Data from: Pest or pest control? Coyote interactions with cattle and Richardson’s ground squirrels

Coyotes (Canis latrans Say, 1823) are ubiquitous across Canadian
grasslands and have been implicated as causing millions of dollars of
damage each year by injuring or killing cattle (Bos taurus Linnaeus,
1758). Gaining insight into the behaviour of coyotes in proximity to
cattle may mitigate these costs. We hypothesized that coyotes obtain
direct (e.g., killing calves or scavenging cattle) and indirect (e.g.,
hunting native prey) benefits from cattle pastures. We further
hypothesized that cows respond defensively to coyotes. We conducted 58
focal observations of coyotes from May to August in southwest Saskatchewan
and recorded activity, prey species, distance from cattle, and the
response of cattle to coyotes. Coyotes hunted native prey more often than
they interacted with cattle. Coyotes were often within 100 m of cattle
when hunting Richardson’s ground squirrels (Urocitellus richardsonii
(Sabine, 1822)), their most common prey. Coyotes scavenged from cattle
carcasses (N=5), occasionally approached calves (N=2), rushed herds (N=2),
or consumed afterbirth (N=1). Cows and/or calves chased coyotes in 43% of
observations having encounters within 10 m. Our data suggest coyotes
primarily use cattle pastures to obtain native prey, although periodic
opportunities to scavenge cattle or kill calves may contribute to their
use of these areas.