"Wolves (Canis lupus) tend to prey disproportionately on animals that are young and old, in poor nutritional condition, and have jaw necrosis, arthritis, or heavy parasite loads."(500)

"Of interest is whether ungulates can determine which member of a coyote pack poses the greatest threat of predation to themselves and their offspring, which would allow them to initiate and direct aggressive behavior towards those individuals (i.e., the alpha animals)."(500)

"We emphasize that the interactions analyzed here were those in which the ungulate appeared to initiate the interaction by chasing or charging the coyote(s), and were not responses to an attack initiated by the coyote(s)."(500)

"All chases were initiated by adult ungulates. Female ungulates were involved in 42 (82%) of the 51 chases; one bull elk chased coyotes, and eight interactions involved bison of unknown sex."

"Thus, the frequency with which ungulates chased coyote groups of different sizes corresponded to the frequency with which these groups were encountered (i.e., ungulates did not chase large groups of coyotes more frequently than small groups)."(501)

"The proportions of alpha coyotes (35%), beta coyotes (39%), and pups (26%) in the resident population (Gese et al. 1996a, 1996b, 1996c) were used as the expected values for aggressive behavior towards coyotes of these classes. Thirty (59%) of the chases by ungulates were directed at an alpha coyote or the alpha pair, whereas only 16 (31%) and 5 (10%) of the chases were directed towards beta coyotes and pups, respectively…. Thus, ungulates initiated and directed aggressive behavior more frequently towards the alpha members of a coyote pack."(501)

"There were 10 interactions involving the largest ungulate (bison); alpha coyotes, beta coyotes, and pups were chased in 70, 20, and 10% of these interactions, respectively. For the 36 chases involving elk, alpha coyotes, beta coyotes, and pups were chased in 61, 33, and 6% of the interactions. For the 5 interactions involving the smallest ungulate (pronghorn antelope), alpha coyotes, beta coyotes, and pups were chased in 20, 40, and 40% of the observations, respectively. Thus, it appears that the body size of the ungulate influenced the ungulate-coyote interactions: the smallest species of ungulate (pronghorn antelope) chased all social classes of coyotes equally, and the two larger species of ungulate directed their attacks mostly at the alpha coyotes."(501)

"Overall, coyotes spend 64% of their time resting and 36% of their time in active behaviors (Gese et al. 1996a). In contrast, coyotes were resting or active in 31 and 69% of the ungulate-coyote interactions, respectively. When chases were initiated by ungulates, alpha and beta coyotes and pups were active in 63, 75, and 80% of the interactions, respectively. Thus, alpha coyotes were not chased more frequently because they were more active; in fact, they were active less frequently than beta coyotes and pups."(502)

"Maternal defense against predators is the most typical reason in the case of ungulates (Garner and Morrison 1980; Cote et al. 1997), as male ungulates contribute little to parental care."(502)

"The finding that elk and bison directed chases more frequently towards the alpha coyotes, whereas pronghorn antelope directed attacks towards all coyotes equally, indicates that the pronghorn antelope perceived all coyotes as a threat. The larger ungulates apparently perceived the alpha coyotes as the greatest threat."(502)