A COMPARISON OF COYOTE AND BOBCAT FOOD HABITS IN THE WICHITA MOUNTAINS, OKLAHOMA

The life histories of the coyote (Canis latrans) and bobcat (Felis rufus) have been studied (1, 2, 3). However, few studies have concurrently investigated aspects of coyote and bobcat biology (4, 5). This study investigates the food habits of these carnivores in one area. The study was conducted in the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge (WMNWR), located in Comanche Co., Oklahoma. The refuge contains about 12,505 ha of woodland and 8,547 ha of mixed grass prairie (6). The food habits of coyotes and bobcats were determined using scat analysis. Coyote scats were collected bi-weekly from May 1976 through March 1977 along three established routes in the Wye, Geronimo Ridge and Hollis Canyon areas of the refuge. Bobcat scats were collected during the same time as coyote scats and incidentially during travel through the refuge. Coyote and bobcat scats were differentiated using criteria described by Murie (7). All food items were separated from the scats by hand and compared to reference collections of skins, skulls, and seeds located at Oklahoma State University. A comparison of the percent occurrence of major coyote and bobcat foods was made using a chi-square test to determine if coyotes and bobcats consumed the same prey with equal frequency. Major food items were considered to be those foods that occurred in at least 10 % of the coyote or bobcat scats