Coyote

 So often i see coyotes and take them for granted, I've only photographed them once before and never did anything with the photos. Most people have a very low opinion of coyote because of the nuissance role they have played towards ranchers but what most people dont know is they are an extremely beneficial animal to have in the ecosystem. They help keep down the rodent population which in turn prevents fleas, ticks, and disease. Their taxonomic name is canis latrans which means barking dog in latin. I've always liked their cool nickname brushwolf. I was suprised to learn they only have a 15 square mile radius they roam. A very fast animal they can run over 40 miles per hour and leap a distance over 12 feet, and live an average of 10 years. I've been checking potential burrow sites to find a litter but no luck yet. i seen one of these guys chase down a ground squirrel and pull it out of the hole. In the fall every time the moon shines there's a pack of them that sounds off with several different kinds of vocal calls. The coyotes in our area have more of the desert colors, as opposed to the mountain variety that are darker, we seen a coyote in mammoth california in the winter time that had such a full coat and was so big and healthy that it looked more like a wolf rather than the coyotes were used to seeing.