Coyote food item use along an urban gradient in the southern San Joaquin Valley, California

The immense ecological plasticity of coyotes (Canis latrans) facilitates their use of anthropogenically altered habitats including urban areas. We analyzed scat samples to compare food item use by coyotes in urban, peri-urban, and non-urban zones in and around the city of Bakersfield, California. Coyotes consumed primarily rabbits and rodents in all three zones although species composition varied among the zones. Other important foods included birds and invertebrates in the urban zone, commercial grapes in the peri-urban zone, and birds and fruits in the non-urban zone. Frequency of occurrence of anthropogenic items was not statistically different between zones but exhibited an increasing trend from the non-urban zone to the urban zone. However, coyotes in the urban zone do not appear to be dependent on these items. The relatively low use of anthropogenic foods may reduce the potential for human-coyote conflicts in Bakersfield.