It may be unsurprising to you that coyotes kill domestic cats to eat them. That’s the logical reason why a predator kills a prey item, isn’t it. But sometimes people ask the question, “Do coyotes kill domestic cats to eat them?” And the answer is yes normally and probably nearly all the time in my opinion, but sometimes they fail to catch their targeted domestic cat and sometimes they don’t eat their domestic cat prey. You will see numerous examples of escaping cats on the Internet.
And sometimes they might just kill a domestic cat out of instinct without really being hungry. Domestic cats do the same thing themselves when preying on rodents for example.
And sometimes cats demonstrate their resourcefulness and scare away a coyote. But in general coyotes are opportunistic feeders so they will take advantage of whatever prey is available. And they, too, are a very resourceful, resilient predator surviving quite nicely in America despite persecution from people (see below).
My research indicates that coyotes don’t always view domestic cats as prey items. There are times when a coyote may kill a cat without necessarily eating it. This may happen when other food sources are available.
Coyotes may kill domestic cats for reasons beyond immediate food needs including territorial behaviour i.e. to assert dominance over their territory and reduce competition or instinctual hunting even when not hungry as mentioned, or stress or conflict such as a crowded habitat and finally young coyotes may practice hunting skills attacking smaller animals as part of their learning process.
Texas has the greatest population of coyotes.
Coyote persecution
Apparently, we don’t know how many coyotes are killed by people annually. But estimates suggest that hundreds of thousands are killed in America every year and some sources place the number as high as half a million. Despite this they continue to apparently thrive in many areas.
There are diverse methods of killing coyotes including hunting, trapping, poisoning and control programs by government agencies. Much of the coyote hunting and trapping occurs without mandatory reporting. And gathering data from various sources including private landowners and pest control operators is a complex task.
There is a debate about the ecologically and ethical implications of widespread coyote killing.
For example; about the ecological implications. Coyotes help regulate populations of rodents, rabbits and deer thereby preventing overgrazing and reducing the spread of diseases.
Coyotes also clear up carcasses reducing the risk of disease transmission and they are a key part of the food chain which influences behaviour and distribution of predators and prey.
There might be unintended consequences in the removal of coyotes from a region. Coyote prey items may experience population booms leading to agricultural damage or increased disease transmission.
Removing a keystone species likely coyote can destabilise the entire ecosystem. They are very much embedded into the ecosystem in America and unforeseen consequences can occur in widespread destruction of such a resourceful predator.
The management of coyote populations is a contentious issue. People have different perspectives. Ranchers and farmers often view them as pests which prey on livestock and they normally advocate lethal control methods.
On the contrary, conservationists and biologists emphasise the ecological importance of coyotes and often promote non-lethal deterrence.
And in some urban areas there are fairly frequent human-coyote conflicts leading to calls for population control.
Indoor cats
In my opinion, a major reason why American cat caregivers keep their cats inside full-time (an increasing trend) is because of predation of their cats by coyotes. They enter urban areas confidently and any indoor/outdoor cat is not infrequenly likely to be picked up by a coyote depending on the area. They can even climb trees to a certain distance so a domestic cat scampering up a tree does not always save them.
Coyotes are native to America and play an important ecological role as predators and scavengers, helping to maintain the balance in their ecosystems.
People should find a way to live with native species. They were in the US before humans! Coyotes (Canis latrans) first evolved in North America around 1 to 2 million years ago during the Pleistocene epoch. They are believed to be descendants of ancient canids and are closely related to wolves. The first humans are believed to have arrived in America around 15,000 to 20,000 years ago. They likely crossed a land bridge called Beringia that connected Asia and North America during the last Ice Age.
More: Articles on coyote attack.
I live next to a bayou in Texas, and coyotes are certainly a problem, especially for outdoor cats and dogs. Plenty of people around here have lost cats & dogs to them, including myself about 4 years ago. Once they figure out that cats & dogs are relatively easy prey for them, they will frequent populated territories in search for them. And not even behind fences are they totally safe from coyotes, as some of them actually figure out how to jump or climb them up and get into people’s backyards. The one that killed (and ate) one of my cats, Mina, would come around about twice a week during the late night & early morning hours, prowling around for whatever unfortunate cat or dog he could manage to get to. I ended his terror rampage on the local cat & dog population with a crossbow bolt.
Thanks JDP. Good story. Excellent comment. You’re right, they are excellent jumpers and climbers for a species of canine.