Why must coyotes kill several sheep to satisfy their own nutritional needs?
1) This is about pumas, but maybe it could also apply to coyotes: “Pumas typically kill several sheep at a time, often twenty in a single night, probably because the sheep’s habit of milling around in a panic triggers the cat’s pursue-and-kill reflex.” Source and further information: “Wild cats of the world By Melvin E. Sunquist, Fiona Sunquist” http://books.google.com/books?id=hFbJWMh9-OAC&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=coyotes+kill+%22several+sheep%22&source=bl&ots=XpZUUJY89s&sig=MQ-WNFx6uDPlpTXYKFzqRalvGyI&hl=en&ei=N4TTSquoOpXBsgaO343KBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=2&ved=0CA8Q6AEwATgo#v=onepage&q=coyotes%20kill%20%22several%20sheep%22&f=false 2) “Multiple coyote kills are frequent and many of these kills are not fed upon. Coyotes usually leave the hide and most of the skeleton of larger animals relatively intact, but when food is scarce, they may leave only the largest bones. Coyote feeding leaves ragged edges on muscle tissue and tendons, splintered and chewed ribs and other bones.
