Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Dietary Overlap Between Wolves And Coyotes In Northwestern Montana, Wendy M. Arjo, Daniel H. Pletscher, Robert R. Ream

USDA Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We studied effects of recolonizing wolves (Canis lupus) in the North Fork of the Flathead area of northwestern Montana on the diets of coyotes (C. latrans) from 1994 to 1997. Wolf and coyote diets differed in frequency of occurrence of prey species during 3 of the 4 summers and winters (P< 0.001) during the study. Coyote diets contained more murid prey items, and wolf diets contained more deer (Odocoileus virginianus and O. hemionus) in the summer and elk (Cervus elaphus) in the winter. Coyotes and wolves ate prey of different size during both the summer (P < 0.001) and winter (P < 0.001) months in 1994– 1996: wolves took a greater proportion (P < 0.001) of large (>45 kg) prey species and coyotes, small (<2 kg) prey (P < 0.001). Wolves selected a larger proportion of adults (P …