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Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on December 16, 2004, 05:22 AM:
 
This can be a good and varied topic for discussion.
Coyotes are seasonaly monestrous.
1.What month does the female come into heat in your state?
2.When is the male capable of breeding?
3.When is the male fertile, and for how long?
4.What is "female solicitation behavior"?( estrus chirps will fall into this category. Don't know about penile peeps.)
5.Do coyotes mate for life?
6.Do coyotes mate with more than one partner?
7.When is denning season in your state?
8.What is the average litter size in your state at this time?
9.What is the largest litter on record?
10. What are tenders, and what is their relationship to the breeding pair?
 

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Posted by WolverineAtWork (Member # 23) on December 16, 2004, 06:05 AM:
 
Rich, since I have no idea, I'll take some wild assed guesses.
1. Usually around Mar. although in 2004 it was pretty hot in Feb. too.
2. After the football game and a few beers. But it's not going to be good.
3. Depends, is he using Viagra? If so, up to an hour or two.
4. Batting eyelashes, flirting looks, flashing a little poon across the bar while coyote clubbing.
5. Not if they're lucky. Think about it, every single female out there is a genuine bitch.
6. See #5.
7. Well, Sept-Feb. is when most of the blue hairs are hitting Denning's. Although a good number of them prefer IHOP.
8. The average litter size in AZ is washing machine or dryer sized. Often you'll find car sized litter as well.
9. I don't know about the largest on record, but the largest I've encountered personally was a Ford F350 dually quad-cab.
10. Breeding pairs tend to feed their young tenders when they're too tired to cook dinner. Under these circumstances the adult diet will consist of a Whopper and fries. Poppy seeds in the scat are a sure sign.

Seriously though, while I don't know the answer to most of these, the one that surprised me is that males are not always fertile. Why is that, or rather, how? Do they just not produce sperm during certain times of year?

Also, please tell me that "penile peeps" are not the latest Easter treat.

[ December 16, 2004, 07:12 AM: Message edited by: WolverineAtWork ]
 

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Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on December 16, 2004, 07:13 AM:
 
I should stay out of this, since I spent so many years studying them. But I'll seed the pot....

Coyotes are seasonaly monestrous.
You mean monoestrous, right? As opposed to polyesterous like domestic dogs?
1.What month does the female come into heat in your state?
Feb/Mar in CO
2.When is the male capable of breeding?
Males and females become sexually mature around 2 yrs old. Some males can mature a little sooner.
3.When is the male fertile, and for how long?
The male has viable semen all year long, but seasonal hormones stimulate the breeding urge.
4.What is "female solicitation behavior"?
Aside from specific vocalizations? Body language. Nipping, ear tugging, chasing and playing, submissive gestures, backing up to the male, even mock mounting.
5.Do coyotes mate for life?
Yes.
6.Do coyotes mate with more than one partner?
Not normally, but have been known to.
7.When is denning season in your state?
Begins in Apr in CO.
8.What is the average litter size in your state at this time?
6 to 8, depending on area.
9.What is the largest litter on record?
I think it’s about 18 pups. Not sure if they all lived.
10. What are tenders, and what is their relationship to the breeding pair?
Immature offspring that haven’t yet dispersed. Usually females. They act as babysitters for the new litter. They also help with food gathering and territory defending. The alpha pair will run them off if they don’t leave on their own by their second year.

[ December 16, 2004, 07:39 AM: Message edited by: NASA ]
 

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Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 16, 2004, 08:57 AM:
 
It's so hard to choose, but I'll go with most of Tom's answers, although W@W deserves praise for creativity.

Actually, the litter size surprises me, I'm pretty sure that most places where I hunt, I see no more than three or four. At least, by the time they are out of the den.

As far as the onset, I just notice when they are all running in pairs, and that seems earlier in Arizona than Nevada or California, probably because of the weather conditions.

Then, of course, there are the exceptions. Like the pup coyote my son shot in January. That was one of the weirdest things I have ever witnessed, pertaining to coyote breeding behavior!

Good hunting. LB
 

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Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on December 16, 2004, 09:10 AM:
 
LB, what's the story with the Jan pup? Was it a real dink, or what? I've seen some 7 month old runts that looked like they were 4-5 months.

CO litters have been pretty good the last couple years. In areas where food is plentyfull and pressure is minimal broods of 5 to 8 are frequent. Out on the plains where the livin' ain't so easy 3 to 5 pups are more common. For the whole State 6 pups are about average.

[ December 16, 2004, 09:18 AM: Message edited by: NASA ]
 

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Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 16, 2004, 09:44 AM:
 
No, Tom. I don't go for the runt theory. I've seen a few June, July and August pups, in my career. This was a pup. Maybe twelve pounds, baby sharp teeth, like that.

Anyway, that event has (not a lot) to do with the subject at hand, we can discard it in the "exceptions" bin.

What you say about the wide open areas is a little easier for me to accept, since I hunt that stuff, especially early season, and that's what I see, for the most part.

Good hunting. LB
 

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Posted by WolverineAtWork (Member # 23) on December 16, 2004, 10:31 AM:
 
Any scientific indications/studies into what causes fluctuations in litter sizes?

[ December 16, 2004, 10:32 AM: Message edited by: WolverineAtWork ]
 

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Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on December 16, 2004, 10:40 AM:
 
Hey Tom, actually the prefix mon or mono drops the o if the tagged word begins with a vowel.
Monaural
Monestrous
Monotone
Monologue
As long as we are disagreeing,
females can and will breed their first season in low population densities depending on environmental conditions and control intensity.
Males produce sperm a maximum of 5 months of the year and are in breeding condition only four months of the year in keeping with the monestrous nature of the female.
Matt, several studies have been conducted about coyote reproduction. Knowlton and Bekoff are probably most cited. Reduced populations due to control pressure and pandemics result in larger litters. Densities that tax existing resources result in smaller litters. Coyotes appear to be self regulating and use vocalizations and scent marking as determinates. Young did a study on the effect of high volume strange scat and urine markings on litter sizes.

[ December 16, 2004, 10:51 AM: Message edited by: Rich Higgins ]
 

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Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 16, 2004, 11:28 AM:
 
I'm a poor student of these things, but as far back as I can remember, they have always pegged the coyote and bobcat population fluctuations as following the seven year rabbit cycle. Or, is this an old wive's tale?

Higgins, you have mail. LB
 

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Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on December 16, 2004, 11:48 AM:
 
Rich, ya’ got me on grammatical structure, LOL.

"Females can and will breed their first season."
This is true, but it is more the exception than the rule. The conditions that precipitate an early estrous are not widespread, fortunately. I was trying to keep my responses as brief and general as possible.

"Males produce sperm a maximum of 5 months of the year."
That one contradicts what I have read that spermatocytogenesis does not cessate, but only diminishes for 7 months, or so. I’ve read studies where sperm samples were extracted from an adult male in a July/August timeframe.

This is fun. Learn me some more!

Leonard, there's truth in that. Think supply and demand. As food supply dwindles, so does the coyote population of a given area. Resident breeding pairs have minimal sized litters proportionate with available food source. Then one year, rabbit boom. Coyote litter size will escalate to take advantage of the rejuvinated food supply, and, the availability of surrounding territory. Coyote populations will rebound to previous densities. Until the next food decline.

[ December 16, 2004, 12:02 PM: Message edited by: NASA ]
 

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Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on December 16, 2004, 01:06 PM:
 
Leonard, the Curlew Valley study in the sixties showed that the population of jackrabbits controled the population of coyotes rather than the opposite whic is what predator protectionists would have us believe. Of course in that ecosystem the jacks accounted for 75 percent of the coyotes food. In other areas where the coyote 's diet is more varied the rabbits and hares have less influence.

Everyone that thought the sound perception thread was dry had better hit their back button now or STFU.
Tom, I know you will understand and appreciate this. You said,

"That one contradicts what I have read that spermatocytogenesis does not cessate, but only diminishes for 7 months, or so."

"During the nonbreeding season the germinal epitheliumis is composed of Sertoli cells, spermatogonia, and a reduced number of primary spermatocytes. ALL postmeiotic developemental phases are absent, probably because androgen levels are insufficient." This what causes the confusion. Gier later states that
"regression of the adult testis begins in March and by June sperm production has ceased and epidydimal sperm are few or absent."
Tom, James Kennely did a really detailed study of coyote reproduction with both pen raised as well as wild coyotes. He stated that the onset of spermatogenesis generally begins in Nov. and all males are in full sperm production in February. The coyote spermatogenic cycle requires 54.4 days.
 

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Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on December 16, 2004, 01:20 PM:
 
"ALL postmeiotic developemental phases are absent."
OK, I interpreted what I read to mean that meiosis was retarded not arrested. And resumption was hormonally (testosterone?) triggered based on the shortened solar cycle. That residual would explain seminal fluid collected in July.
But, what do I know? I'm an EE not a biologist.
What else ya' got?

[ December 16, 2004, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: NASA ]
 

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Posted by Jay Nistetter (Member # 140) on December 16, 2004, 01:29 PM:
 
So what you're saying is that the rest of the year they're just practicing like everybody else????
 

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Posted by NASA (Member # 177) on December 16, 2004, 01:44 PM:
 
HeHe. Nope, the poor buggers don't even get to practice. Feb/Mar it's a balls-to-the-walls, non-stop hokey-pokey, shtup fest. After that, it's all about food. Hmmmmmmm, sounds kinda' familiar.
 

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Posted by Jay Nistetter (Member # 140) on December 16, 2004, 01:55 PM:
 
Happens about the time football season is over, huh?
Ever caught one locked up? Never seen that myself even as much as I've been out. Is it only a nighttime activity?

[ December 16, 2004, 01:57 PM: Message edited by: Jay Nistetter ]
 

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Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 16, 2004, 02:27 PM:
 
Now that you mention it, Jay. One night, I lit up two sets of eyes that turned out to be coyotes, and they sure looked like they were doing the wild thing. I don't remember if we killed one or both, or what?

Good hunting. LB
 

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Posted by Rich (Member # 112) on December 16, 2004, 04:56 PM:
 
Leonard,
If you didn't kill both of them straight away, then the other was likely dragged to death. What a pitty.
 

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Posted by DJ in AZ (Member # 276) on December 16, 2004, 05:57 PM:
 
Hey Rich,
Just got back from Ohio. Congrats on the win at the club hunt. 13 DOGS-WOW --What did you guys do, have a bunch of em tied up somewhere??
Anyway, if a male coyote is only good for 4-5 months , what about coy-dogs . If a male coyote comes across a female domestic dog in Sept. he can,t breed? Will a male coyote breed to a domestic if there is a lack of female coyotes around?
 

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Posted by Rich Higgins (Member # 3) on December 16, 2004, 07:12 PM:
 
Hey Danny, how did you do in Ohio?
You guessed it. Captive coyotes, roadkill, frozen coyotes, split teams, electronic callers and every other means of cheating that you can think of. Some at PVCI would believe it.
Most coydogs are issue of male domestic dogs and female coyotes for that reason. Also most coydogs were bred in captivity or occurred in fringe areas as coyotes extended their range. In areas of low population densities and good habitat M/F ratios are heavy on the female side. The latter stages of estrus is like two o'clock closing time for the female. Dogs and red wolves in the south, dogs and grey wolves in the north, makes sense?
 

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Posted by keekee (Member # 465) on December 16, 2004, 09:43 PM:
 
Hey DJ you were in Ohio? You should of gave me a yell! We could of made a few stands. How did you do?

Brent
 

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Posted by Leonard (Member # 2) on December 16, 2004, 10:05 PM:
 

quote:

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Captive coyotes, roadkill, frozen coyotes, split teams, electronic callers and every other means of cheating that you can think of. Some at PVCI would believe it.

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