BACK COUNTRY BY BUD ADAMS
A
coyote (Canus latrans) checks out its next opportunity on Adams Ranch
west of Fort Pierce. A terrific hunter of wild game, the coyote also scavenges
for bird nests, carcasses and human garbage. According to the
University of Florida, coyotes were introduced in Florida for pursuit by
hunting dogs as early as the 1920s, but it is not known whether this release
played animportan t role inthe establishment of the coyote population in
Florida. The increase inpopulationover the last 40 years is believed to
originate with their migration from Alabama and Georgia during the 1960s.
Today, coyotes can be found in 65 of Florida’s 67 counties. 144
