Coyotes are omnivores, meaning they have flexible diets. They’ll eat not only meat but also fruit, vegetables, grains, and whatever leftover food is around.
Keeping their open diet in mind, do coyotes eat apples? And can apples be used as coyote bait?
Table of Contents
- Coyotes Will Occasionally Eat Apples
- Can You Bait Coyotes with Apples?
- Coyotes will Eat Any Type of Apple
- Using Other Forms of Coyote Bait
- What Other Fruit do Coyotes Eat?
- Final Thoughts
Coyotes Will Occasionally Eat Apples
If they live near orchards, coyotes will often eat fallen apples in the fields. And if they’re really hungry, they may even go further than that and jump up onto the trees to get some of the fruit.
Coyotes can often be spotted eating wild crab apples, especially in the winter, when other food sources are limited.
They will also go for apples humans eat more often, as they aren’t very picky about what variety they get. Coyotes living in urban areas are more used to eating human food leftovers, so would probably eat apples more often.
Global News has a story where footage shows a coyote climbing around in a small tree just to snack on some apples.
Coyotes are not always predictable, though. Sometimes they will ignore a bunch of apples on the ground. Other times, hunters hoping to bait deer with a pile of apples instead only attract coyotes, much to their frustration.
Can You Bait Coyotes with Apples?
Yes. If you’re on the hunt for coyotes, you can surely lure them in with apples. Apples are a main staple of their diet, so they will usually eat them if they see them.
However, since apples aren’t the strongest-smelling food, they should be put in a visible place to be effective bait.
A pile of apples has a better chance of enticing a coyote onto your property rather than just a single apple. Coyotes are drawn to easy food sources, so they’ll be excited to see a bunch of food ready to be grabbed in one spot.
Apples are not as effective as something that smells more pungent, like raw deer meat, but they should still do the job.
And it all depends on what other food is available and easy for the coyotes to eat.
If you live in an area where there are lots of prey around for the coyotes to hunt, like rodents and rabbits, then the coyotes may be less interested in your pile of apples.
Coyotes will Eat Any Type of Apple
in the end, apple variety doesn’t seem to matter much to coyotes.
Buying a large bag of apples at the grocery store and dumping them in a patch in the woods is sufficient enough to attract a family of coyotes and entertain them for a couple of hours.
Unless it’s deep into winter, the effect won’t be immediate, since there are probably tastier food sources around and the coyotes are unlikely to be very hungry.
Nevertheless, there is a good chance that they’ll eventually visit the apples – who can pass up on such easy pickings?
You may also like: Do Coyotes Eat Corn? Here’s What You Should Know
Using Other Forms of Coyote Bait
Apples will usually attract coyotes, but if you live in an area with limited apple availability, coyotes may not realize how tasty apples are, and will not be used to recognizing them as food.
If that’s the case, it’s best to use whatever is naturally abundant in the coyotes’ habitat.
In urban areas, most foods will work (including apples) since the coyotes are used to eating a wide variety of food.
In rural areas, take a look at what crops and plants are commonly grown around you. Corn, persimmons, and blackberries are also commonly scavenged by coyotes and can be used as coyote bait.
Wherever coyotes live, they are sure to be attracted to the smell of flesh. Putting out a deer carcass will bring in coyotes (as well as a number of other creatures). Other animal meat like chicken and fish is also effective.
What Other Fruit do Coyotes Eat?
Coyotes will eat pretty much any fruit they come across that humans also typically eat – apples, bananas, berries, peaches, pears, and more.
In other words, coyotes aren’t picky with the food they eat. In fact, one article from the University of Arkansas describes how coyotes in that area are known to devour melon patches.
Final Thoughts
Most coyotes love apples. If a coyote isn’t attracted to an apple, it may have enough rodents and other prey to keep it busy, or it may not be used to having apples in its natural diet.
A pile of apples typically works as coyote bait, but a meat bait will likely yield faster and more effective results.
