Out west, most coyotes weigh 25 to 30 pounds. Adult male eastern coyotes weigh 45 to 55 pounds on average (some are larger), and females weigh 35 to 40 pounds. Today's eastern coyote is markedly larger than the western variety. Others suggest that coyotes remained present in wild areas of the East, refugia from which they expanded following a lessening of persecution by humans along with a population explosion of white-tailed deer, one of many foods that coyotes consume. Most wildlife scientists believe that western coyotes worked their way east to reoccupy the vacant habitat. But during the twentieth century, these predators have staged a remarkable comeback. "I've also heard them more recently-while standing in my backyard in rural Centre County not far from Penn State."Īlthough archaeological evidence shows that coyotes lived in the East in past millennia, they were largely eliminated in the region following trapping and shooting by European settlers. A second reason that coyotes howl is to advertise their presence to other packs, essentially warning those other family groups against trespassing across territorial boundaries."Ĭoyotes have long been abundant in the West San Julian has listened to their keening in Wyoming and Colorado. One is to call the pack-really a family group-back together again after a period of individual hunting. "Howling is a basic communication behavior in coyotes," says Gary San Julian, Penn State professor of wildlife resources. It's an attention-grabbing sound, and an eerie one: coyotes howling, usually in the evening or at night, a chorus that is being heard with increasing frequency throughout the Northeast-and not just in remote wilderness areas, but in towns, suburbs, and city fringes. It starts with a few falsetto yips, then blossoms into something resembling maniacal laughter, the yips stringing together into chattering howls.
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