This “trickster” is highly-adaptable, one of a handful of existing carnivores that evolved on the North American continent. It’s noted for its vocalizations and has earned a special place in Native American folklore – where it’s depicted as a cunning agent of humor and chaos. Today, some facts about the coyote (Canis latrans):

• Coyotes will hunt alone or in groups. They are predators, scavengers, and omnivores and will even, sometimes, form unlikely predatory partnerships with other animals.
• As the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services documents in the above picture, a coyote and badger have teamed up on a prairie in Colorado. The duo can hunt prairie dogs and ground squirrels a lot better when they work in tandem – as the fleet-footed coyote runs down prey and the badger digs hiding animals out of burrows.
• At least 11 different kinds of coyote vocalizations have been documented. According to the USFWS, “When you hear coyotes howl, you may think that you are hearing many animals. Two can sound like six because of their complex, interruptive, variable vocalizations. Sometimes their hauntingly beautiful songs echo off nearby rock walls, exacerbating the illusion of many animals.”
• Coyotes form strong pair bonds, with both parents providing food to their young. Other coyotes will also assist in the rearing of young pups, which are born in litters of three to seven between March and May.
• A staple of legend in many indigenous North American cultures, the coyote is often a trickster hero – variably credited with bringing mankind fire and telling the first lie.

(Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons, Kimberly Fraser, USFWS / Source: Vermont PBS, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: Columbia National Wildlife Refuge, Wikimedia Commons, USFWS: Open Spaces, IUCN Red List: Canis latrans, Native American Indian Legends)