Coyotes are adaptable canids found across North America, from wilderness to urban areas. This adaptability often raises questions about their living arrangements, particularly their use of dens. These underground shelters serve a specific and temporary purpose.
Coyote Denning Behavior
Coyotes do utilize dens, which are underground shelters, but this behavior is typically for distinct periods and purposes. While they are capable of digging their own burrows, coyotes frequently modify existing ones created by other animals such as badgers, groundhogs, raccoons, skunks, or foxes. These dens may also consist of natural openings under trees or rocks, or even human-made structures like culverts, abandoned buildings, or spaces under porches.
A typical coyote den often has multiple entrances. The tunnels can extend from a few feet to up to 50 feet into a hillside, leading to a chamber that can be three to six feet below the surface. Dens are chosen for concealment and may be situated on a slope for drainage, with protective cover like bushes or trees near the entrance.
Coyote Habitat and Shelter Beyond Dens
Outside the denning season, coyotes lead a nomadic lifestyle, often sleeping above ground. Their adaptability allows them to inhabit almost any environment, including forests, grasslands, deserts, mountains, and increasingly, suburban and urban areas. In these varied settings, coyotes seek temporary shelter in natural depressions, under thick brush, within hollow logs or trees, or among rock outcrops.
Coyotes are active year-round and can be seen at any time of day. However, those living near human settlements often become more nocturnal to avoid human activity. In urban areas, they might rest in parks, on golf courses, or in shrubbery, choosing locations where they feel secure. These temporary resting spots provide transient places for rest and concealment.
Purpose of Coyote Dens
Coyotes primarily use dens for birthing and raising their young. Pups are born blind and deaf, making them highly vulnerable, and the den provides protection from predators and harsh weather conditions. The breeding pair, and sometimes older offspring, will utilize the den to care for the litter, bringing food to the mother and later, to the pups themselves.
Coyote dens are temporary nurseries, typically used for a few weeks to a few months. Pups begin to venture outside the den around three to six weeks of age and may leave the den entirely by eight to nine weeks. Parents may move their pups between multiple den sites within their territory, often for safety reasons or to prevent the buildup of parasites. This temporary use distinguishes dens from year-round living spaces.