Coyote Tracks
Learn Tips for Recognizing Coyote Tracks
Learning to recognize animal tracks is not always easy, but identifying coyote tracks or those of other animals can help you figure out which creatures are in the immediate area and which are not. Recognizing coyote tracks can help hunters locate their prey but it can also help people who just want to spot a real coyote or to take photos of one.
Wildlife biologists follow coyote tracks to determine their habitat. Sometimes they track them down and put radio-tracking devices on the animals. This has led them to believe that a coyote in the wild only lives to be around four years old on average. Around 80% or more of coyotes under one year old die every year.
Coyote tracks can be followed whether they are on dirt, sand, mud or snow. Once you learn to recognize coyote tracks and those of other wild animals, you will become aware of a whole new world of wildlife. You will start to look for animal tracks anywhere you are from your backyard to nearby pastures and hiking trails.
Coyote tracks, like those of other animals, will look different depending on what kind of surface upon which it is found. Sometimes a full impression is made but more often than not by the time you see the track, nature has obscured part of it. Depending on the gait of the coyote, the tracks will also have a much different look. You may not be able to see all of the coyote’s toes or you may find tracks where there are only prints from one side of the animal. Wind and snow can obscure and change the way tracks look. So can the sun.
If you want to track a coyote and you know a specific area they frequent, you can clean the ground with a tree branch to wipe out all tracks and make the surface of the ground smooth with a light layer of dirt. That way when the coyote or coyotes come to the area, you will find fresh tracks to follow. This is called animal tracking in controlled conditions.
Because coyotes live in such close proximity to humans, coyote tracks can be found almost anywhere, in backyards, parks, woods, pastures, or beside river beds and streams. Coyote tracks are oval and they are around two inches wide by two-and-a-half inches long. In a perfect track, you will be able to see four toes and claws for both front and back feet.
The footpad of the coyote is sort of shaped like a triangle and the rear feet are smaller than the front feet. Tracks will land at many different gaits because coyotes move fast and the tracks could be made from galloping or loping, trotting or walking. When a coyote is trotting, for instance, he may leave a line of straight and narrow tracks. They might be up to twenty inches apart.
Many times coyote tracks and dog tracks are confused. The way to tell the difference is that dog toes will be rounded while coyote toes will be pointed. Coyote tracks are also a little more oval in shape.