COYOTE - KIT FOX INTERACTIONS AS REVEALED BY TELEMETRY

Red foxes (Vulpes vulpes) avoid areas used extensively by coyotes (Can is latrans), apparently to reduce encounters with coyotes and possible injury or death. It is conceivable that kit foxes (Vulpes macrotis) b ehave in a similar manner. We used telemetry to examine the spacing pa tterns and interactions among 24 coyotes and 38 San Joaquin kit foxes (V. m. mutica) in California during a period of declining and low prey abundance (1989-1991). Coyotes showed either territorial (n = 13) or transient (n = 11) spacing patterns, whereas all kit foxes were territ orial. Spatially and temporally, coyote home ranges overlapped >30% of each fox home range. Both species used the overlap areas more than ex pected (P < 0.001), possibly because prey such as kangaroo rats were m ore abundant in these areas. Fifty-five percent of the areas used exte nsively by foxes during their nocturnal activities were overlapped by coyote nocturnal-use areas. Concurrently monitored coyotes and foxes t hat occupied overlapping home ranges (n = 25 combinations) were neithe r farther apart nor closer together than expected (P = 0.09-0.87), eve n when the coyote was in the fox's home range. Kit foxes did not avoid coyotes and may be able to coexist with them by exploiting certain pr ey species better than coyotes and maintaining numerous (greater than or equal to 20) dens throughout their home ranges to facilitate escape . Apparent differences in coyote - red fox and coyote - kit fox relati ons may be partially attributed to differences in resource selection a nd predator-avoidance strategies among fox species.