Coyote (Canis latrans) at Rabbit Creek

Observation by Neena Brubaker:

I saw this coyote driving down the old section of Rabbit Creek Road, by the creek. I know there are coyotes around but we rarely see them, let alone get pictures.

Comments from LEO Editors:

Coyotes were first documented in Alaska in the early 1900s, moving up from Canada to Southeast Alaska and eventually spreading across the inland regions of the state. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game estimates coyote population abundance using the Trapper Questionnaire reports, and consider the Kenai Peninsula, Copper River Valley and Mat-Su Valley to have the highest coyote population densities.

Coyotes breed early in the year, between January and March, and usually produce litters of five to seven pups. These pups are able to catch their own food after about three months, and stay together as a family group with their parents for the summer. Between August and November, the family units break up. Coyotes found by themselves in spring may be helping to care for a new litter, or may be transient without established territory.

Coyotes are opportunistic feeders and prey on snowshoe hares, small rodents and carrion. When competition from fox and wolves is low, and food sources are abundant, coyotes may produce larger litters. In another LEO observation submitted in April 2020, James Lima noticed an increase in the snowshoe hare populations around Anchorage. His observation was confirmed by Rick Merizon, an Alaska Department of Fish and Game wildlife biologist, who expect a rapid decline in the next 1-2 years. See also ADN article from 2018 about coyotes preying on dogs in Seward Alaska.