LUNAR CONDITION INFLUENCES COYOTE (CANIS LATRANS) HOWLING

Prairie folklore suggests that coyotes (Canis latrans) increase howlin g when the moon is full, pet menstrual patterns of coyote vocalization s have never been formally investigated. Thus, our purpose was to dete rmine whether howling by coyotes is related to lunar condition. The st udy was conducted in July and August 1992, and from June to August 199 4, in the Cypress Hills region of southwestern Saskatchewan, Canada. C oyote howling was surveyed immediately following dusk for 90-120 min, and was categorized by lunar condition. Group howling and group-lip ho wling were negatively related to increasing moonlight, but there was n o relationship between lone howling and moonlight. These results might be explained by changes in the social behavior of coyotes with respec t to foraging behavior and territory defense.