for reasons you state and more. They are masters of survival.
As many as we have here, at my home, it's nothing compared to the coyote population on my ranch. On the occasions when I take someone to my ranch that has never been there... perhaps they haven't even been to the mountains near here, I tell them the chances of seeing the large mammals the coyote is pretty close to 100%... day or night. It's NOT actually 100% but of all the animals that live on my ranch coyotes are by far the most likely to see on any given visit. Squirrels, of course, you can't help but see but bobcats, mountain lions, badgers, skunks, even deer are rarer than coyotes.
Oddly, to me anyway, rattlesnakes I see very rarely... even though they are plentiful. I think it's been a few years since I've seen one on my ranch. I see them so rarely that I confess to not being cautious when roaming my ranch on foot. Frankly it doesn't even come to mind... which means I will most likely get bitten one day. - JamesJM
