How much will a coyote eat?

S

SRS 1

New member
I understand coyotes are opportunistic feeders, but has there ever been a study done to see how much they eat on average? For instance, if rabbits was the main food, and it was easy to get, how many a day would they eat?
 
SRS 1, interesting question. I have never thought about it before, nor have most other predator callers. I'd be willing to bet younger coyotes eat until they almost regurgitate, older ones probably eat till they are full or bored and move on. What does it take to fill up a coyote? Only a coyote knows that one. I once shot a coyote with a whole raw roast beef in it's mouth, string and all. Can a man eat a whole roast beef at one sitting? NO he can't, but I'd bet a 25 lb coyote can lol.
 
It's a true story. It happend back in 1979 as my hunting partner Greg Munsterman and I was heading back to a club hunt check-in. We were going over Montgomery Pass on the California Nevada border when I seen a coyote crossing the side of a hill about 150 yards out, I noticed he had something in his mouth through my scope as he trotted along real proud, I whistled and he stopped. As I walked out to get him I saw this red hunk of something in his mouth, as I got closer I could see it had string on it, then I could see it was a roast beef. I tried to figure out where he got that roast beef, there was a casino on top of the mountian about a mile away, he had to go in the back door to get it, poor guy never got a chance to eat it lol.
 
not a coyote but once we had a venision roast thawing at the hunt shack. we were bird hunting and the springer ate the roast off the table, all we found was the freezer paper. springer 25 lbs roast 5 to 7lbs maybe more, the dog did not move all weekend and didnt even get up when we uncased your guns.
Sportingly
Cracker
 
It is often deceiving when a farmer finds a dead sheep that was killed and eaten by coyotes. It can be as if the whole carcass was devoured overnight. The farmer will swear that there must have been a whole pack of them, to eat that much, when in fact there was probably only one or two.

When coyotes get onto a good source of food, such as a dead ewe, they will eat until they are completely engorged, then go out and regurgitate it in a hidey hole some where. They will then come back and do it again. One or two coyotes can clean up a deer or sheep carcass in one night using this process, and they will have the rest of the meat stashed elsewhere for future use. This behavior changes somewhat during denning time, in that instead of stashing the food, they are more likely to bring it back to the den and regurgitate it for the pups.

Yum! Yum!
 
A friend of mine is trying to raise wild turkeys from chicks. He is loosing alot of them. When they were 2/3 rds grown he claims he lost 9 in one day. They probally weighed between 10-14 lbs. I am more apt to think this is a stray dog. He thinks it is a coyote or a fox. Now says its a fox and that after he trapped the one fox he has not lost any more. Thats a lot of turkey for one fox, what do you think??
 
Fox are opportunistic killers. They'll get in a chicken house and kill everyone if they can. Kinda like when I used to have a pet gator. Throw in a few fish and he would kill everyone but only eat a couple. They just like killing!! I don't doubt it at all the fox was killing the turkeys. Now don't tell them bunny huggers that animals just like killing. They won't believe you! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif
 
everything I've read says coyote need to eat 3-4 pounds of food each day. Fox often kill prey and cache it to eat later
 


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