A Snake Is Found: Coyote behavior
06 Mar 2010 1 Comment
in coyote behavior, perfume bath, wallowing Tags: coyote behavior, coyotes and snakes
This coyote jumped down from a rock and seemed to be headed off. I went to look over the ledge where the coyote had disappeared, but it was right there, in a depression. The coyote looked up at me so I quickly backed off. After a minute, thinking the coyote had gone by now, I again peeked over the ledge. The coyote had something long in its mouth: it was a snake! I thought that maybe the snake would be eaten, but it was not. Instead, it was carried a short distance and dropped. The coyote must not have liked the taste because after dropping the snake, it licked its mouth with displeasure. Then it rolled on the snake several times, picking it up during the last roll. The coyote then stood up, dropped the snake, and left!
I can’t be sure if the coyote killed this snake while it was out of my sight, or if the snake had been killed at an earlier time and left there to be “rolled on as needed”. I have seen a coyote pick up an already dead lizard and then lower itself onto the smelly carcass for a “perfume bath.”
Coyote Paws Work Hard
06 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: coyote behavior
I was photographing a coyote when I noticed the paws: ragged, bruised, chafed, worn and maybe a bit bloody. I had just seen a foot-deep, eight-inch wide hole which I know to have been dug by a coyote — it had been a gopher hole on a hill right at the edge of a trail. I thought I would put these photos together here.
Encountering More Than One Coyote
05 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in blatant visual message, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, dog reactions to coyotes Tags: coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs
-
- Monitoring from way above a trail
-
- loud, distressed barking
-
- vigorously scratching and pawing the ground
The morning, which ended up in such a leisurely fashion, did not begin this way. I spotted this mother coyote early on as she headed up towards a rock. She stayed up there, moving between several high rocks, and eventually sprawled out on the highest one, but she definitely was keeping her eye on something on the trail below. Then, in a flash, she dashed off. I thought that was the end of my coyote viewing for the day. Within minutes the coyote began her distressed barking — she only does this when she has been chased or interfered with by a dog — it may be one of her ways of keeping dogs at bay, but it also shows that she is upset.
It turns out that she had seen a dog, a dog she has seen often, which got too close to one of her yearling pups — she had come to its aid. The pup was probably in absolutely no danger, but we have to see it from this mother’s point of view: after all, dogs have chased her plenty of times in the past. When she first appeared on the scene, the dog, which should have been leashed, chased her off — this is normal unleashed dog behavior. But she responded by returning and coming in pretty close. This is typical coyote behavior. It can only be prevented by leashing our dogs immediately when a coyote is spotted, and not allowing a “casual” encounter — you cannot predict what will happen with any animal, much less with a wild animal, and in this case there was more than one coyote — the mother and the yearling. Keeping your dog leashed and close to yourself will serve to deter a coyote from coming in closer as you move out of the immediate vicinity.
There is usually an alpha female somewhere around in any coyote group: she is the only one that breeds and she is the one that controls the group and is responsible for their safety. If we allow our dogs to approach or threaten — or even appear to threaten a coyote — the female may come in to help so that you might be dealing with more than one coyote. Coyotes work as a team when there is more than one of them, with one serving to distract while the other goes around to approach from the other side — this usually is more than most dogs can handle — dogs feel overwhelmed by this behavior. But the coyotes are trying to send a message as clearly as they can: “Leave!” and “Don’t mess with us.” They will continue this behavior, coming back again and maybe again, until dog and owner move on out of the immediate vicinity where the dog had come too close to the yearling.
The dogs, too, may feel they need to defend “their pack”, which includes all dogs or individuals in their party. Each side — dogs and coyotes — want to feel they have “won” by making the other leave. In this incident today, once the coyotes left for the first time, the dogs thought they had “taken care of the matter”, but the coyotes returned to continue vexing the dogs and owner until they left. Only we humans can prevent these interactions from happening by leashing our dogs. It is a canine-canine thing which needs our intervention if we all want to coexist together: humans, dogs, and recently returned wildlife.
The best policy is to leash up and move on. Please read about coyote safety and how you can shoo a coyote off if you encounter one at a close enough range to make you uncomfortable: Coyote Safety published on November 3, 2009.
A Morning of Scratching the Itches
04 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
I watched a coyote for four hours, mostly right in an open field high up on a hill. Most of the time was spent scratching the itches: scratching the ears, scratching the belly, licking the paws, rolling in the grass with paws up in the air, shaking out the body, shaking out the head. Besides these activities, there was plenty of dozing, including during a heavy but short shower of rain. The morning had actually begun with a short but intense dog encounter. But the morning was meant to be spent as pictured here, because this is where I first spotted this coyote early on, and this is the place to which it returned after its brief dog encounter.
A Young Coyote Casually Observing the Rain
03 Mar 2010 1 Comment
in coyote behavior, exploring, what coyotes thinks about Tags: coyote behavior
It has been raining lately, and it was raining heavily when I saw this coyote. No one was around. The lone young coyote appeared bored. It sat in an open field in the rain and looked around — that way, this way, down, up: if you follow its gaze you can see that it is focusing on the movements created as raindrops landed on individual blades of grass and leaves. It also yawned and it stretched. Finally, as the rain got even heavier, the coyote ambled a short distance before it shook itself out and went into a thicket area. The yearling had been absorbed this way for about ten minutes.
Coyotes are very attuned to small grass and plant movements right at ground level. This is because one of their primary nourishments comes from the voles and gophers whose burrows are under the ground. These small rodents often “work” on their tunnels, creating small movements in the foliage that grows right around their “doorways”. Coyotes are always on the lookout for these movements which alert them that a meal is close at hand if they go about their hunting undetected.
