Urban Coyotes have a diet that consist of many food sources, how much do domestic pets make up of that? You may be surprised.

  I lived close to 29 Palms, California during the late 1990's, I lived in the small desert city of La Quinta, it is a very good town to live in. I worked about 25 miles south of the town near Mecca, just North of the Salton Sea, hot, dusty, and everything a person that never lived in the desert would envision a desert town to be. I would leave home in the morning early, about 5 am as I recall, the plant was lenient in our starting times due to the fact we never knew how long we would work, or get back home. The desert mornings are nice, not hot, not cool, just very temperate, about 75 degrees after the sun appeared for about an hour then it would begin to heat up. I would drive around the block past a PGA Golf course on one side and homes on the other. Green grass, cobblestones, and gravel made up the Golf course and the landscaping of the homes. Many times, I'd like to say every day but it wasn't, more like 5 days of the week I would pass and on the green grass would be laying two or more Coyotes, sometimes as many as 6, I never saw less than two, it seemed odd but maybe they like company as well. 

It's exactly the desert as it is imagined by many people, I lived
and worked here for 3 years.

I heard that the wild canines would dine on domestic cats, and dogs, I have often wondered if that is indeed the truth or just a rumor based on hearsay and supposition. As I've spoken about numerous times in my blog there was a house (it burned to the ground 6 years ago) where the lady had a stable full of cats, we counted 30 at one time. I spend a lot of time outside, a lot of that time I sit in the shade just watching the world, and because I live in a rural area most of my observing are of the animals and birds. I do see some Coyotes, however mostly at dusk and later, they have habits that are quite astounding, they don't seem to like to be alone. I many times have wondered about the cats that were left behind after the fire, it was an obnoxious smell with all of the marking of territory. Mostly I wondered if the Coyotes were decimating the cats, I did not see any of them in or around that house, but still, the thought persisted. The cats were slowly disappearing, it was very noticeable there ranks were diminishing, what was happening? Between the hours of 1-2 pm while sitting in the shade a big red tail hawk would come from the east, rapidly making 3 circles around the house then swoop down, moments later appearing once again above the treetops with something its talons. That was the destiny of some of the cats, and kittens too, it was sad I don't like to see that stuff happening, but there is little a person can do to discourage that from taking place. I would on occasion think again about the diet of the Coyotes, I as well as my neighbors would see them (Coyotes) well into the night running down the levee, 3 Coyotes every time, no less, no more, three, a neighbor told me of another curious activity they engage in. He told me one Coyote would be in the lot next to him, it's about an acre, it's used as a parking lot mostly, wild rabbits inhabit the edges. One Coyote would wait in the lot while the other two ran up onto the levee, when they made it to the top they would stand there for less than a minute, both would look down at their lone companion. At that point the animal in the lot would run up to them, it is obviously some sort of a defensive strategy, they would do that every time my neighbor saw them. Upon reaching the top all three would run down the levee, closely bunched together, I've watched them as they run down the levee past my house. I don't know where they go, they act like dogs, marking as they go, sniffing, running, and smelling the air. We have a lot of animals on the levee, Otters, Possums, Skunks, Raccoons, and many others, I talked to a man that tripped over a big snapping turtle late at night. What does consist of a Coyotes diet, finally I did some research. ( Link to L.A. Times discussion of their diet)
  For longer than a year a research team in Los Angelos have been investigating the contents of Coyotes that have met their demise in various ways. The team would collect the Cantaloupe sized stomachs, a member of the investigative team, Danielle Martinez, wears protective clothing, and safety goggles to begin the not always enjoyable tasks. "We never know what will be inside," she told the Los Angelos times on March 23, 2018. The question she and her team are answering seems fairly straightforward, take a look inside and catalog what the remains are. The main question "What do local urban Coyotes eat?" They are very adaptive, as is proven by their expanding ranges throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. They plan on inspecting 300 of the animals this year, and they are well on the way of meeting that goal, so far during 2018, 104 stomach contents have been cataloged. Managing to survive in an area occupied by 20 million humans consuming everything from leather boots, to Gophers. Rubber soled shoes, Rabbits, Birds, Avocados, Oranges, Peaches, Candy Wrappers, Fast Food containers and yes once in a while a Cat. To answer my question, Cats consist of 8% of an urban Coyote's diet, Martinez stated, she is a graduate student a Cal State Fullerton. To me that is a surprise, maybe it's higher in other areas, perhaps lower, but this study so far reports 8%, Cats. Another surprise and I thought it would be a much higher number but very few roof Rats consisted of their diet as well, once in a while one would be found. Researchers surmise one of the reasons may be because Rats are excellent climbers, and fast. It's very difficult to determine if the remains are those of another canine, to determine if a Chihuahua is included, for example, the canine DNA in the

One picture is worth a thousand words.

Coyotes stomach mixes with the DNA of the remains, making identification nearly impossible. Keeping their protective gear on, rubber gloves up to the elbows, define the stench as a sickeningly sweet, fetid, disgusting, and lastly shocking, I don't dought any of those findings. They do say it is an odor that can be gotten used to, I can see that, I've done some disgusting tasks as well. It is much easier to identify animals by their "scat", I do it all the time, we need to know who our neighborhood animals are. The Coyotes are doing very well in that huge metropolitan area, there are still many areas in and around L.A. that are very isolated, it's a land of desert, mountains, beaches, and parks. They are adapting very well to the city, reports of sightings have increased as more and more of the animals frequent areas occupied by humans. Bites are also on the rise, the closer people are associated with wild animals the more likely the interaction will end up poorly for one of them, sometimes it is us. Over the past five years, 39 people have been bitten, it is a surprise to me, I have recently written a blog where I stated almost no bites have occurred. Apparently, the source I used took in a much larger demographic area. (Bites are another blog which I will take on again in the next few days.) Typical stomach contents consist of a small Snake, a Paw from a squirrel, seeds, an animals tail, parts of a Mule Deer, and various pieces of plastic, no cats or other domestic animals. That is not to say they don't eat them, they are animals that take advantage of the situation, if it's easy to get an animal, well that's what they will consume, it appears they will eat anything.

Feral Cats now share their habitat with wild Coyotes.

  According to this study so far this year, 2018, domestic pets do not consist of an overly large number of them. Garbage, and the typical animals that make up our Urban jungle it is a relief to discover that, in a sense. The Coyotes that frequent my levee most likely did take advantage of the easy pickings of the Cats down the road, I take comfort in the report the number may not be as high as rumors suggest. I have seen the huge Red Tailed Hawk take as many as one a day, it's a female with a wingspan of what looks like 4 feet, it may be wider, the males are the smaller of the birds. Now, as my brain works, I wonder how much of an impact the diets of Raccoons, Fox, and Weasels have on domestic animals. I cannot help but wonder the impact of Feral Cats on the local environment, all worthy of investigation.
  I appreciate you taking your time to read and share my blog, leave a comment, these are Urban Coyotes, the ones that frequent my levee are more rural, I'm sure people reading this reside in very rural areas which poses an entirely different co-existence with the predator, fill me in, Thanks again for reading!
  A special thanks to Los Angelos Times reporter Louis Sahagun for his contribution to my blog. 
jacquesandkate  EmergencyKitsPlus.com