General Dingo Discussion

[Puppylover206]

Coyote is an animal that belongs to the canine family. Its appearance, shape and size, is such that it looks quite similar to a medium-sized Collie dog. However, unlike dogs, the tail of a coyote is round and bushy and is carried straight out, below the level of its back. Often known by the name of Prairie Wolf, a coyote is found inhabiting North and Central America, including the countries of Panama Mexico, United States, Canada and even Alaska. At present, there are currently 19 recognized subspecies of coyotes, 16 in Canada, Mexico the United States, and 3 in Central America. To help you know the animal better, we have provided some interesting facts and amazing information about it, in the lines below.

Facts about Coyote

Binomial Name: Canis latrans
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Mammalia
Order: Carnivora
Family: Canidae
Genus: Canis
Species: C. latrans
Subspecies: 19
Length: 30 to 40 inches (75 to 100 cm)
Weight: 7 to 21 kg (15 to 46 lbs)
Number of Teeth: 42
Color: Grayish-brown to Yellowish-gray
Hearing (upper frequency limit): 80 kHZ
Chasing Speed: Up to 69 km/hr (43 mph)
Diet: Carnivorous, with a 90% mammalian diet
Natural Habitat: North and Central America
Age: 15 years
Age of Maturity: 12 months
Gestation Period: 60 to 63 days
Number of Offspring: 1 to 19 pups (average being 6)

Interesting & Amazing Information on Coyotes


* As an aggressive gesture, the tail of a coyote becomes bushier and turns sideways.
* A coyote’s sense of hearing is very good and is used for finding food and avoiding predators.
* Coyotes walk on their toes and have a very well-developed sense of smell too. In fact, they can even detect a prey scurrying below snow.
* Coyotes make use of holes for the purpose of sleeping as well as giving birth to their pups.
* A scared coyote will hold its head low and tuck its tail between the legs, just like a dog.
* Coyotes are mostly active during the early morning and at twilight.
* Coyotes use their urine to mark their territory.
* Though a coyote becomes sexually mature at around 12 months, it usually mates after attaining 2 years of age.
* Coyotes usually hunt in groups of 2-3.
* Coyotes converse through a number of ways. They howl to communicate, yelp in case of celebration or criticism and howl while calling their pups.
* Coyote usually supply live mice to their pups, for hunting practice.
* The movement and position of a coyote’s ears communicate its mood and rank.
* Coyotes select a mate when they are around 2 years old and stay with him/her throughout their life.
* The diet of a coyote consists of mice, rabbits, insects, frogs, fruits, lizards and a host of other food items.
* Coyotes are clever enough to trick other animals and even birds.

[Puppylover206]

Ok peeps I just found this on my laptop, but I didn't copy it, I made my own sentences with a little help, from the website that I found about Coyotes I know that the Dingos are, not coyotes. But they are part if I am off-Topic please tell me mods, and you can lock it if you want to if I'm Off-Topic, cause it's all my fault. So I hope this Topic doesn't get locked!

Ok here it goes:


"The Trickster"

The Navajo called the coyote "little brother." The Plains people named the clever coyote "The Trickster." Coyotes play tricks. They trick other animals and people, too. They move silently. Suddenly, they appear in the open. Just as suddenly they disappear into brush or woodlands. The Aztecs of Mexico called the animal coyotl. The Spanish explorers changed that to coyote. Now coyote is the animal's common name. What is a coyote?

Wolves, coyotes, jackals, and dogs are related. They are all descended from a doglike animal called Tomarctus that lived over one millions years ago. Coyotes belong to the family Canidae. Their scientific name is Canis latrans, which mean "barking dog." Coyotes are mammals. Their young-called-pups-are born alive. The mother feeds the pups with her milk. Coyotes are mainly carnivores, or meat eaters, but sometimes they eat plants. They are predators. They catch and kill animals for food. Population and Range

The Spanish explorers found coyotes in Mexico 400 years ago. Coyotes lived on the Great Plains when Lewis and Clark explored the Wet almost 200 years ago. Now they can be found in the Middle West and the bortheastern United States. Coyotes also live in Alaska and in western and southern Canada. They had spread as far south as Panama in Central America. I have to go to sleep for school tomorrow. SO.... Yeah.... I'll type down more facts about coyotes bye!

[Puppylover206]

OK peeps, I'm back with more facts about coyotes stuck in my brain xD So, yeah enjoy with more facts about coyotes!


Coyotes prefer to live in open grasslands and the edges of woodlands. There are probably more coyotes today than there were when the first settlers arrived. The coyote population may total 1.5 million. Coyotes have adapted well to different climates and new areas. They like to live near farms and ranches. Frequently, they are seen in towns and cities.

Hunting for prey


Coyotes usually hunt at night. Their keen senses of hearing and smell are important for hunting. They often hunt alone, but sometimes they hunt in pairs. One coyotes acts as a decoy while the other one stays hidden. Usually, mates form a hunting pair. Coyotes hunt small rodents. Prairie dogs, mice, and rabbits are the coyotes' favorite foods. But they also eat insects, berries, nuts, and fruits. Coyotes and badgers sometimes work together to find food. Badgers are slow-moving, but they can dog very fast. When a badger digs into a prairie dog burrow, a coyote will stand nearby. When a prairie dog dashes out of the burrow, it could escape the slow-moving badger -- but not the fast-moving coyote. Soon the badger and the coyote are sharing a meal. Sometimes a pack of ten or more coyotes may brings down a deer or an elk. When two or more coyotes hunt together, they share the catch.

Friend and foe



When none of their favorite foods are available, coyotes may hunt chickens, sheep, and lambs. This angers farmers and ranchers. Coyotes also raid garbage cans. But coyotes help farmers by eating the rodents that feed on farmers' crops. They also help ranchers. Rodents eat the grasses in which domestic animals graze. There would not be enough grass for sheep and cattle if coyotes did not hunt rodents. Coyotes also eat carrion -- animals that are already dead. They help to clean up the environment by getting rid of carrion.


Enemies


Humans are probably the coyote's main enemies today. Poisons, traps, guns, and dogs are used to reduce the coyote population. In the wild, coyotes' enemies include wolves, bears, and cougars. Coyotes and bobcats are fierce enemies. Coyotes will drive the bobcats up trees, and wait to catch them when they come down.


A small animal



Coyotes are smaller than their relatives the timber wolves and red wolves. They stand 2 feet tall at the shoulder. They are about 3 feet long. Their bushy tails are 1 to 11/2 feet long. They have long legs and small feet like a dog's. Coyotes have slender bodies that are well suited to running fast. They weigh between 25 and 50 pounds. Wolves are two to three times their size. Coyotes run with their tail between their legs. Wolves run with their tail curled over their back. A running coyote can change direction quickly. Then its tail acts like a rudder. The tail helps the animal keep its balance while turning. Coyotes can leap 12 feet to pounce on a fleeing rodent. They can also swim when necessary.

Changing coats



Most coyotes are grayish brown with reddish flanks. Their feet and legs are tawny colored. Those living on the far north have lighter-colored but heavier coats than those living farther south. The color of their coat changes with the seasibs, The guard hairs are darker in summer and lighter in winter. In winter, their soft, warm underfur is thicker. The layer of guard hairs sheds rain and snow.

Keen senses



Coyotes' ears are broad and pointed. They can turn or flatten them to catch the faintest sounds. Their hearing is excellent. They can hear a mouse burrowing under a foot of snow. Their sense of smell is keen, much better than the human's. Their black, leatherlike nose pad is smaller than a wolf's. Their nose quivers when they pick up a new odor. Coyotes' eyes are yellowish and slightly slanted. They took very bright and alert, but their vision is poor. They can see only movement, not details. Coyotes have 42 teeth. The teeth are good for grasping, holding, and tearing their prey.

Coyote families



Coyotes pairs stay together for at least a year. Some pairs mate for life. They mate in late winter or early spring. Two months later the pups are born. Usually there are 4 to 7 pups in a litter. However, as many as 19 pups have been counted. The female coyote prepares a den to use when the pups are born. Sometimes the male helps digging out the den. For the first two weeks after birth the pups feed on their mother's milk. She stays in the den with them, leaving only for short periods to feed. The father has his own den nearby. He guards his mate's den and the litter of pups. The female gives food to the pups even while they are still nursing. At first, she feeds them regurgitated, partially, digested, food. Later, she brings them small bones to chew. This strengthens their jay muscles.

New dens



The pups stay in the den for two months. They may peek out occasionally. The mother may move them to another den. One den may have too many fleas that bother her and her litter. Before moving the pups into a new, clean den, the mother rolls each pup in the grass to rub off the fleas. Wherever they are, the father patrols on guard duty. He protects his mate and their litter from enemies.

Father and teacher



The pups meet their father when they are two months old. He leads them out of the den for their first hunting lesson. He teaches them to catch grasshoppers. Later he teaches them to catch field mice and other small rodents. Before long, the pups hunt with their parents. To find food, the family often travels far from their dens. The parents protect their young for almost a year. By then the pups are almost full grown.

Communicating




Like many wild animals. coyotes mark their territory with urine or musk. The odor warns other coyotes to stay out of their territory. After sunset, coyotes can be heard howling. Howling is one way of communicating. They throw their head back and began with a "yap-yap" sound. The sound quickly changes to a long, eerie howl. The note is very high-pitched. Soon other coyotes join in. They sometimes howl during the day. They also bark, growl, and wail to communicate. Coyotes have other ways of communicating, too. Each coyote has a slightly different odor. A strong scent comes from a gland at the base of the trail. They can tell by the smell whether another coyote is a friend or an enemy.

Survivors




Coyotes survive because they have adapted to the changes in their environment. People have tried many ways to control, the coyote population. But coyotes are very clever. They know how to eat the bait in a trap without being caught. Coyotes are survivors. During the last century, they have moved throughout North America. Their population continues to grow.


That was a lot of information for me to type about coyotes. Well, I hoped you enjoyed it. Bye that's all of the facts I know about coyotes, and no I did not copy this information, once again, I used it in my own sentences, complete sentences. So once again, thanks for reading about these great creatures. Bye!

[snohomish10]

Ok sorry for backseat moderating (you may be new if you are read the rules so you dont get reported)
this is not the topic for coyotes, it is for dingos and you double posted

dingo:
http://www.eniware.com.au/documents/Dingo.pdf

http://www.kidcyber.com.au/topics/dingo.htm

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/dingo.htm

http://www.arkive.org/media/1F/1F25FC15 ... /photo.jpg

[Nightskydapple]

I've heard people say that the Dingo is the only domestic and most-dog-like out of all.
Either ways, they are very good creatures.

[Shining Paw]

I love dingos! They are really great animals. And as we are sometimes flown
in an airplane over the steppe, we may even see some. Well they were clearly
above only small points from there, but it was great to have seen her once.
I also have a bit of time looking for images and came up with:

http://www.down-under-guide.com/uploads ... o_huge.jpg
http://www.vergleichen-und-sparen.de/bl ... /dingo.jpg
http://www.wuff-online.com/pics/artikel ... ingo01.jpg

Greetings Shining Paw

[wolfluvr101]

dingos are so cool! i have never actually seen one before but i would like to. Dingos are one of my favorite wild dogs!

[Blightwolf]

I've heard people say that the Dingo is the only domestic and most-dog-like out of all.
Either ways, they are very good creatures.

Dingo is a dog, it evolved from wolves the same way as the modern dogs did. There is a theory that first became the wolf, then the dingo and then the domestic dog.

And yeah, they are good creatures. They both look and behave in an interesting way.

[Dark Rumour]

A dingo is a free roaming wild dog. I some on TV, and they look like short-haired tan colored wolves.There is a rare cream colored-dingo thought! They are found mostly in Australia. They do howl, but mostly like a moan-bark. Most dingos are seen alone, but they do have territories and packs. Most intruders to their territories are killed.
Dingos are one of my favorite animals! Anyone else heard of them?

[wq47 HawkTail]

Very surprised there isn't already a topic for this ^-^ I love dingos.

[Croix]

I think there should be some information about Dingoes, since this topic is about them. ^^

The Australian Dingo or Warrigal is a free-roaming wild dog unique to the continent of Australia, mainly found in the outback. Its original ancestors are thought to have arrived with humans from southeast Asia thousands of years ago, when dogs were still relatively undomesticated and closer to their wild Asian Gray Wolf parent species, Canis lupus. Since then, living largely apart from people and other dogs, together with the demands of Australian ecology, has caused them to develop features and instincts that distinguish them from all other canines. Dingoes have maintained ancient characteristics that unite them, along with other primitive dogs, into a taxon named after them, Canis lupus dingo, and has separated them from the domestic dog, Canis lupus familiaris.

Dingoes play an important role in Australia's ecosystems; they are apex predators and the continent's largest terrestrial predator.

Because of their attacks on livestock, dingoes and other wild dogs are seen as pests by the sheep industry and the resultant control methods normally run counter to dingo conservation efforts.

Today, it is estimated that the majority of the modern "dingoes" are also descended from other domestic dogs. The number of these so-called dingo hybrids has increased significantly over the last decades, and the dingo is therefore now classified as vulnerable.


Description
Domestic and Pariah dogs in southern Asia share so many characteristics with Australian Dingoes that experts now consider them to be, if not "Dingoes" in the Australian sense of the word (which implies an independent, wild animal, integrated into the ecosystem), members of the taxon Canis lupus dingo, a particular subspecies of Canis lupus. While the relationship with humans varies widely among these animals, they are all quite similar in terms of physical features.


Dingo skull illustrated by Frédéric Cuvier. As is typical in domestic dogs, the dingo's relative brain size is smaller than that of all non-domesticated subspecies of wolves, being almost identical in size to that of dogs considered to be Canis lupus familiaris. Dingoes have a relatively broad head, a pointed muzzle, and erect ears. Eye colour varies from yellow over orange to brown. Compared to other similarly sized familiaris dogs, dingoes have longer muzzles, larger carnassials, longer canine teeth, and a flatter skull with larger nuchal lines.

The average Australian Dingo is 52–60 cm tall at the shoulders and measures 117 to 124 cm from nose to tail tip. The average weight is 13 to 20 kg, however there was a report of a wild dingo weighing 27 kg. Males are typically larger and heavier than females of the same age. Dingoes from the North and the North-West of Australia are larger than Central and South-Australian populations. Australian dingoes are invariably heavier than Asian ones. The legs are about half the length of the body and the head put together. The hind feet make up a third of the hind legs and have no dewclaws. Dingoes can have sabre-form tails (typically carried erect with a curve towards the back) or tails which are carried directly on the back.

Fur
The fur of adult dingoes is short, bushy on the tail, and varies in thickness and length depending on the climate. The fur colour is mostly sandy to reddish brown, but can include tan patterns and be occasionally black, light brown, or white. Completely black dingoes probably were prevalent in Australia in the past, but have been sighted only rarely in recent times and are now more common in Asia than in Australia.

Most dingoes are at least bicoloured, with small white markings on the chest, muzzle, tag, legs, and paws being the most common feature. In the case of reddish individuals, there can be small, distinctive, and dark stripes on the shoulders. All other colour and colour-patterns on adult dingoes are regarded as evidence for interbreeding with other domestic dogs.


Communication
Like all domestic dogs, dingoes tend towards a phonetic communication, the difference being that they howl and whimper more and bark less than domestic dogs. During research, eight sound classes with 19 sound types could be concretized.

Barking
It is often wrongly asserted that dingoes do not bark. Compared to most other domestic dogs, the bark of a dingo is short and monosyllabic. During observations, the barking of Australian dingoes revealed itself to have a relatively small variability, and the sub-groups of barking characteristic of domestic dogs could not be found. Furthermore, only 5% of the observed vocalisations were made up of barking. Australian dingoes bark only in swooshing noises or in a mixture atonal/tonal. Also, barking is almost exclusively used for giving warnings. Warn-barking in a homotypical sequence and a kind of "warn-howling" in a heterotypical sequence has also been observed. The bark-howling starts with several barks and then fades into a rising and ebbing howl and is probably, similarly to coughing, used to warn the puppies and members of the pack. Additionally, dingoes emit a sort of "wailing" sound, which they mostly use when approaching a water hole, probably to warn already present dingoes.

According to the present state of knowledge, it is not possible to get Australian dingoes to bark more frequently by having them in contact with other domestic dogs. However Alfred Brehm reported a dingo that completely learned the more "typical" form of barking and knew how to use it, while its brother did not. Whether dingoes bark or bark-howl less frequently in general is not certain.

Howling
Captive dingoes howlingDingoes have three basic forms of howling (moans, bark-howl, and snuffs) with at least 10 variations. Usually there are three kinds of howls distinguished: long and persistent, rising and ebbing, and short and abrupt.

Observations have shown that every kind of howling has several variations, though their meanings are unknown. The frequency of howling varies depending on season and time of day, and is also influenced by breeding, migration, lactation, social stability, and dispersal behaviour. Also, howling can be more frequent in times of food shortage, because the dogs become more widely distributed within their home range. Additionally howling seems to have a group-function and is sometimes an expression of joy (for example, greeting-howls). Overall howling was observed less frequently than among grey wolves. It can happen that one dog starts to howl and several or all other dogs howl back and bark from time to time. In the wilderness, dingoes howl over long distances to attract other members of the pack, to find other dogs, and to keep intruders at bay. Dingoes howl in chorus with significant pitches and with increasing number of pack-members the variability of pitches also increases. Therefore it is suspected that dingoes can measure the size of a pack without visual contact. Moreover, it has been proposed that their highly variable chorus howls may generate a confounding effect in the receivers by making pack size appear larger.


Behaviour
Dingoes are very often nocturnal in warmer regions, but more active during the day in cooler areas. Their main time of activity is around dusk and dawn. The periods of activity are short (often less than one hour) with short times of resting. They have two kinds of movement: a searching movement, apparently associated with hunting, and an exploratory movement, probably for contact and communication with other dogs.

In general, dingoes are shy towards humans. However, there are reports of dingoes that were not impressed by the presence of humans, for instance around camps in national parks, near streets or suburbs. According to studies in Queensland, the wild dogs there move freely at night through urban areas and cross streets and seem to get along quite well.

Dietary habits
170 species (from insects to buffalo) have been identified as being part of the dingo diet. In general, livestock seems to make up only a small proportion of their diet. In continent-wide examinations, 80% of the diet of wild dogs consisted of 10 species: Red Kangaroo, Swamp Wallaby, cattle, Dusky Rat, Magpie Goose, Common Brushtail Possum, Long-haired Rat, Agile Wallaby, European rabbit and the Common Wombat. This narrow range of major prey indicates that wild dogs are rather specialized, but in the tropical rain forests of North-Eastern Australia dingoes are supposed to be opportunistic hunters of a wide range of mammals. In certain areas, they tend to specialize on the most common prey, with a preference for medium to large sized mammals. The consumption of domestic cats has also been proven. Non mammalian prey is irregularly eaten and makes up only 10% of the dingo's diet. Big reptiles are only rarely captured, at least in Eastern Australia, although they are widespread. It is possible that especially big Monitor Lizards are too defensive and well armed or simply able to flee fast enough into dens or climb trees.


A dingo near the Dingo FenceDietary composition varies from region to region. In the gulf region of Queensland, feral pigs and Agile Wallabies are the dingo's main prey. In the rain forests of the North the main prey consists of Magpie-Geese, rodents and Agile Wallabies. In the southern regions of the Northern-Territory, the dogs mainly eat European rabbits, rodents, lizards, and Red Kangaroo; in arid central Australia rabbits, rodents, lizards, Red Kangaroo, and cattle carcass; and in the dry North-West Eastern Wallaroos and Red Kangaroo. In the deserts of the South-West they primarily eat rabbits and in the eastern and south-eastern highlands wallabies, possums, and wombats. To what extent the availability of rabbits influences the composition of the diet could not be clarified. However because Rabbit hemorrhagic disease killed a large part of the Australian rabbit population at the end of the 20th century, it is suspected that the primary prey of the dogs has changed in the affected areas. Also, on Fraser Island, fish were proven to be a part of the dingo diet. However the main prey species were Bandicoots and several rodents. They also ate a lot of echidnas, crabs, small skinks, fruits, and other plants, as well as insects (mostly beetles). During these observations only 10% of the examined feces-samples contained human garbage (in earlier studies 50% were reported).

When scavenging for food, wild dogs (we presume the author is referring to all dogs free to roam, not just dingoes) primarily eat cattle and kangaroo carcasses. Dingoes in coastal regions regularly patrol the coast for dead fish, seals, penguins, and other washed up birds.

Dingoes in general drink one liter of water a day in the summer and about half a liter a day in winter. During the winter in arid regions, dingoes could potentially live from the liquid in the bodies of their prey, as long as the number of prey is sufficient. Similarly, weaned cubs in central Australia are able to draw their necessary amount of liquid from their food. There, regurgitation of water by the sunshine for the cubs was observed. During lactation, females have no higher need of water than usual, since they consume the urine and feces of the cubs and therefore recycle the water and keep the den clean.

There is more information on - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dingo (Source)

[kmdogs97]

Yes, I do like Dingoes and am thinking about writing a story on them

[wolfluver86]

I've heard of dingoes. I've seen them on "Wiggly Safari" Yes, I know it's for little kids, but it had dingoes in it.

[dustydawn]

I recently read a book about these. ^^"
Pretty interesting animals.

[wolfluver86]

Yeah, they are pretty interesting, dustydawn.