Coyote in corn stubble
January 18, 2018 – Persecuted, shot at and mostly misunderstood the coyote plays an important part in a healthy ecosystem. Helping to keep populations of mice, rats, foxes, opossums and raccoons in check which in turn reduces predation on ground nesting birds in areas especially where nesting habitat has been diminished by agriculture or urban expansion, the coyote most certainly plays an important role. Along with deer, small rodents, reptiles and insects; plants and fruits are also part of the coyotes diet when available. Livestock depredation is very rare and overstated in the exaggerated tales of the prairie wolf. The coyote is known as a Keystone species, which means without a healthy population of this carnivore the ecosystem goes out of balance, biodiversity is lost causing immoderate population growth of one species while another species can disappears completely from an area.