What Do Coyotes Eat? – All About Their Favorite Food

Coyotes sometimes pounce on cats, kill them, and eat them. However, coyotes are rarely lucky with cats as the latter is very slick and can escape through the tiniest spaces. Research confirms that cats only make up 1% of city coyotes’ diet, confirming how difficult it is for coyotes to catch them.

Coyotes do eat snakes, and they do so a lot. A coyote will often try to kill a snake if it spots it, and most of the time, the altercation often ends in favor of the coyote. Coyotes prey on both venomous and non-venomous snakes.

Coyotes, including large adults, cannot prey on eagles. Firstly, eagles are exceedingly strong and have the advantage of flight over coyotes. An eagle and adult coyote face-off often ends in a stalemate or the eagle flying to safety. Eagles, however, find it easy to prey on coyote pups.

Coyotes feast on clarion, especially the dead flesh of white-tailed deer. Their metabolism allows them to digest dead meats at the point of decay. Coyotes eat all types of dead flesh and are not selective.

Mice are one of the smaller prey that coyotes love to eat. They ransack mice hideouts in the forests and garbage and kill them for food. Just like mice, coyotes prefer to prey on rodents than larger options like deer.

Coyotes will eat foxes like any other meat but rarely do as they need to kill a fox to eat it. Coyotes are naturally bigger than foxes but prefer not to confront them due to the risk of injuries. They will go for smaller animals than hunt the craftier and highly resilient fox.

Coyotes rarely ever eat owls because the latter maintains a safe distance. Coyotes only catch owls by sneaking up on them when the latter is on a scavenge on land.

Coyotes eat skunks only when other preferred animals and fruits are scarce. Skunks are only secondary options and are not considered major prey to coyotes.

Coyotes sometimes eat badgers if they can find them. Badgers are relatively slower than most prey coyotes prefer to hunt. It is important not to confuse honey badgers for badgers. Honey badgers are much stronger, and coyotes do not try to hunt them.

Coyotes do not hunt or eat wolves, except dead ones. Coyotes typically avoid wolves as much as possible, including vulnerable younger members. Wolves will always win fights against coyotes and kill them. This dominance naturally makes coyotes wary of wolves.

Coyotes eat lizards whenever they can catch them. While coyotes prefer rodents and squirrels, they also eat lizards by chasing them down and killing them.

Coyotes eat deer. A single coyote will find it difficult to take down a deer. Typically, a pack of coyotes is needed to chase, encircle and dominate a deer. Whitetail deer are one of coyotes’ favorite foods.

Coyotes hunt wild turkeys whenever they find them. They are one of the major birds that coyotes actively hunt, as they are slower than most birds. Coyotes use their speed and ability to maneuver and inflict fatal injuries on turkeys.

Coyotes eat grasshoppers even though they don’t always catch them. Grasshoppers are not the primary food for coyotes as they are not very satisfactory. Coyotes only focus on them during scarcity.

Coyotes see dogs as easy meals and will try to drag them from human neighborhoods and kill them when preferable food sources are scarce. Coyotes are much stronger than the more domesticated canine and will always win an altercation.

There has been no documented record of coyotes preying on raccoons. Coyotes barely ever try to kill raccoons. It is a fight they know isn’t worth going into just for food. They may try to target younger raccoons as they can easily overpower them. In most cases, Coyotes will leave raccoons alone.

Coyotes eat bighorn sheep. It is rare for a single coyote to hunt and kill a bighorn sheep without help, so several coyotes need to come together to overpower them. Coyotes will prefer easier prey to hunt down bighorn sheep.

Coyotes eat rats and actively hunt them. Coyotes are experts in chasing down most rodents, and rats are no different. They fish rats out from garbage and shallow holes, which is why it is important to dispose of garbage always.

Coyotes eat other coyotes, and the phenomenon is quite common. A family of coyotes can attack a strange solitary coyote from another pack, kill it and eat it.

Coyotes occasionally chase, kill and eat frogs if the latter share the same habitat. Like smaller mammals and rodents, coyotes see frogs as easier prey and actively hunt them.

Coyotes eat elks only when they find them dead and decaying. Coyotes cannot overpower elks, even as a pack. It is extremely unlikely for coyotes ever to kill a live elk.

Coyotes eat fish and try to catch them in shallow waters. While fish are not their favorite meals, they are small, which makes them easy to handle for coyotes.

Coyotes would naturally eat bison if they could overpower it. However, the success rate of doing so even as a group is extremely low. The only time coyotes get to eat bison is if they are dead. Coyotes can eat any dead animal, and a dead bison is one of the lots.

Coyotes eat grass and do so quite often. Grass accounts for a substantial part of their herbivores’ diet. The canine specially selects the choicest grasses that are fresh for sustenance when preferred prey is not available.

Coyotes love berries and eat them just as often as they eat grass. Coyote pups are introduced to berries as soon as they can start eating due to the fruit availability in the wild. Coyotes actively seek berries and will continue to eat from a tree as long as it keeps producing.

Coyotes eat fruits, including fresh ones they can get from a tree or remnants they can find in the garbage. They prefer to eat apples, berries, and watermelons. They are also big on intercontinental fruit eaters, especially when they live near people. They eat grapes, loquat, and palm tree fruits.

Coyotes eat apples quite well and try to get low-hanging ones. This animal will eat just about anything. Their only challenge is getting the food. Coyotes go to great lengths to get apples which they naturally enjoy.