Donkey vs Coyote: Do Donkeys Kill Coyotes?

Donkeys are herbivore animals and are known for their very stubborn nature. They are mainly used for transporting heavy items from one place to another. However, there is another aspect of the donkey if we compare donkey vs coyote. Coyotes are opportunistic predators and are known for their vicious nature. Nowadays, they are living very close to human settlements in semi-urban and urban areas. They have actually become a very big source of disturbance as they damage the property, and prey on pets and livestock.

Donkeys play a very important role in keeping these aggressive and vicious species away from your doorsteps. Donkeys are the perfect guards for the protection of livestock from predators like coyotes as compared to other guard animals like dogs and llamas. Donkeys are also very well-known for their sharp eyesight and good compatibility. They are also not very expensive. In this article, we are going to make a very deep comparison between donkeys and coyotes. By reading this article, you can easily answer the question that why do donkeys keep coyotes away?

Do donkeys keep coyotes away?

Donkeys are very well-known for their loveable properties and good social behavior but they are also very stubborn by nature. However, they have a very strong bond with human beings as they are highly helpful for many day-to-day activities of human beings. One of the most vital roles they play in the life of human beings is that they are highly beneficial in keeping wild animals like coyotes away from your property.

Donkeys are very territorial by nature and if coyotes are threatening your pets like chickens, goats, ducks, and livestock then the animals like donkeys are the best deterrence you can deploy. They can also handle other animals like foxes, wolves, etc.

Donkeys can keep coyotes away because it is their nature that they could not allow other animals to interfere in their territory. They react very sharply against outside animals encroaching on their territory. Moreover, they have extraordinary stamina that’s why they are deployed for very hard activities. They also stay alert all the time. They listen to all the sounds in their surroundings and react very sharply if something strange happens in their surroundings.

First of all, if they sense the danger by closely analyzing the air and moving their head quickly for giving an urgent reaction. After that, they make a lot of noise as a warning sign against the wild animal and then move very fast in the direction from where they think the threat is coming and try their best to avert the threat.

Key differences between a coyote and a donkey

Both donkeys and coyotes are altogether different animals. Donkeys are herbivores and are mainly related to the animals like horses. Coyotes are carnivores and are mainly related to wild animals like foxes, wolves, bobcats, badgers, etc. Donkeys are bigger than coyotes in terms of their size and they are also stronger than coyotes. Coyotes are very much faster by nature and they have to deal with very wild animals. They can tear apart small mammals with their powerful and sharp claws.

Donkeys mainly apply kicks in their fight and show thrashing behavior. Indeed, both of these animals are very aggressive by nature but donkeys exhibit extraordinary aggressiveness towards canine family members as they consider them a very big threat.

Key factors to discuss in a fight between coyote and donkey

Indeed, the coyotes and donkeys are altogether different animals. But there are many features on the basis we will compare these animals. Most of these features are interlinked with the physical features and the social behavior of these animals. By comparing these animals on the basis of these features, we can come to the final conclusion that who could be the ultimate winner if a fight happens between these animals. Let’s have a look at their critical features.

Features	Donkeys	Coyotes
Size	Height: 35-57 inches Weight: 400-570 lbs Length: 57-75 inches	Height: 24-26 inches Weight: 15-45 lbs Length: 30-35 inches
Speed	15 mph	35-40 mph
Teeth	16-44 depending upon the age and gender.	42 teeth
Bite force	Very powerful bite force more than a coyote	88 BFQ
Senses	Good-smelling sense, very wide monocular and binocular vision at nighttime, perfect hearing sense.	Smelling sense same as dogs, great vision, Good hearing sense.
Defense mechanism	Big size, aggressiveness.	Very high speed and excellent senses.
Offensive abilities	Powerful kicking and thrashing ability	Strong bite force, sharp claws.
Social behavior	Herbivores	Ambush predator.

Let’s discuss these features briefly one by one.

Size: donkey vs coyote

When it comes to size, the donkey has a very clear edge over the coyote as they are much taller and larger than a coyote. The coyote could have a maximum weight of 45 pounds and a maximum height of 26 inches while the donkey comes with a height of 57 inches and above 500 pounds weight. Hence, the donkey is the ultimate winner in terms of their size.

Speed: coyote vs donkey

Being heavy and stout animals, donkeys could not run very fast. They can reach a maximum speed of 15 mph. On the other hand, coyotes are agile and fast animals. They can easily run with a maximum speed of 40 mph. It means coyotes can run at the double speed of the donkey. Hence, Coyote has an edge over Donkey in terms of speed.

Bite force: donkeys vs coyotes

Coyote has very long teeth and reasonable bite force. They have 1.5 inches long teeth and quite a rational bite force. Donkey also has very long and strong teeth. They also come with very powerful bite force but there is no limit available in the numbers. However, the teeth of the donkey are strong enough that they can easily toss big size animals and they could also handle human beings but they don’t show any aggression towards human beings.

Senses: Coyotes vs Donkeys

When it comes to vision and hearing sense, donkeys are great. They can easily sense the presence of death anywhere. Coyotes can also find their prey easily but the visionary sense of the coyotes is not good enough as the donkeys have. They have good smelling senses and can easily hear the presence of animals from a quarter mile away.

Overall, coyotes have an edge over donkeys when it comes to senses comparison.

Defense mechanism

Coyotes lack in terms of their size but they have good speed and extraordinary senses. These things help the coyote in defense against their predators. They can sense the danger from some distance and run away very fast. On the other hand, the donkey has an edge in terms of its size and it is their biggest weapon in terms of defense mechanism. Coyote has an edge over donkey in terms of defense mechanism as they could run very fast from the point of fight or if they are going to lose the fight.

Offensive abilities

Coyotes are opportunistic predators and vicious hunters. They always prefer to attack their opponent in the form of packs. They chase their prey to the distance till the prey is exhausted. After that, they target their prey when it is at its weakest point. If they are hunting alone then they like to attack in an ambush manner as they don’t want to take any risk. In this regard, they always prefer to attack their prey at the most vulnerable spot. After that, they drag on the ground and tear apart their flesh with the help of their sharp teeth and claws.

On the other hand, donkeys don’t make this kind of vicious attack. They like to thrash with the help of their legs and kick them until they are dead. They also bite their prey and kick them with very much power until the prey is dead. Thus, we can say both are equal in terms of attacking and dealing with their prey.

Donkey vs coyote: who would be the ultimate winner?

In simple words, we can that the donkey would be the ultimate winner in this fight. It might be nearly impossible to admit that how can the herbivores defeat the carnivore but it is possible. Donkeys are good enough at dealing with canine animals. Initially, if a one-on-one fight happens between these animals coyotes may stalk the donkey for some time before attacking it. In this attack, the coyote may target some critical points of the donkey like its neck or groin but the donkey is good enough in repealing this attack with the help of its powerful kick and a thrashing bite.

A donkey is much more big and powerful than a coyote. It is extremely difficult for the coyote to take down in a single hit but the donkey can kill the coyote in a single hit by attacking the coyote on the head, neck, or limbs. It could happen with a single kick and kill the coyote in a few seconds.

Despite having an overall edge over the coyote in the fight, the donkey still doesn’t like to engage in a fight with the coyote in the first encounter. They prefer to scare off the coyote with the help of their big size and long legs. Donkeys are kept as guard animals on the farms and in their presence coyote don’t dare to come near these farms.

Why do you need to keep the donkey as a guard animal?

First of all, donkeys are very friendly by nature and they can easily get along with your farm animals. You may also deploy them for riding as draft animals. They are good companions of both animals and human beings. It is also extremely cheap to maintain their presence on the farm. They need cheap food and or tough vegetation for the maintenance of their dietary needs. Moreover, they also remain extremely healthy throughout their lifestyle and show extraordinary immunity against vicious diseases.

Why do donkeys kill coyotes but horses run away?

Donkeys and horses may show a lot of resemblance in terms of their facial appearance but they are altogether different from each other in several aspects. Some of these differences are the reason behind their behavior with the coyotes. Some of the differences in their behavior are given as:

• Horses have been declared plain animals while the donkeys are declared mountain animals.
• Horses may run very fast but they always run if they feel danger rather than staying and fighting. If they run in the mountainous areas, then there is no benefit of running at very high speed because they could be easily distracted in the mountains and resultantly get injured. On the other hand, donkeys in this situation will stay and fight with their predator on the ground.
• Donkeys show more aggressive behavior as compared to horses.
• Donkeys are also smarter than horses.
• The eyes of the donkey are very close to their back head and they can see their back feet. On the other hand, horses act very clumsy as they could not judge their back feet.
• Donkeys would never miss the target which the horses occasionally do.
• Donkeys can kick out in all directions forward, backward, and sideways while horses can only kick backward and forward.

Frequently asked questions

Conclusion

Donkeys may look very innocent and adorable from their facial expression but they are very aggressive animals. They can give a very powerful blow with the help of their powerful legs. The bite of the donkey is also very powerful. If we compare donkey vs coyote on the basis of their physical features, then it is obvious that the coyotes will lose in this fight because the donkeys have the upper hand in almost all the physical features of these animals.