Family Interactions & Dynamics
26 Dec 2010 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, family interactions, group activity, hierarchy Tags: coyote behavior
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- Mom & Subservient Sibling relaxing in a pile
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- Dominant Sibling close by
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- Dominant pup approaches Mom & Subservient Sibling
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- Dominant Sibling kisses Mom
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- Submissive Sibling remains down & exposes vulnerable parts to Dominant Sibling
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- Dominant Sibling continues to hover over Subservient Sibling & grabs a leg
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- Dominant Sibling continues to hover over Subservient Sibling
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- Dominant Sibling now walks towards Mom
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- Mom shows her dominance by clasping snout around Dominant Sibling
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- Mom actually raises herself above Dominant Sibling with her paws on his back
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- After heading away from Dominant Sibling, Mom sits
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- Dominant Sibling again tries to get close to Mom
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- Submissive Sibling watches, with ears down, showing he is not a threat
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- Mom moves away from Dominant Sibling
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- Dominant Sibling returns to hover over Subservient Sibling who again hits the ground
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- Dominant Sibling watches Mom leave and then himself leaves
These interactions lasted about nine minutes. It was not light enough to see anything but the outline of one coyote when I arrived at the scene. I sat down to watch. Soon I became aware of two more coyotes — the mother and subservient sibling, resting only a few feet away from the first fella — the dominant sibling. I’ve put captions on the photos rather than explain it here below. This family interaction took place a while back — at the beginning of November. The family consists of a single mom and her two 21-month-old male offspring who have recently established a strong hierarchy between themselves.
The dominant sibling is the one doing all the approaching on this day: he approaches his sibling to dominate him, and he approaches his mom to increase his bond with her at the expense of his brother. Of special interest here is that after Mom watches Dominant Sibling hover over and dominate his more subservient sibling, she then makes sure to let this dominating fellow know that she is above him. She does this first by taking his snout in hers and then by raising herself above him with her paws on his back. He allows her to do this: he is below her in the hierarchy, but above his brother.
Displays of dominance include a dominant muzzle enclosed over the more subservient muzzle, standing over and higher than the other fellow, holding the tail up high often with hackles up, approaching. Signs of submissiveness I’ve seen include cowering with ears down or back, head held lower and moving in a slinking fashion, displaying vulnerable parts and letting the dominant guy bite your inner thighs, hitting the ground on your back showing the belly, fleeing.
