We sat around the campfire in the Mojave with the stars sparkling peacefully above. Then the screaming began. It sounded like the wailing cries of small children. Their quivering, alien cries can be heard almost any night from the deserts, to the tops of the highest mountains and even in urban areas. Though rarely seen, the coyote is a member of the dog family and looks like a small German Shepherd but with a long snout and bushy tail.
Coyotes live on any food that they can find, hunting both day and night.
They eat rabbit, squirrel, other rodents, birds, young deer and sheep as well as insects and reptiles. They will also eat animal carcasses, pet and human food, scraps or garbage. Pets are sometimes hunted and eaten by coyotes. Coyotes have even attacked and killed small children. In many areas it's illegal to do so.