VIDEO: Colorado Man Fights off Three Coyotes

You might not think much of coyotes.

You might think they are nothing but another type of dogs.

But the truth is they can be just as dangerous as lions or tigers, given that they are violent, unpredictable wild creatures.

A Colorado man was stalked and attack by three coyotes on his way to work.

According to Live Science, coyotes are members of the Canidae family and share a lot of the same traits of their relatives: wolves, dogs, foxes and jackals.

They have narrow, elongated snouts, lean bodies covered in thick fur, yellow or amber eyes and long, bushy tails. Coyotes have gray, white, tan and brown fur. Their fur color depends on where they live. Coyotes that live in the mountains have darker coats and ones that live in the desert have lighter coats.

Coyotes are about as big as medium-size dogs, though they are smaller than wolves. They are 32 to 37 inches (81 to 94 centimeters) from head to rump. Their tail adds another 16 inches (41 cm) to their length. Coyotes typically weigh about 20 to 50 lbs. (9 to 23 kilograms).

Coyotes live in North America and roam the plains, forests, mountains and deserts of Canada, the United States, Mexico and Central America. As humans take over more and more countryside, coyotes are adapting to living in cities to find food. In fact, it is becoming more and more common to see coyotes in big cities like New York and Los Angeles.

Coyotes are solitary creatures and mark their territory with urine. During the winter, coyotes tend to become more social, though. During the cold months, they join forces, creating hunting packs to find food more easily.

These hunters are nocturnal, meaning they sleep during the day and hunt at night. This is why you usually only hear coyotes howling at night. Coyotes howl to communicate their location. They also use other noises to communicate. They make huffing noises to call their pups and they bark at others to tell them to stay away.

Coyotes are not picky eaters. They are typically thought to be only meat eaters, but they are actually omnivores — they eat meat and vegetation. They eat small game such as rodents, rabbits, fish and frogs, and larger game like deer.

When they aren’t snacking on bigger prey, they will eat snakes, insects, fruit and grass. Coyotes are known for being pests because they will kill livestock and pets. In cities, coyotes will eat pet food or garbage.

Breading season is February to March. In the spring, females build dens in preparation for their young. Females have a gestation period of 63 days and give birth to groups of three to 12 young at once.

The groups of babies are called litters and each coyote baby is called a pup. How big the litter size is depends on where the coyotes live. In areas where there are a lot of coyotes, there will be a smaller litter size. In areas with fewer coyotes, the litter size will be larger.

Both the male and female participate in taking care of the pups. The male will bring food to the female and the pups and help protect them from predators.