by having larger litters. Known denning sites range from beneath overturned trees, piles of tree stumps, rock dens, and dug-out red-fox dens. Dens usually are located on southerly exposures. The pups are moved frequently to new dens to avoid detection.

Young coyotes begin to disperse from the family group during October, when they're 6 months old. Studies in Pennsylvania indicate some juvenile coyotes dispersed up to 100 miles, but 30 to 50 miles is more common.

Coyotes use a variety of yips, barks and howls to communicate and periodically assemble into larger packs. Coyotes at times will "pack" and at other times will hunt alone or in the company of another coyote or two. They primarily are nocturnal, but often hunt during daylight hours, especially in the morning. Howling might occur at any time of day, but the highest activity usually is at night. A coyote's senses of smell, hearing and alertness are especially keen.

The coyote has adapted to a wide variety of habitats in Pennsylvania. The animals can be found in the heavily forested northeast and northcentral regions of the state, in dairy and cropland areas, and even around the heavily populated areas of Philadelphia, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh and Erie. Coyotes prefer heavy, brushy cover found in places such as clearcuts, and they often live along edges between forest and agricultural areas where prey is abundant.