I just think he didn't know. If you don't see the animal ever, how would you KNOW it's there? And honestly, that area went through a hurricane and then flooding and then dried up, not to mention all of trash and foliage. I think Ashton just thought it was so ridiculous that a dog or coyote buried this bone, and that this proclamation came from a BOTANIST (nowhere in that science is the behavior of dogs and coyotes). He probably made that statement out pure shock before really thinking about it.
And honestly, after everything that the DT has done underhanded and ineptly in this trial, and the SA doing so well, I seriously don't think the jury is going to throw the whole SA's case out because of one wrong comment that has NOTHING TO DO with this case. I'm not even sure why Dr. Bock even brought it up Living in Florida themselves, the jury probably knows if there are coyotes or not. I think they got the intention of what he said, in that what Dr. Bock said was patently ridiculous. She was reaching and desperate at that point. It was so unprofessional of her to throw out something she knows nothing about (again, she is a BOTANIST and is not even from Florida. Think about it).
It's like me saying the moon is made of green cheese, and all I've seen of it is it in the sky at night. This woman gets her knowledge from books she read (she said this in the Frye Hearings I believe), and knows almost nothing about Florida vegetation. I don't trust anything she said on the stand.