Coyotes are generalists, eating whatever food is seasonally abundant. Coyotes are known to feed on mice, squirrels, woodchucks, snowshoe hare, fawns, house cats, carrion, amphibians, garbage, insects and fruit. Coyotes utilize forested habitats, shrubby open fields, marshy areas and river valleys.
The Eastern coyote is a social animal that generally selects a lifelong mate. Coyotes are quite vocal during their January to March breeding season. Both parents care for their young, occasionally with the assistance of older offspring. Four to eight pups are born in early May.
Within a year some pups will disperse long distances to find their own territories, while other offspring may remain with their parents and form a small pack.
Territories range in size from 5-25 square miles and are usually shared by a mated pair and occasionally their offspring. Coyotes mark and defend their territories against other unrelated coyotes and sometimes against other canid species. Coyotes are capable of many distinct vocalizations - the yipping of youngsters, barks to indicate a threat, long howls used to bring pack members together, and group yip-howls issued when pack members reunite.
Domestic dog/ coyote hybrids, referred to as coydogs, are usually born in the winter. Since domestic dogs that manage to pair with a female coyote do not remain with her to assist in parental care, the young rarely survive. DNA sampling of coyote tissue in the Northeast shows no coyote/dog crosses. However, they do have a mixture of wolf DNA.
http://www.wildlife.state.nh.us/Wild...ern_coyote.htm
http://northernwoodlands.org/outside...ing_for_wolves