Coyotes

When we go camping, I love to hear the coyotes howl and yip. Coyotes are some of my wild cousins. Many coyotes live in West Texas.

Coyotes are much smaller than I am. I weigh about 100 pounds while a coyote weighs only 25 to 40 pounds. Coyotes have yellow eyes and gray or a yellowish gray fur. They have pointed ears and bushy tails. Like most in my species, they are very smart. Like me, coyotes are also good swimmers.

Do you know an easy way to tell the difference between a dog, coyote, or wolf? Look at our tails! Dogs run with their tails up. Coyotes run with their tails down. Wolves run with their tails out straight.

Coyotes talk to each other a lot. In fact, their name says a lot about who they are. Coyote comes from the word cóyotl. Cóyotl means "barking dog" in the Nahuatl Indians’ language. Coyotes like to bark, whine, howl, and yap. They do most of their talking at night because that’s when they like to hunt.

If you would like to learn more about coyotes, go to http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/coyote/.