INVASIVE PREDATORS ARE DETRIMENTAL TO SENSITIVE ISLAND ENDEMIC FAUNA AND THEIR REMOVAL HAS BEEN SHOWN TO BE AN EFFECTIVE MEASURE TOWARDS THE RECOVERY OF SOME OF THE ENDANGERED SMALL MAMMALS OF THE FLORIDA KEYS SUCH AS THE KEY LARGO WOODRAT HOWEVER, AS WITH MOST INVASIVE SPECIES MANAGEMENT PLANS, LONG-TERM MONITORING IS THE KEY TOOL TO INFORM REMOVAL EFFORTS AND ABATE THE EFFECTS OF INVASIVE VERTEBRATES. BURMESE PYTHONS (PYTHON BIVITTATUS) WERE FIRST DETECTED IN NORTH KEY LARGO IN 2007, WITH LIMITED EVIDENCE OF A BREEDING POPULATION UNTIL NEONATES WERE OBSERVED IN 2016. SINCE THOSE FIRST DETECTIONS, THERE IS GROWING EVIDENCE THAT PYTHONS ARE ALREADY EXERTING NEGATIVE POPULATION-LEVEL EFFECTS ON NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE MAMMAL POPULATIONS IN KEY LARGO (LORD ET AL., 2023 REDINGER ET AL., 2024). THE LARGEST LIMITATION TO PYTHON MANAGEMENT IN THE KEYS IS THEIR CRYPTIC NATURE AND OUR LACK OF EMPIRICAL DATA DOCUMENTING THEIR POPULATION SIZE AND HABITAT PREFERENCES ON KEY LARGO (COVE ET AL., 2023). THE REMOVAL OF THESE APEX INVASIVE PREDATORS IS A TOP PRIORITY TO BOLSTER THE CONSERVATION OUTCOMES OF THE ENDANGERED SPECIES OF KEY LARGO, AND FURTHER AS A SHIELD TO PREVENT THE ESTABLISHMENT AND EXPANSION OF PYTHONS INTO THE LOWER KEYS WHERE ADDITIONAL ENDANGERED SPECIES EXIST. COYOTES (CANIS LATRANS) HAVE ALSO EXPANDED THEIR DISTRIBUTION IN THE EASTERN US OVER THE PAST CENTURY AND WERE FIRST DOCUMENTED IN THE FLORIDA KEYS IN 2011, SUPERSEDING THE NATIVE MESOPREDATORS (RACCOONS PROCYON LOTOR AND VIRGINIA OPOSSUMS DIDELPHIS VIRGINIANA ) AS THE TOP MAMMALIAN PREDATORS IN THE ISLAND CHAIN (GREENE AND GORE 2013). COYOTES ARE KNOWN PREDATORS OF THE ENDANGERED SMALL MAMMALS (KEY LARGO WOODRAT AND KEY LARGO COTTON MOUSE PEROMYSCUS GOSSYPINUS ALLAPATICOLA ) AND THREATENED AMERICAN CROCODILE (CROCODYLUS ACUTUS) NESTS IN OTHER PORTIONS OF THEIR RANGE, BUT THERE HAVE NOT BEEN ANY ROBUST EXAMINATIONS OF THEIR ECOLOGY IN THE FLORIDA KEYS. PRELIMINARY EVIDENCE FROM CAMERA TRAPS SUGGESTS THAT THE COYOTE POPULATION HAS INCREASED OVER THE PAST DECADE (HERRERA ET AL., 2022), BUT 2023-2024 REPRESENTED THE FIRST SUBSTANTIAL INCREASED DETECTIONS OF COYOTE PAIRS, SUGGESTING AN ESTABLISHED POPULATION RATHER THAN SINGLETON DISPERSERS IN THE REFUGE. CAMERA TRAPS ALSO REVEAL THAT COYOTES SPEND MUCH OF THEIR TIME ALONG THE HUMAN-WILDLAND INTERFACE, PRESUMABLY DUE TO SUPPLEMENTAL FOODS FROM HUMANSWHICH COULD ALSO ARTIFICIALLY INFLATE THEIR DENSITIES (E.G., COVE ET AL., 2018). ALTHOUGH THIS NON-NATIVE INVADER HAS THE POTENTIAL TO BE A THREAT TO SEVERAL ENDANGERED SPECIES ON THE REFUGE, THEIR ROLE IN REGULATING FERAL AND FREE-ROAMING CAT (FELIS CATUS) DENSITIES MAY INDIRECTLY BENEFIT THE NATIVE MAMMALS . THEREFORE, WE NEED TO COLLECT BASELINE DATA ON THE DIET AND DENSITIES OF THESE CANIDS IN KEY LARGO TO ASSESS THEIR ROLES AS SMALL MAMMAL PREDATORS, NEST PREDATORS, POTENTIAL DISEASE VECTORS, OR AS SUBSIDIZED PREDATORS OF INVASIVE SPECIES. OUR OBJECTIVES WILL HELP TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THESE SPECIES AND THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH T E SPECIES IN THE CROCODILE LAKE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE.