Animal Postcards and Stories
Charlie the Coyote
Hi, I'm Charlie Coyote.
Some people call me Trickster and say I'm always playing tricks on people and causing trouble.
Others say I've brought good things to this world that benefit everyone. Both are right. I have two sides.
I have a big brain and I'm very cunning. I'm a carnivore, so I eat meat as often as I can - but I do eat some fruits and grasses.
I have a long nose, strong yellow eyes and my ears stand up straight. When I'm hunting I can hear, see and smell my prey when its a long way off.
My body is about 50 inches (127cm) long and I weigh about 30 pounds (13kg). When I catch something I use my 42 teeth to eat it.
I have long legs and four well padded toes with claws that stick out all the time. I can't pull them in, or retract them, like some animals can. My tail is bushy and has a black tip on the end of it. The rest of my coat is a pale reddish grey colour.
I'm a great runner. I can keep going for long distances at up to 30 miles an hour (48km). When I run I hold my tail down - not like my relative the wolf, who sticks his out behind him.
I adapt very easily to different places and can live in the mountains, desert, forest, plains and tropics. You can see me in parts of the United States, Canada and Central America.
I don't need much shelter and when I go to sleep I curl up in any protected spot I can find. When female coyotes are going to have pups they need more safety, so they look for dens that have been abandoned by woodchucks or badgers. They don't usually dig their own dens.
You can sometimes see or hear me during the day, but I'm more active at dusk or dawn. I make howling and yipping sounds when I'm talking to my family and to let other coyotes know I'm around.
When I'm with my family group we stay together and only travel about 10 miles (16km), but when I'm by myself I travel up to 400 miles (643km).
There aren't as many of us now. That's because humans hunt us and set traps and poison. Also we don't know the road laws very well and a lot of us get run over.
