Coyotes are the most common and the most serious predator of livestock in the western United States. Westwide, they cause a majority of the predation losses of sheep, goats and cattle. In some states, this is also true for hogs and poultry.
In attacks on adult sheep and goats, coyotes typically bite the throat just behind the jaw and below the ear, although repeated bites made while shifting their hold may obscure the initial tooth punctures. Death commonly results from suffocation and shock; blood loss is usually a secondary cause of death. On small prey such as young lambs and kids, coyotes may kill by biting the head, neck or back, causing massive tissue and bone damage.
Photos on Identifying Coyote Predation
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- This pronghorn antelope exhibits similar injuries, punctures in the throat, typical of predation. In this case, the pronghorn was killed by a coyote.
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- A closeup view of this lamb’s throat indicates the cause of his illness, a severe injury to the throat which was probably caused by a coyote attack.
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- This whitetail fawn carcass exhibits the appearance of an animal that has been fed upon by a carnivore. In this particular case, the fawn was killed and fed upon by a coyote.
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- This newborn calf also exhibits the appearance of an animal fed upon by a predator. In this case, the calf was killed and fed upon by coyotes
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- The carcass of this lamb exhibits injuries which are typical of some kinds of predation. In this case, the lamb was bitten in the skull by a coyote.
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- The carcass of this elk calf exhibits injuries typical of predation, in this case, tooth punctures in the throat. This calf was killed and fed upon by coyotes.
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- Coyote scat composed almost entirely of wild plums.
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- A closeup view of this lamb’s throat indicates the cause of his illness, a severe injury to the throat which was probably caused by a coyote attack.
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- This whitetail fawn carcass exhibits the appearance of an animal that has been fed upon by a carnivore. In this particular case, the fawn was killed and fed upon by a coyote.
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- This newborn calf also exhibits the appearance of an animal fed upon by a predator. In this case, the calf was killed and fed upon by coyotes.
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- The carcass of this lamb exhibits injuries which are typical of some kinds of predation. In this case, the lamb was bitten in the skull by a coyote.
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- The carcass of this elk calf exhibits injuries typical of predation, in this case, tooth punctures in the throat. This calf was killed and fed upon by coyotes.
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- This pronghorn antelope exhibits similar injuries, punctures in the throat, typical of predation. In this case, the pronghorn was killed by a coyote.
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- It is frequently necessary to skin animal carcasses to determine whether injuries have occurred. The lamb on left was bitten in the throat and killed by coyotes and the lamb on the right died of non-predation causes.
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- This Angora wether exhibits injuries typical of predation with tooth punctures and hemorrhage in the jaw and throat. In this case the wether was killed and fed upon by coyotes.
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- The throat of this whitetail fawn exhibits the injuries typical of predation by several carnivore species, including lacerations in the area of the larynx and rear of the jaw. During necropsy of carcasses, the larynx and trachea should be opened and checked for the presence of foam that indicates that the animal was alive and breathing when the injuries occurred. The fawn was killed by a coyote.
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- A second view of the same whitetail fawn demonstrates the injuries to the skull caused in this attack by coyotes.
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- Evidence of predation may persist for days or weeks after death as long as certain portions of the carcass remain intact. This sheep had been killed by a coyote several days earlier but the tooth punctures and hemorrhage in the skin of the throat area persist and are evidence of predation.
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- In many instance evidence of predation will persist as long as certain portions of the skeleton are intact. In this instance, the jaw bone on the left is from a goat killed by a coyote attack at the throat. The injuries to the rear of the jaw are typical of this type of kill. The jaw bone on the right is that of a goat that died of non-predation causes.
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- This is the carcass of a calf about 12 hours after birth. The carcass was almost entirely consumed by coyotes but no external evidence on the carcass was sufficient to determine the cause of death. However, the calf’s nose was chapped and peeling, indicating that the calf had nursed, and its skin had been cleaned of placental waste, which suggests good maternal care.
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- The coagulated blood indicates that the calf had bled extensively, not a normal circumstance for newborn young. Coyote tracks in the immediate vicinity of the carcass indicate predation.
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- Numerous small hemorrhages around the calf’s jaws and nose are evidence of a difficult birth. In direct evidence from the carcass and vicinty indicates that the calf was born alive and had walked, nursed and received good maternal care. Wram, dry weather ruled out exposure as the cause of death. Coyote tracks, coagulated blood and the cow’s skidding tracks nearby indicate predation by coyotes.
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- It is often necessary to search for other evidence such as the tracks and hair which might be left at crossings under or through fences. In this case, a coyote has been using this crawl under a fence.
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- Coyote tracks and scat shown here by this grasss clump are concrete evidence of coyote presence in this area.
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- These two lambs that were killed by coyotes exhibit typical appearance of an attack at the throat by coyotes. The lamb at the right exhibits the most typical coyote feeding pattern.
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- The Angora goat carcass exhibits the typical coyote attack at the throat as well as coyote feeding in the ribcage and flank.
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- The neck of this lamb exhibits the typical tooth punctures and massive hemorrhage resulting from a coyote attack at the throat. The extensive hemorrage in this case occurred because the lamb lived for several hours after the attack.
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- Matches are inserted into the tooth punctures in the skull and scalp of this young lamb killed by a coyote biting the head.
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- Tooth cuts on the throat and flank of this calf that escaped and survived were made by coyotes.
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- This calf, still living, was attacked by coyotes which fed extensively on its hindquarters.
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- This calf carcass exhibits the feeding on the nose which seems to be relatively common with coyotes preying on young calves.
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- The calf in the center was attacked by coyotes which bit off part of his tail. Bobtailed calves are frequently seen in areas where coyote predation is a common occurrence.
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- Persistent attacks by coyotes may result in the calf losing its entire tail and the coyotes feeding into the rectal area. This calf attacked by coyotes is one such example.
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- It is also relatively common for coyotes to feed on calves during birth and they many also feed on the cow. This cow exhibits the results of such attack by coyotes.
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- This Angora nanny exhibits the results of a coyote attack at the rear. This goat was attacked by a young, inexperienced coyote. The attack could have been interpreted as an attack by dogs had it not been for additional evidence including coyote tracks and droppings in the immediate vicinity of the goat.
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- This goat was attacked at the rear and fed upon by coyotes. The goat died of shock and loss of blood during the feeding process. this type of attack could be interpreted as typical of dogs, but in fact is also relatively typical of young inexperienced coyotes. Inaddation it is less common for dogs to feed on their kills.
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- These injuries to the nose are a further example of what might be considered non-typical coyote attack behavior. Such attacks frequently lead to the appearance of carcasses such as shown in the next illustration.
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- The attack and fedding on this lamb’s nose would normally be considered typical of dogs; however, this lamb was killed and fed upon by coyotes.
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- This nanny was attacked and her udder was eaten by a coyote. This is considered an aberrant coyote attack and feeding pattern, one which is far more typical of black bear.
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- Since it is easy to misinterpret and confuse predator sign made by species which are similar in behaviort and the evidence they leave, it is important to be careful in examining sign. The front foot on the left is that of a 35-pound male collie dog. That on the right is of a 30-pound male coyote. Note the difference in the shape of the feet, toes and pads, as well as the nails.
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- Tracks made bydogs and coyotes of similar size are often easily confused. The tracks at the left were made by a collie dog weighing about 30 pounds while those at the right were made by a male coyote of similar size. Note the difference in the nail marks and the shape of the tracks.
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- This coyote scat is composed almost entirely of mohair from an Angora goat. The appearance of scat is based on the diet and differs a great deal with dietary content.
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- Coyote scats composed almost entirely of pig hair.
