Estimating Coyote Food Intake from Undigested Residues in Scats

Abstract

Average dry weights per occurrence in a coyote (C. latrans) scat were determined for undigested fractions of mammals, birds, reptiles, arthropods, plants and seeds. Dry weights of these items are useful for estimating biomass originally ingested. Normalizing data procedures an estimate of the coyote dietary. If coyote population densities and food intake rates were known, estimates of relative biomass taken from each prey population could be obtained.