Coyotes eating Juniper berries

Colorado Coyotes

Colorado Coyotes

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Spent a couple of days scouting a new area and calling. Didn't get any coyotes to play but everywhere we went there was scat full of juniper berries.

What benefit do they get from juniper berries? Just something to fill their belly's? Didn't see any scat with fur in it, just berries. I've seen this many times before over the years just thought I'd ask.
 
CC, I think they eat the berries just to clean out their plumbing. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif The juniper berries might be to them what prune juice is to humans. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused1.gif

I really don't know why they eat em, but they do seem to eat alot of them. Same with the fruit pods (seeds) the cactus puts out. Their scat is just loaded with that fruit sometimes.

Didn't call any in huh? Dang, I was ready to head south very soon. Maybe you should start a juniper berry bait pile? /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

PS. Mark said you can't hit em anyways. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif (jk buddy) /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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What do you think this ones been eating?
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I'd almost have to smell and taste it to give an opinion Gary. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
I find scat like that in the San Joaquin Valley near watermelon fields. Coyotes break open the melons and take a few bites out of each one. Makes the farmers madder than a wet Banty rooster! Any dumps nearby? Jello, cranberry juice, Kool-Aid mix, etc. from the dump might have done it.
 
When the persimmons are ripe around home, you'll find the scat full of persimmon seeds. Probably the same with juniper berries( and anything else they can swallow).
 
Depending on what time of year I would say possible Chokecherry or Raspberry in there. In Late Aug I was scouting some new areas and found some Scat that was Blood red with Berry Seeds in it. I was far from any people in the mountains and the only thing I could think of was possible Chokecherry in there.
 
Here its russian olive seeds in August and September. the theory that the coyote is cleaning out the plumbing makes sense to me. I'm not sure if the parasites they acquire can tolerate these periodic vegetative diets. Maybe there is a biologist on board here that can answer that question for us.
 
Hmmm. Gins made from juniper ain't it. For what it's worth birds get pretty drunk on the fermented juniper berry in central oregon at times.
 
I don't think a coyote has the ability to know when to do an intetinal cleaning, besides there stomach acids are very harsh far more than any berry acid would be. I have cut them open and found dead full grown maggots sure they where alive at time of consumption but their stomach acid did them in, I think other parasites have much better coating to keep from getting the acid bath.

They eat what is in high supply for filler at times. Here now grasshoppers make up alot of scat and you cut them coyotes open they have bellys full of hoppers, fast and easy food source. Hard times right now as most young prey are larger and better adapted to fending off coyotes, plenty of cover in most areas as well.
 
shot acoyote at a quartering away run. hit it in the gut with a ballistic tip and opened it up real good. this was on hard packed snow. when i went to retrieve it there was corn,sunflowerseeds and soybeans spilled out on the snow
 
Juniper has been used as an appetite suppressant so it wouldn't surprise me if they eat it when food is scarce. Also you have to remember yotes are primarily scavengers, so the are going eat whatever they can get their paws on in order to survive.

IMO if you're seeing a lot of seeds and berries in their scat maybe they're having a rough time find food, so distress calls will probably have them running in mouths watering. But hey what do I know
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berries have high vitamin c, not that a voyote knows they need that but a body craves things and has ways of gettign them.
insects have something like 10x the protien as red meat. great for any carnivore in lean times.

FWIW gin isn't 'made from' junipers, it's distilled grain alcohol, the flavored with juniper.. but I'm sure thats what you meant.
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It could be that the coyote is using the berries for protein and other nutrients like bears do. The dentition of canidaes have cheek teeth that allow for omnivory; whereas cats do not have any cheek teeth, so their diet consists of only meat. just some stuff I learned in mammalogy.
 
I wish I would have seen this thread before I went to worlds, it was very tough hunting in the high desert of new mexico. We seen scat everywhere and it had juniper berries in every one. Dogs wouldnt come in to anything, we made 30 stands and not one came in to a call. The only one we got we saw wandering from a waterhole.
Couple local fellas told me they gorge on them this time of year.
There's always next year.....
 


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