So, what happens after tales of successfully hunting down a coyote? What happens to rest of the body after you skin it, as it’s the most valuable body part of the coyote? Ever wondered in exploring the dynamics of its head and find out how its teeth appear and other parts of the body? Would that information be useful in finding out more information about the elusive predator?
Before getting into the dynamics of its head, it would be important to get some background information on some of the facts about coyotes. Coyotes are members of the canidae family meaning they have lots in common with wolves, dogs, and jackals, as they are close relatives. Interestingly, there are 19 species of coyotes that spread out through North America.
Coyotes have elongated snouts and inclined bodies covered in thick fur with yellow or amber eyes. Its long bushy tail is one of its distinguishing characteristics, with tan, brown, and white fur. However, their hair greatly depends on their immediate environment. Thus, if they are living in an area covered with snow, they are likely to have white fur.
Ordinarily, a male coyote will weigh up to 20 kgs with females weighing up to 18 kgs. As such, you likely to have a bigger skull from a male coyote, and females having a relatively smaller skull.
Coyote Skull (Teeth And Jaw Ligaments)
It is important to note, that exploring bones can give you lots of information about a coyote that you would get from any other source. Hence, when next you embark on a hunting trip do not be quick to throw away the head yet as it would translate into getting first information about the life of a coyote than from any search engine.
One of the first things you check out on the head of a coyote is checking on the number of teeth, their alignment, and their condition about tear and wear. Besides, teeth tell you about what the animal has been feeding on lately. For instance, you are likely to find worn out and misaligned teeth in a coyote that has been feeding on grains, and sharp teeth on a coyote that has been feeding on meat.
It is such facts that help you study further into the life of coyote helping you to get better more efficient bait for your hunts. Studying the head of a coyote is the equivalent of conducting a postmortem where you can establish the likes and preferences of a coyote making your next hunting trip more interesting. Such, information makes you wiser and able to check for precise tracks and baits. Besides, you can be able to establish some infected parts in its mouth where you can take it to the lab to study on it. As a result, you can protect yourself from diseases that would arise from your interaction with coyotes.
Further study of the skull, especially on the teeth, could give you about the age of a coyote. Ordinarily, you are likely to find more coyotes where you get a middle-aged male, as it is liable to attract a female mate and raise pups. As such, you can return to the same area and get more coyotes while a skull with worn out teeth could mean the coyote was an aged loner who was left for the dead.
Studying on the skull will also tell you about the animal’s general health and its ability to take on a game. For instance, if you hunt down a young coyote, you are likely to find fully-grown and properly attached ligaments that hold firmly to the jaw. It is such information that has led to the discovery of the animal’s ability to take on a game.
Coyotes are small predators and highly opportunistic and thus can only take down a deer if they hunt a group. Hence, if your skull suggests the skull is an aged animal, use smaller baits such as rabbits as its only practical for a lone coyote to take down a rabbit.
Coyote Skull (Eye Sockets)
Another interesting aspect of studying the head of a coyote is the study of its eye sockets. Ordinarily, you will find coyotes with forward facing eye sockets. Thus, if you find one with eyes facing in any other direction it would be a deformity and would be wise recording.
Forward facing eyes for coyotes are instrumental in providing it with keen eyesight and scan for the slightest of movements. Hence, in the event, the predator lacks such eyes it is likely to run into trouble get easily hunted. Besides, it could die out of starvation, as it is a liability to any park. Thus, it is likely to go hungry unless it is lucky to get some carcass
Additionally, check on the position of the nostril, as this also will tell a lot about the predator. A typical skull will have a forward facing nostril giving them high sensitivity to smell which helps them pin down the position of prey even without seeing it. However, the exact position of eye sockets and nostrils will slightly vary among the 19 species of coyotes as each has some distinct features that make it unique.
So next time you encounter a dead coyote. You have some insights on what to check out for in the skull instead of burying it or just ignoring it. Finally, scan the general surface of the coyote’s head to check out for any possible infection as you might discover an ailment that would be weakening the animals and slowly slimming their chances of survival.
Hence, have fun while hunting down coyotes but remember to scan their skulls to find any possible infections which will give you insights on the life of a coyote which might be useful in making the next hunt an interesting one.
