In 1983 sheep were introduced on the Jornada Experimental Range (JER) in southwest New Mexico to determine if cattle and sheep grazing would lead to more efficient utilization of the range. It was rumored that there were many coyotes in the area and predation was expected to be a serious problem. A year after the sheep were introduced, the Fishery and Wildlife Sciences Department at New Mexico State University (NMSU) in cooperation with USDA estimated from scent-post visitations and helicopter gunning that coyote density was 1 per 2.7 square miles (Kumm 1985).