If coyotes are so clever, how come they can’t catch roadrunners even with the help of an ACME anvil?

I have had coyote follow me while out hunting, and they’ve beat me to a downed animal. They’re incredibly intelligent and there’s a reason the Native Americans have so many supernatural stories involving them.

Don't leave foxes out of the conversation. They have to be smart enough to survive without being big. They're clever critters too. Just ask anyone who has chickens in a place with foxes.

They were in manhattan in the 80's. My father used to jog at randall's island every day around 5am and he started seeing them while I was in grade school. I remember him talking about it switching over from stray dogs (he carried a stick) to coyotes (no stick seemingly required) during his morning run. Anecdotally from living in NYstate my whole life, I started hearing them upstate in the later 80's, but in the late 90's they started getting much bigger, howlier and seemed to be in packs more often. I've read that they bred with wolves at the NY Canada border, and it squares with what I see now. I hear them at least three times a week currently, and it's packs that lead off with howls, and then devolve into coyote yips afterwards. I'm about and hour and change north of NYC.

I've been wanting to make friends with the crows in my area and after hearing his story about the raven? Inspires me more. Such beautiful and intelligent creatures.

Coyotes are like the jackals of the American continent. They’re extremely resourceful. The eastern coyote is impressive. It is a little more social than it’s western cousin and it’s larger.

When I was a child my german Shepherd cornered a coyote pup about 10 weeks old between our house and steps. It was a mean little critter. My dog held it there until my grandpa came out to do his morning chores. He called the game warden and they said to shoot it or they could come do it. I begged to keep it but Gramps wasnt having it.

This guy is actually not full of shit. So good to hear as a sportsman

Unfortunately, there is only 14 collared wild Red Wolves left in the wild. We are hoping to see a new litter any day. We desperately need it.

Love these conversations!

Both are incredibly intelligent...we underestimate animals all the time...if given the chance to learn things around people so many species can achieve atypical levels of intelligence.

I live in Minnesota where our wolf population is blowing up. They were mainly in the northern 1/3 of the state but more reports arw showing up about wolves pushing south. Coyotes run the southern half of the state. I have many by my house and hear them call out almost every night. Both the wolves and Coyotes are thw top predators in Minnesota with no signs of slowing down.

Wolves vs coyotes - who is more intelligent? Sounds like a proper JRE topic.

Bro I love Joe Rogan podcast man The mixture of everything science nature personnel shit and experiences and a lot of big boys stories keep it up Joe

Theres an island in Canada, Manitoulin, and theres wild dog packs that roam freely on it. Always wanted to see them when I was exploring the area after work

Perfect timing… ran into a coyote yesterday in my front lawn. We are in Lomita, CA, south of LA city. It “ran away” when it saw my Doberman.

The coyotes I saw in the California when I was in Camp Pendleton were always in packs and small. But I stay in Minnesota now and their bigger and usually solo.

We have tons of coyotes here in TN. I even saw a Cougar once back in 2016 even though they’re supposedly extinct from the southern US.

Taking the bounty off the Coyotes is what blew them up.

Was on a night time bike ride on some trails in a Seattle neighborhood and I rode up on two coyotes taking down a deer. At first I just heard bushes rustling then for like 30 seconds heard what was obviously large animals fighting. The noises were horrific and then I finally got my bike light off and started searching. I saw the eyes and could just make them out through the trees. A runner came up with his dog who was freaking out and clearly sensed the animals. The next day I went back and most of the deer carcass was still there. I’ve since seen a pair of coyotes running around several times since in that same area.

I can concur with two words: Wiley Coyote 😂❤

2002 I shot a coyote in southern nj with a Texas game farm tag in its ear , blew my mind and of course the state denied everything

I was in Animal Control Officer training in 2006. Coyotes, migrating south bound had reached a line across the state from Bradenton to Vero Beach (halfway down the state) today they are in Key West.

My 6 pound Chihuahua fought off a coyote with her mean ass 😂. It dropped her when I came outside but she was fighting and no injuries

A very clever and rarely seen animal we have in NH are Fisher Cats. I've only spotted a few but you will hear them at night sometimes. Mating or fighting it sounds like Hell Spawn

I had a feeling it was gonna be those gnarly coyotes

I grew up in Fairbanks Alaska there were never ever coyotes up there. Last year when I was there they were howling all over the place.

Don't forget...wolves have been on the brink of extinction. Coyotes? NEVER

He reminds me so much of Billy Bob Thornton lol..... even down to his speech pattern here & there. Wonder if they are from the same area.

I lived in Daly City, California which is the city literally right side outside of San Francisco…well I would literally see coyotes on a weekly basis. Packs, solos and they were pretty large. Also saw a mountain lion walking thru my neighborhood. Crazy

in the burbs of Chicago i saw the local Coyote digging in a front yard, i called out to it from my bicycle... it ran out to the street to stare me down in a non-aggressive but obviously not scared too... when i attempted to turn my back and ride off the Coyote came towards me until i turned and faced it, this went on for 2 blocks before we said goodbye... it was my fault for bringing the Coyote into the street but i had a great time and wasn't too worried as it was 6am by a 4-way stop sign so cars wouldn't be driving fast...

This guy knows his shit!! Good stuff..hes very informed..I could listen to him all day!!!

This topic mesmerizes me

I live in rural Kansas, on a farm. The local coyotes have learned things like that a tractor or combine might scare up or run over a prey animal for them. Not uncommon to be working ground, and turn around at the end of the row, to see one running out to where I'd been, and then carrying a dead snake back to the tree line. I was bushhogging milo stalks one time, and one was just walking along the waterway, keeping pace with the tractor, until I scared a rabbit, and it took off after said rabbit. When they're not the occasional ones causing problems, they can make for good neighbors. They may never become family, like with the dog, but we'll settle for descent neighbors. They're able to adapt to humans without becoming domesticated. That's some apex level skill.

I live in upstate ny in a small town named Chatham and I’ve seen wolves 2 different times I’ve seen many coyotes or coy dogs this was 2x the size

What a great public speaker....

It was mid 90s before they were present in central Kentucky. Their appearance is associated with hard winters in which the Mississippi/Ohio experienced surface freezing.

I hear them howl every night in the fields and woods here in WV, sometimes hear 10-15 at a time

Ian Tyson song best describes them " from 40 below to malibu by the sea" Yotes are survivors.

i saw a dog running arround the neighborhood i though it was a shepard. So i tried to see if he was friendly i got him stuck in a corner. I held out my hand and he sniffed my hand like a dog. Durring the sniff i noticed it was a coyote stepped aside and he just ran off looking back at me twice.

I live in San Jose at the southern end and right next to the green belt. During spring and fall I listen to them all the time. They make a very entertaining racket. One night my wife heard a ruckus in the front yard and looked outside and saw a coyote with something in its mouth. She said it looked like a cat. We have a lot of feral cats around as well. One morning I was riding my motorcycle to work and there was one walking out from a yard and walked parallel to me on the sidewalk just sort of watching what I was going to do. A couple of years ago we had a report of a mountain lion walking down the street a couple of streets down from us. That got everyone excited. Like I said we live right next to the green belt and there are all kinds of wild life around us. In a town about 15 miles away a mountain lion walked through a woman's sliding bedroom door and took her dog right off the bed. Didn't touch her or even try. But the dog made a bunch of noise for a while and then she couldn't hear or find it. It is interesting to live so close to the green belt. To protect our dogs form the coyotes we built a double gate with the fence 7'2" tall and only 10 feet between the gates. Then on the top we have 2 ft 2x2s nailed perpendicular to the fence on top. This keeps them from jumping up and putting their paws on top of the fence and pulling themselves over. Incredible animals.

I live in central Va around here coyotes just showed up within the last 20years

Up in Ontario Canada Barrie area. I’d say 4 to 5 pups per litter but so much mange in last couple of winters. Im a dairy farmer. I actually love coyotes, but not the mangy ones in the day time.

Coyotes are very smart. Down here in Mississippi, they are mostly nocturnal. They will also lure your dogs off and eat them.

We first starting hearing coyotes in the late sixties, growing up on a farm in southern Ontario. We didn't know that they were coyotes and called them "brush wolves". We didn't realise that they were the same thing as prairie wolves, another name for coyote, until a few years later. I live in a small city now and they come into the city at night. You see them but you never hear them. Yet, only 10 miles away, back at the family farm that I grew up on, you hear them at night all the time.

we have red wolves by me. ive seen one clear a 7’ fence like it was nothing

And on a side note..... i do need 30 round mags and night vision to Keep theese majestical beasts from killing my calves

There are some BIG beautiful coyotes here in Northern California. I mean ive some lone males lurking around my property that look like small wolves.... maybe coywolf? 🤷‍♂️

Coyotes have adapted to living in cities and back yards. Wolves struggle to exist. Both are very smart.

Two days ago spotted a coyote (for the first time) roaming through the neighborhood The crazy part is that I live in the Bronx

Not even close. I spent much of my life in Alaska and even though you'd hear wolves all around you at night during a hunt, you'd rarely see them in daylight and when you did it was at extreme distance or a quick flash of them running off through the brush. Once you flew into some remote lake and set up camp, they noted that and removed themselves from your zone. I now live in a remote area of Arizona and even though ranchers shoot them on sight, coyotes will walk right past you or stand and stare in broad daylight. Coyotes are surely clever, but nothing like wolves.

I didn’t realize Billy Bob Thornton studied Wolves?

Unless you’re Rick Flare impersonating a legendary mountain man, The ep is 1975 😂

Anyone interested in hearing Dan talk more about this fascinating animal should check out his book, Coyote America. He does a great job not just going into the natural history of the animal, but also talking about how they coevolved with humans and all the ways humans have reacted to them ranging from coyote shamanism to coyote eugenics projects to the coyote and roadrunner cartoon.

Where I live in Pa we have eastern coyotes which is a wolf/coyote hybrid.

Listened to both near the Wisconsin Michigan border

I had a Rottweiler that thought he could attract fire engines and cop cars

As a child in western Nebraska, 1950's, I remember the long drive down a gravel road to our favorite fishing lake and as we went along every fence post had the hide of a very dead coyote hanging on it. The locals would arrange massive drives and kill every coyote they could. It was an 18 mile drive up that road and fence post were maybe 10 feet apart so just imagine how many coyotes were killed.

They move like snake's in the night & recognize the sound of a slide putting the hammer down.

I talk to my pets all the time and they definitely understand a lot. I dont know how much, but more than I've specifically taught them. They surprise me sometimes.

Im in south Florida and they're showing up here

Raymond Coppinger pointed out that the wolf was the only animal to domesticate itself. Canines are truly man’s best friend.

Off topic but I was blown away to find out on another JRE episode that black bears are prevalent in Florida

Coyotes in illinois can be fairly big ive noticed over the years they have gotten larger. And more in small packs 2or3 minimum more than years prior it was 1 on its own all straggley.

The way he says they will take a census lol I don’t see it that way.

I always wondered if”they domesticated wolves to dogs what did they breed them with”

Wolves and humane are connected somehow forsure!

I’m from Arlington Texas and I sell propane and propane accessories and I’ve seen quite a few coyotes

There are tons of Cayotes where I live and some even appear very friendly. I want to adopt one as a dog but I don't want it to eat my actual dog lol.

I took one in on Christmas. She had a broken leg and I kept her. She would show up miles away looking for me. I don’t know how she always knew where I was but she was great

Coyotes became expansive as we eliminated all the wolves who used to keep the coyote population in check.

When I was a teenager in central Oregon I was told there was a bounty on coyotes of $35

❤love and respect both coyotes and wolfs but coyotes are more resourceful and adaptable

Hey Joe, I have property a couple hours east of you near Lake Sam Rayburn. I have large coyotes with a heavy red tint to their fur. I'll have to send you a picture through a DM.

‘62 is when SCDNR introduced ‘Yotes to combat the Whitetail population. Now U.S. hunters have the problem of the ‘Yotes and the deer. Insurance is up on cars and the deer are maintaining population though. There are just ‘Yotes EVERYWHERE!!!

Cleveland Ohio 📍coyotes in my backyard last night

We camp with my little kids once in the middle of nevada desert. Coyotes were howling all over and getting closer. Never made contact as we had a fire burning all night. They dont attack because they know their disadvantage. Dogs on the other hand will act tough and die in battle

That's another 100,000 dollars in the Bank for Joe ! 🤯

Ive seen a redwolf in arkansas in 2009.

I’ve lived in the downriver of Michigan my whole life..( I’m 63 yrs old) I’ve lived on an island on the Detroit River for 27 years.. and there have been coyotes here the whole time.. they’ve done some culling of the coyote.. but they are still here… And I don’t have a problem with it.. if you don’t want your dog to be killed then keep them on a leash.. same goes with your chickens and other livestock… make sure you shelter them properly and get some gaurd dogs.. fencing.. if you can’t afford to do that.. tough sheet… It’s not the coyotes problem.. it’s yours.. be a responsible owner.. people are lazy…

It is also true that gravity does not act on a Coyote until it realizes it has run off a cliff…

Explain Coywolves in the NE

The extripation of wolves in the eastern US is a sad story. I feel like it's time to bring them back

saw a pack of 8 in my neighborhood once

In South Jersey (woodsy areas) there’s Coyotes that rival the size of wolves … like these MFs get BIG off all the deer we have. But they are all relatively skiddish so no real threat.

Yah you gotta admire yotes, I know they follow me n my butterball dogs when we go for our 6 mile hikes n they showed up at my quail feeder station, I know they followed us n I went out n said I see you n they made eye contact n just vanished

They call them Perry dogs ?

Coyotes are adaptable creatures. They can eat anything, and live anywhere and are clever canids.

Coyotes have adapted very well to urban hunting I work 3rd shift they roam the streets and night. Folks would be quite surprised to know they are right out there back and front doors watching in the night. Cats and small dogs beware.

FDA trappers leave unposted coyote traps in rural UT & AZ and don't check them for weeks. The bobcats that stumble into them are almost too pissed to spring loose after spending days in one. The coyote population has collapsed since a disease wiped out the jackrabbits this year.

Joe , why are cats all sizes ( big cats) and no big Lion type dogs .

I believe every animal is intelligent in their own way. Depending on evolution and what animals adapted too survive . Insects like grasshoppers and insects adapted to feel time are a lower spectrum compared to most mammals . Crazy right

They cross bridges, Mississippi river

i think it's pretty even they just have different characterizes, such as the ability to spit up the pack and go on their own unlike wolves

There are reasons the natives have many stories of the cleverness of coyotes

Like it when ppl talk like they were here when earth was created

Very fucking cool!

Some of the animals that I've noticed in Missouri since I was a kid that were not normal was armadillos wild pigs and we already had mountain lions coyotes scorpions Fox I have even seen an alligator in Missouri once and we have discovered piranha in Lake of the Ozarks I guess there's a special area where they can stay warm enough through the winter to survive if anyone knows of anything else I didn't mention I was be very appreciated to hear from you

Who is more intelligent. Easy answer. Every time humans try to eliminate wolves we absolutely extinguish them. Yet at the same time, we have conducted a massive, unrelenting, vicious, government-funded extermination campaign against coyotes for over a century and despite that, coyotes have expanded into every corner of America. I don’t recommend you read about the extermination campaign because it is, frankly, horrific. But to think coyotes have not just survived it but thrived is beyond amazing and a testimony to their intelligence, adaptability, and resilience as a species.

Dan should check his research 4000 wolves in Minnesota