The oldest known wild coyote was a twelve-year-old alpha female, Coyote 1. She died of natural causes despite having spent her days in the city, where most coyotes fail to realize their full potential.
She died in 2019. For twelve years, while the city was reeling from the massive cultural ramifications of the hit TV show The Big Bang Theory, Coyote 1 scavenged for small rodents and berries, unaffected.
There is only one alpha pair in a pack, only alpha pairs mate, and alpha pairs are monogamous until death. Given her age, Coyote 1 probably knew at least two mates. The dating app Tinder was created in 2012, around the time she became alpha female. Two years later, Tinder users would begin to swipe one billion times daily, on average logging into the app eleven times per day.
If she had survived, Coyote 1 would have found or dug a den for the next litter come February, her tenth den in as many years. The average litter is six pups: Coyote 1 brought around fifty-five new puppies into the world. Around twenty-two of her brood were cut down early: city coyotes have a 60% chance of surviving their first year.
By its third year, tartar will begin to show around the coyote’s teeth, and the incisors and canines are slightly worn. By its fifth year, some of the coyote’s teeth might be worn down to the gum line or missing altogether, but most coyotes don’t live this long.
Around fifteen of Coyote 1’s total offspring were killed by cars. 70% of coyote deaths are caused by motor vehicle squishings, making it the leading cause of coyote doom by far. The larger the automobile, the less likely the driver will be killed in a crash, but the more likely the vehicle is to strike and kill a coyote or a human child. These facts together explain why the share of Sports Utility Vehicles has grown to over 45% of the global car market.
Death by hunting comes in second place, followed by disease, then “Other”, then “Unknown”. There are no bag limits on coyotes in the city. Mange is caused by microscopic spider-like mites that burrow beneath the skin surface, where they dig their dens. Included among “Other” causes of coyote death is malnutrition: people will buy a loaf of bread to feed ducks, but not coyotes.
And sometimes a coyote’s death is just too complicated to determine any clear reason for why it happened, unlike most other coyote deaths, including Coyote 1’s, which happened for clear, natural reasons.
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