Coyotes are typically portrayed as vicious predators who will go to any lengths to find their dinner. For this reason, they’ve been the frequent target of cattle ranchers and even the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services. It’s estimated that Wildlife Services kills 100,000 coyotes a year, mainly on western lands, in order to make public-land grazing safer for sheep and cows.

While the “threat” that these animals actually pose to cattle has long been debated by conservationists, the fact that these animals are stereotyped as “vicious” and scary in the media does not help their case. However, when we take the chance to step back and look at animals as individuals, rather than lumping them into a group, we find that coyotes are not the menaces we make them out to be.


Just take this coyote playing with a ball for example! This happy pup is absolutely over the moon with his new toy. Seeing this, we can’t help but think that all animals deserve the chance to experience the little joys in life.

There is no questioning that coyotes can be dangerous; they are predators after all, but if we keep our distance and give them the ample habitat they need to thrive then we can all live in harmony.

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