Coyotes are Here to Stay

One of our favorite publications is the Smoky Mountain’s own “Smokies Guide” put out by the National Park Service. We always learn something interesting every time we pick up one of the magazines.

The Winter 2004-05 edition told me that Coyotes made their way here from the west during the 1980s, and while their natural predator the Gray Wolf, was larger (80lbs compared to the coyote average of 30 lbs), it was largely eliminated by hunting and trapping here. This gave the coyotes the opportunity to thrive and let their populations increase.

Coyotes are most active at night and they exist on a diet of rabbits, mice, squirrels, deer, grasshoppers, groundhogs and berries. They also have a positive effect on the park by eating wild hog piglets whose parents do considerable damage to the flora and fauna with their rooting habits. During the fall through late winter, the howls and yips that are characteristic to these animals can be heard throughout Cades Cove in the Park.