I'm with Gunplummer. I've seen the decline follow the decline of trapping and the PCness of wearing fur, long before the coyote explosion which could only make it worse. The racoon populations exploded quickly with the decline of trapping and coon hunting. Coon, Fox, possum, skunk, weasel, and all kinds of criters enjoy an easy meal on eggs or chicks in a nest on the ground. Apparently nests of newborn rabbits were just as easy, because the pheasnt/quail decline was followed with the rabbit decline. The coyote explosion came in this area 20 years after, and more resulted in the decline of other predators and scavengers they competed with for food, than the food itself.