Foodniche of Coyotes in the Rolling Plains of Texas

Abstract

Highlight: Coyote diets were determined from scat and stomach analyses over a two-year period in an area centered in the Rolling Plains region of Texas. Fruit from 9 species of native plants were the most important food for coyotes, mainly as rainfall in May-and September. There is usually a dry making up 46% of the annual diet. Honey mesquite pods alone summer period with extremely high temperatures and contributed 15.6% of the annual diet. Rodents contributed evaporation, while the winters are relatively mild. The eleva24.5% of the coyote’s annual diet, while leporids made up just tion is approximately 550 m above sea level. Steep rocky hills 10.5%. The foodniche of coyotes varied seasonally as well as occur along the South Fork of the Wichita and Brazos Rivers annually. The coyote’s role as an agent of seed dispersal while flat to gently rolling topography occurs away from the appears minimal since digestion of some seeds by coyotes rivers. Honey mesquite (Prosopis glandulosa Torr. var. significantly reduces percent germination. Late evening and glandulosa), tobosagrass (Hilaria mutica), and buffalograss pre-dawn hours seem the normal feeding period for most (Buchloe dactyloides) are dominants on the deep hardland and coyotes, and moon phase did not affect the timing of this heavy clay range sites, while redberry juniper (Juniperus activity. In this study there was no evidence of coyote pinch0 tii), sideoats grama (Bou teloua curtipendula), and mesquite dominate in-the rough breaks. Pricklypear (Opuntia cow-calf operations on large ranches. Some ranchers also run stocker yearlings during the fall and winter. The average annual precipitation is 63 cm, which comes