Loping through the sage or racing across the prairie, the coyote is a familiar sight. At night his high-pitched wail-”a prolonged howl which the animal let out and then ran after and bit into small pieces”-echoes across the plains. His scientific name means barking dog.

        A cunning and resourceful hunter, the coyote seldom goes hungry. He’ll eat carrion as well as fresh-killed meat. By helping to control rodents, his chief food, he probably does as much good as harm. But since he sometimes kills livestock, ranch-men have branded him public enemy No. 1, now that the wolf is scarce.

       For a century man has campaigned against the coyote with guns,traps, and poison. But today his kind, numerous as ever extended their range. Unknown in Alaska prior to the gold rush, coyotes now roam there by the thousands. Within the past 25 years they have invaded the east, appearing in at least 13 states from Maine to Florida. The brush wolf is now so well established in New York that the State Conservation Department is trapping and studying it in the Adirondacks. Some upstate counties post $25 bounty. In 1958 they paid for 239.

        In many areas the coyote has crossbred with dogs to produce “coy-dog” that sometimes plys hob with sheep and deer.

        The coyote’s secret of survival? He’s intelligent, omnivorous, prolific. He knows how to keep just out of gunshot, and it takes skill to poison or trap a region’s last pair. Averaging seven pups to the litter, that last pair can soon repopulate the area. Record litters reach 19!

        Shoulder height 23-26 in. Weight 20-50 lbs. Range: Alaska to Central America. Characteristics: wolflike,but smaller.

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