How do coyotes kill their prey, and why is there a coyote season?

Jami Swope, age 11, Rockaway Beach

Coyotes are opportunistic feeders, meaning that they take advantage of any food that is abundant and easy to find or catch. Approximately 70 percent of a coyote's diet is made of small animals, including rabbits, mice, raccoons, birds, grasshoppers and crayfish.

Coyotes kill their prey several different ways. One good bite is all it takes to kill a field mouse, but a coyote kills a rabbit by breaking its neck with a couple of good shakes. Coyotes sometimes hunt in packs to kill larger prey, such as deer.

Coyotes no longer have natural predators in Missouri. They could easily become overpopulated if people did not hunt or trap them. That's why we have a coyote season. It's important to remember that no animal has ever become extinct, endangered or threatened because of regulated sport hunting.

Do zebra finches see in color?

Heather Howell, Age 10, Green Ridge

The fact that an animal is colorful, like the painted bunting at right, usually means that it is able to see color. Many animals rely on coloration to establish dominance and attract mates. Other animals use coloration to help camouflage them in their normal habitat.

Zebra finches, which are common household pets, not only see color, but they see more color than we humans see. A recent study has shown that zebra finches and other birds-even drab colored starlings-choose mates based on colors they see in the ultraviolet range. Humans are blind to these colors.

Is it true that skunks don't have the ability to squirt their vile-smelling fluid until they are adults?

Florence Kuhn, Kansas City

Skunks can produce scent as soon as they are born, but can't spray very well until they're about three weeks old. By about eight weeks, they can spray just as well as an adult.