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FeedStudy says coyotes eat lots of venison. But are they killing lots of deer?
The 58 coyotes that were taken during last weekend’s Northeast Regional Coyote Hunt was the highest total in the event’s 13-year history.
A record number of 841 hunters participated in the event, which is conducted by District 9 of the Pennsylvania Trapper’s Association. But the hunt yielded far more than records, it provided valuable insight into Pennsylvania’s largest canine predator.
For starters, our coyotes are big. The total weight of all 58 coyotes taken in the hunt – which includes eight northeastern Pennsylvania counties, was 2,070 pounds.
Just over a ton.
The heaviest weighed 46.95 pounds and was taken in Susquehanna County. The smallest weighed just over 20 pounds and the average weight was 35.7 pounds.
Biologists say that the Eastern coyotes that inhabit this part of the country are bigger then their western counterparts, and there’s a reason why.
Research has shown that the coyotes living here actually migrated here in the 1940’s through Ontario, where they came into contact and bred with Great Lakes wolves.
That made them bigger, faster and stronger.
It also gave them a healthy appetite.
There’s been much debate over a coyote’s diet. Some believe the large canines feast on deer and small game, while others say they don’t eat enough to impact those populations, instead consuming small rodents.
And this is where hunts – such as the one held recently, give us an answer. According to research on stomach samples conducted by Shippensburg University, coyotes do indeed eat deer more than anything else. Deer was the most prevalent food item – occurring in 62 percent of the 98 coyote stomachs that were sampled.
But don’t jump to conclusions just yet.
Because the samples were taken from coyote hunts and trappers, it represents a winter diet – a time of year when deer are more vulnerable to predation.
Still, the samples don’t necessarily indicate that coyotes are killing deer, just eating them. Because they are also scavengers, it’s likely that coyotes are consuming road-killed deer, unrecovered deer remaining from the recent hunting seasons or even gut piles.
Face it, there’s a lot of dead deer laying along the roadsides and in the woods during the winter months.
It would take a considerable amount of energy for a coyote to kill a deer, especially when there is no snow on the ground. I’m sure it does happen, however it makes sense that a coyote would rather consume an animal that has already been killed rather then expend the valuable energy doing the job itself.
Do coyotes have a significant impact on the deer herd? The Shippensburg study seems to indicate that may be the case, but it also leaves more questions. Personally, I feel that a good portion of the coyote’s winter diet comes from dead deer. I’ve seen too many places that held plenty of deer and coyote signs to assume that the canines are going to wipe out the deer herd.
But my opinion could change, and that’s why I’ll continue to read the valuable research that is yielded by coyote hunts across the state.
On an interesting note, the second most-prevalent food item in coyote stomachs was vegetation. That may also explain why deer comprise a large portion of the coyote’s winter diet – an absence of vegetation.
Rabbits, shrews, turkeys, vole, red foxes and mice rounded out the rest of the prey species, proving that our coyotes aren’t just big, but they have pretty diverse taste buds as well.
I have found deer kills, with clear signs of the struggle. They take deer, and i believe more often than some may think.
It is no problem at all for 3 or 4 coyotes working together, which they often do as a family group unit.
The fact they kill deer in winter simply shows they don't eat just fawns, but they probably kill far more fawns than adult deer, in the spring and summer when they are very succeptible.
I also REGULARLY see deer hair in their scat throughout the year, and in many cases when there are no roadkilled deer for miles upon miles to "scavenge".
Do they have an impact on populations of deer? Some states believe they may. I personally think they only make a real difference when deer herds are low to begin with and it takes less variables to effect fawning/rectruitment. LIke when you have a bizarre eco-extremist deer plan that took deer numbers to low levels, and have as many or more coyotes as ever to top it off.
When there are lots of deer, there are plenty to go-round for predators human or otherwise and then losses due to coyotes, bears, bobcats etc become insignificant.
In my neighborhood, they seem to enjoy feral cats and vermin. Seeing I live in a suburban area, there are plenty of roadkill deer, rabbits, possum, skunks and raccoons. No one can hunt, so it is nice that they keep things in check. Coyotes are successful predators and have expanded their range even into urban areas like Chicago. Don't leave small pets unattended outside even for a minute. Coyotes can go both over and under a fence.
Ilive in the northrn Chicago suburbs. Throughout the lakeside suburbs, pet ownes are cautioned not to leave their small pets unattended. I can recall standing on mydeck with a .22 rifle so mydog could conduct his evening business. There is als a substantial deer population in this area.
While I had not considered roadkil as a coyote food source, (they get picked up PDQ in this ara, it is my opinion that the coyotes will go after a sick or injured deer, pehaps one injured by a car, and will attempt o ake a fawn if theyfigure Mom's not looking (They know that bambi's mommy is not as defenseless as she Looks!) A few years ago, a der got bogged down in deep snow at the bottom of one of the glacial remnat ravines prevalent in the area and, of course, the coyotes ate well. I say this to stressthe wide3 varity of conditins thatwil affect such a study.
Multiple coyotes + deer = Dead deer. And it doesn't have to be "sick".
Interesting article on the Coyotes. I live in a rural area in Rhode Island and see a lot of Coyotes and hear them at night as well.
Anyone remember Marty Stouffer's Wild America? Well, the piece he did on coyotes spoke of how they control their own population based on food available.
Good thing they're killing deer, deer themselves are vermin. Southeastern Indiana had so many, the HOA communities opened their lands to bow and arrow hunting of the deer. Southeastern Indiana needs more coyotes if they do so well with deer.
There is coyote food available pretty much everywhere, and in very few areas of this country are their numbers "limited by the food supply" lol. There is very little that a coyote won't eat. Small game, rats, mice, voles, fruits, corn, deer, garbage, insects etc...
Deer vermin? According to our state gameless commissions latest survey of the Pa residents, one of the options in one of the question was if you concsider deer vermin, only 6% thought so. And thats not "just" hunters, but the general population.
Coyotes kill alot of deer. Too many deer.