How many mice can a coyote eat

Super White Hunter

Super White Hunter

New member
Ok yesterday while out with some family for our first day Elk hunting a coyote walks out into the field. It was a miracle I did not take him but we are after elk. He walks within 25 yards of us and doesn’t even care. He was out there probably 25 or 30 minutes catching mice, one after another, we watched him eat at least 8 mice. Does he do this all day long? When he left the field he walked right by some turkeys and didn't do much more then look at them, was he full?

How many can he eat in a day?
 
As many as they can catch.
The success ratio on their mousing would not ever fill them up completely.

They can mouse for quite awhile though in cooler weather.
 
If there's enough mice, he may fill up, but I've seen coyotes eat a surprisingly huge amount of meat at one sitting at carcasses before. It'd take a lot of mice...
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We had just had a big rain storm that had dumped all day, so I think they were flooded out of there holes wich made them super easy to catch, he would just walk along, stop for a second and pounce and presto he would have another one that easy.
 
Well, they can gorge themselves pretty good so I'd guess it would take 5-10lbs or more of food to get close to the most their max. So I'd reckon it would take 10-20 mice before he was full.

A turkey is a hard meal to get and not really appetizing when you just filled your belly with, by your figuring what I'd calculate to be, 10 mice or so. Also, predators hunt with stealth, and if the turkeys know he is around he'd have a hard time even getting close enough to them to make for a reasonable chance at getting them.
 
I don't see much wild mice mostly kangaroo rats in the desert. I could be off by 50% or more, but most of the ones in the forest are larger sized, but house mice tend to be real small.
 
I don't know how many "mice", it takes to fill a yote, but a 40# hunting dog can easily eat 7# of pure meat.
In the winter I feed 5# per dog, twice a day, and they scarf it down.
That would be a "HUGE" PILE OF MICE!!!!
 
A coyote cannot eat more than it can count on it's front paws otherwise it gets confused, so the magic number is 8
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you guys should know that!!!
 
I don't know about mice, but my client shot a pup last September that had a stomach full of grasshoppers. The wad of grasshoppers was no smaller than 2 cantaloupes and the pup was probably a 12-15 lb coyote. We were amazed as it waddled into the stand.

Tony
 
Originally Posted By: Jeepdude1987I don't see much wild mice mostly kangaroo rats in the desert. I could be off by 50% or more, but most of the ones in the forest are larger sized, but house mice tend to be real small.

Trade you some mice for a few kangaroo rats.
Never seen 1 of those
 
Tony, it's funny you mentioned the grasshoppers.
I took this picture today. It's grasshopper turds!
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fw707, I feel the need to ask the question thats on everybodies mind. Why were you taking pics of grasshopper turds?
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Well, I kinda thought that myself while I was taking the picture!
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The turds were about 5 feet off the ground on top of a roll bale in a hay field. I figgered if the old yote that left them there was proud enough of them to climb up there and leave them where everybody could see them, somebody ought to get a picture.
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