Coyotes are like kids
who want to show you their scat.
They leave it in the middle of roads,
at trail crossings,
and other prominent spots.
It’s a way of communicating
with other coyotes,
both within their pack and to intruders.
Coyotes leave tubular scat with tapered ends,
often an inch in diameter.
In areas that have both wolves and coyotes,
it can be difficult to distinguish between the two.
This is because coyotes leave big poop for their size
and their poop varies greatly.
In winter, they tend to be darker,
with more fur and bone fragments mixed in.
The ingestion of fur often leads
to twisted, rope-like droppings.
In summer, when they eat more vegetable matter,
scat is often lighter and brighter
as a result of berries and fruit in the diet.