Coyotes live in all of North America, from northern Canada and Alaska, to Central America. They are found in all the contiguous 48 states and Alaska. They are abundant in Mexico and most countries in Central America, but do not extend to South America. Their range in North America originally was only in the West, but since the extermination of the red and grey wolves, their range has expanded more eastward, taking over territory that was once occupied by the wolves, and in a sense filling in their niche. Now that the wolves are regaining some ground, coyotes are finding that they are no longer the top dog, as they were for some 50 - 100 years in some areas.
Coyotes are opportunistic feeders.
They will eat reptiles, rodents, fish, amphibians, birds, insects, crabs, carrion, fruits, and deer. They also eat livestock, for which they are hotly persecuted as vermin. Actually, it is usually only injured coyotes and those with young that take livestock because they are easier to catch than their normal prey. When farmers lay down traps to catch coyotes, they are inadvertently contributing to their livestock's demise by increasing the numbers of injured coyotes. Coyotes usually hunt at night.