The Coyote [Canis latrans] is a native of North America, Mexico, and Central America. Common names are American Jackal, Prairie Wolf and Brush Wolf. Size and color are depending on food sources and variegate. Coyotes are predominantly light gray or red at the flanks, interspersed with black and white. The legs, feet and ears are tawny. Males size of 32-40 inches head and body and a tail of 12-15 inches and weight 18-44 lb. [8-20 kg]. Females are smaller. They slighter in body, weighting 15-40 lb. [7-18 kg]. Thy hunt rabbits, hares, rodents, birds, amphibians and fish and invertebrates. On occasion they eat fruit and vegetables. Coyotes are socially flexible. They are either living in family units or loosely knitted packs of unrelated individuals. Coyotes are versatile, able to adapt to environments modified by humans. The Coyote is a prominent character in Meso-American Cosmology, Mythology and Folklore, known as shape shifter. This characteristic changed after the Conquest. In European culture he is known as a cunning trickster. [Sources: North American Wildlife, Reader's Digest 1982, and Wikipedia]