The coyote (Canis latrans) is one of California’s most successful and adaptable predators. This native canid thrives across a vast range of environments due to its flexible behavior and diet. They inhabit nearly every corner of the state, from remote wilderness areas to densely populated metropolitan centers. The presence of coyotes is a constant factor in California’s ecology.
Widespread Geographical Distribution
Coyotes inhabit every county in California, establishing a range that spans the entire state. This extensive distribution is a testament to their capacity to adapt to extreme variations in elevation and climate. They are found from the low-lying coastal plains at sea level up to the subalpine zones of mountain ranges, occasionally utilizing areas above 10,000 feet in elevation.
Populations are established throughout the Coastal Ranges and the agricultural expanses of the Central Valley. Coyotes also occupy the lower and middle slopes of the Sierra Nevada, utilizing forests and foothills. Even the arid, high desert regions, including the Mojave and Colorado Deserts, support stable populations.
The species’ tolerance for varying conditions means they navigate the extreme heat of the desert floor and the cooler, wetter climates near the Pacific Ocean. This flexibility allows them to persist in areas with different levels of human development and resource availability.
Diverse Natural Habitats
Within their broad geographical range, coyotes are ecological generalists, utilizing a variety of specific natural biomes for cover, denning, and hunting. They frequently inhabit California’s characteristic scrubland and chaparral ecosystems, which provide dense cover for resting during the day. Coyotes often forage along the edges of these brushy areas, as the heavy cover itself can sometimes impede their movement.
Open grasslands and oak woodlands are also common habitats, where coyotes hunt for small mammals like rodents and rabbits. They play an important role in these ecosystems by controlling pest populations. Riparian corridors—the vegetated areas along rivers and streams—are particularly important, offering reliable water sources, diverse prey, and natural travel routes.
Coyotes also make extensive use of agricultural areas, including rangelands, vineyards, and orchards across the Central Valley and Sierra foothills. Here, they prey on gophers and voles that damage crops. They utilize these fields and pastures for hunting and establishing dens, often enlarging existing burrows for shelter.
Adaptation to Urban and Suburban Environments
The most notable aspect of the coyote’s presence in California is their successful integration into human-dominated areas, especially in metropolitan centers like Los Angeles, the Bay Area, and San Diego. Coyotes in these urban environments exhibit behavioral changes, shifting their activity to become primarily nocturnal or crepuscular, active at dawn and dusk, to minimize contact with humans. This temporal shift allows them to move safely through neighborhoods and commercial zones.
They navigate cities by utilizing linear green spaces, which act as ecological highways. These travel corridors include flood control channels, railway embankments, golf courses, and landscaped parks. These areas provide both cover and passage between fragmented natural patches and residential neighborhoods.
The availability of human-associated food sources is a major factor in their urban survival, allowing them to establish some of the highest recorded densities in North America. Studies in Southern California have shown that up to 60 to 75 percent of an urban coyote’s diet can come from human resources. These opportunistic meals include unsecured trash, pet food left outdoors, and ornamental fruits like ficus and palm tree fruit.
Coyotes also prey on domestic pets, with traces of domestic cats found in a significant percentage of urban scat samples. This reliance on human subsidies, including the rodents that thrive in human areas, allows coyotes to maintain a presence even in small parks and undeveloped lots surrounded by dense development.