Coyote America by Dan Flores ****

Coyotes are unique to North America. Coyote America by Dan Flores tells how they survived the Pleistocene Extinctions 10,000 years ago and the poisons, traps, and hunters of the current era. While “eighteen mammal, thirty-four bird, and nine fish extinctions have happened in America since 1600,” the coyotes have survived. In fact, they have increased their population and range. If you pronounce coyote with two syllables and hate these pests, you will learn why these control programs have failed. If you pronounce coyote with three syllables and love these tricksters, you will learn “Coyotes have been in North America far longer than we, they are not going anywhere, and history demonstrates all too graphically that eradicating them is an impossibility.” Coyotes are here to stay.

How have coyotes survived against all odds? Coyotes exhibit “the zoological term: “fission-fusion.” Translated, that means that among a rare few species, evolutionary pressures have selected for sociality that allows for unusual flexibility among individuals, who can be either gregarious or solitary as conditions warrant.”

Wolves were driven to extinction because they depended on the pack. Coyotes can function in a pack, as a bonded pair, or as an individual hunter. While most of their diet is rodents, packs can hunt larger mammals. However, if the conditions require it, they can eat berries or insects. This flexibility has helped coyotes survive.

Depending on the conditions coyote litters range from two to seventeen. Populations have been stable even though millions have been killed in predator control activities. In addition, coyotes are good colonizers. When wolves are eliminated from areas, the coyotes move in. They have also benefitted from leash laws and efforts to reduce packs of feral dogs. Today, coyotes are in all states except Hawaii. They have colonized both rural and urban areas.

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