The Case Of The Squeaky Ball
15 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, following, playing
In this case, we wondered about a coyote’s extreme interest in a dog walking along with its owner. The dog was leashed and a coyote was following, at a safe distance, but definitely following them. When the owner stopped to talk to me, so did the coyote, coming in even closer and eyeing the dog intently but keeping safely off to the side.
The dog had a ball in its mouth which it put down and, puppy-like, assumed a rear-end-up and front-part-down playful position as it toyed with the ball. The ball squeaked which added to its appeal. All the while, the coyote kept eyeing the dog intently. We wondered about the coyote’s interest until the woman told me that the ball had been picked up by her dog in the park a few hundred feet back. Aha! Finally it made sense that the ball may have been a toy the coyote had used and considered as his own!
The coyote’s attention had probably been drawn to the dog’s squeaking the ball as the dog and owner walked along the pathway. Suddenly the coyote’s behavior made total sense — and it was very interesting! The coyote is a “teenager” and one who still enjoys “playing” with objects he finds in the park. I’ve seen coyotes play with objects and then “mark” them before leaving the toy behind.
The woman’s loyalty was to her dog, so she was not going to toss the ball out to the coyote. Instead she pocketed the ball and went on walking. The ball, no longer visible, disappeared from the consciousness of both dog and coyote! The dog went with its owner, and the coyote went now in a different direction.
I have seen coyotes often stop to observe another dog that is playing by itself with a stick or a pinecone — usually chewing these things with lots of gusto. This kind of situation — calm play — has lots of allure for young coyotes — they are curious and can relate to it — and I always get the impression that they would like to participate. They never do actually participate when the dog is there, but after the dog leaves, they often “try it out” for themselves!
Charming Curiosity!
21 May 2010 Leave a Comment
As I, along with a dog and its owner, headed out for an early hike, this young coyote appeared on a hill way ahead looking at us. As we got closer we noted that it’s eyes actually were on the dog — of course, coyotes are especially curious about dogs. I snapped a few photos and we went on. I looked back, and the coyote had disappeared. We walked for about half a mile when we again saw this same coyote — this time peeking at us from around a bush! It was really very charming! It must have gone around another way, but following us nonetheless to find out where were were going and what we were doing. Seeing that we had eyed it, it again vanished into thin air. We walked on until my friend left the park. I followed the same path back. A sprinkling of other dogs had come into the area, and now I found this coyote curiously watching the show from high up on another hill. It was so delightful to watch this yearling behave as the curious the little twerp that he was!! We have a lot of affectionate names for our coyotes!
Coyotes Respond to Previous Dog Behaviors; Coyote/Dog Interactions Are Drawing Coyotes Towards Humans
14 May 2010 8 Comments
in avoiding humans, coexisting with coyotes, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, following
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- coyote monitoring a group of dogs who have chased the coyote
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- coyote barking distressingly after being chased by a dog
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- coyote following a walker and dog — this dog has chased the coyote and tugs at its leash towards the coyote when it sees it
Coyotes have approached certain dogs in our parks — and not always just out of friendly curiosity. I have only seen this happen IF the dog first came to within about 100 feet of where the coyote was, and only to particular dogs. Could the wariness which coyotes have always had be waning? No one I have spoken to has ever seen a coyote approach a person in our parks, not ever – it is always the dogs which they approach. However, this has occurred even though a human was near by. Humans who are with their dogs can ultimately scare the coyote off because coyotes do maintain their fear of humans. But why are they sometimes approaching dogs?
There are a number of unleashed dogs which have had antagonistic encounters with a coyote. From what I have seen, these are the ones the coyote reacts to later on if the dog comes within its “critical distance” — about 100 feet, rather than just flee. In fact, these particular dogs — those that have had antagonistic encounters with a coyote — seem to actually “attract” the coyote: it is these the coyote monitors, it is these the coyote has followed. The coyote seems to need to keep tabs on these dogs, and to even “show them who is boss” . . . IF the coyote has a chance. The coyote’s behavior is a defensive “standing up for itself.” In this case, the coyote has taken the initiative to give warning to a dog to stay away.
My own little cattle dog, Cinder, is the very best example I have of this behavior: Two young and large unleashed Dalmatians went after her a number of times as she and I walked on a sidewalk. The owner apologized, but this did not solve the problem for my dog. She was a shy little dog who was actually afraid — she always stayed right next to me. Then at a much later date we passed these two dogs again. My husband and our larger dog were with us this time. We could not believe what we saw: my shy little cattle dog actually charged at these two dogs as they headed away from us — she barked ferociously at them — her body language was very clear: “take that, leave, and leave me alone.” She came loping back to us triumphantly. The shy little dog had the will to let the dogs know what she thought; she was sick of their treatment of her. She was standing up for herself. Our reaction was “Yay Cinder!”
Coyotes can distinguish each and every dog that frequents a park. And they certainly remember the behaviors that have been dished out to them by certain individual dogs. Some of these dogs, always those which are unleashed and unruly, have distressed the coyotes by chasing them and by approaching too close to them. The coyotes have always reacted in the past by fleeing, or by backing off to a safe distance before barking or exhibiting bluffing displays to ward off the dog. These self-protective warning displays are very clear messages.
Coyotes more recently have actually approached a few of these dogs in the same manner that Cinder approached the two Dalmatians. The coyotes don’t run across the park to accost a dog; what happens is that a dog will unknowingly come into the coyote’s wider “critical space”, or the dog and coyote will inadvertently find themselves heading in the same direction. This then is when the coyote might make a move — as far as I can tell, always coming up from behind, the same as my dog did. The coyote’s behavior involves the same “chase-chase” and “oneupmanship” which I have described before. Others have read it as taunting. In all cases it is a warning and a message. The “display” is clearly a repellant one. To understand the logic of this dynamic one has only to know how certain dogs have treated the coyote, no matter how long ago. A subtler interaction that few humans are attuned to is the eye-contact, body language and energy level which so easily communicate threat to a coyote. A dog pulling at its leash towards a coyote is in this category. The coyotes read the meaning of these behaviors easily, and may react to them. These are interactions we need to prevent. Keeping our dogs leashed and as far away from any coyotes as possible is the only method that works for keeping them from interacting on any level. Please keep your dogs leashed in our urban parks, both for your dog’s protection and the coyote’s.
In an urban park it is expected that there will be a certain amount of “habituation” taking place between a coyote and humans and dogs: each is going to get used to the other, no matter what, due simply to being in the same physical setting. However, it is actual “interaction” that needs to be prevented in order to keep our coyotes wild. Interaction seems to breed familiarity, and familiarity breeds contempt, it appears. Dog owners have allowed interaction and interference between their dogs and coyotes: chasing, communication which is antagonistic and getting too close to the coyotes. It is “interaction” of this sort between coyotes and dogs which is actually slowly breaking down the “wild” barrier that was in place when these coyotes arrived in our parks. It is this dog/coyote interaction which is actually drawing coyotes towards humans — it is happening through our dogs. The only interactions I have ever seen between humans and coyotes has involved humans shooing them away from their dogs: here you have a coyote and a human in close proximity — interaction and proximity is breaking down the “wild” barrier that we all want so badly to preserve. Dog owners can keep this sort of interaction from occurring. Humans observing or photographing coyotes in the park do not interact with coyotes or attract them. These same humans have not caused dogs to approach or pursue the coyotes, and neither do these same humans cause coyotes to approach the dogs. I’m mentioning this here, because it has been absurdly suggested by dog owners who refuse to leash their dogs. It is the dog owner’s responsibility to keep their dogs in check.
“What Are You Doing & Where Are You Going?” -Following
27 Mar 2010 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, dog reactions to coyotes, following, nosiness Tags: coyote behavior, coyote following a dog
In the morning I saw a small border collie and its owner before I noticed a coyote trotting along a short distance behind them. I called out that a coyote was right there — but this did not phase the owner, who slowly bagged the dog’s droppings before leashing up. This dog and coyote know each other visually, but keep their distance. The owner leashes her dog because she does not want the possibility of an altercation between her dog and the coyote. The result would be a bad reputation for the coyote — so we all guard against this. In this case, the small dog, about the same size as a coyote, was totally oblivious to the coyote — he had not seen it. Most dogs become aware of any coyote in the immediate vicinity well before their owners do.
The owner continued walking up the hill where she looked back to finally see the coyote herself. The coyote knew it had been sighted, so it jumped into some bushes further back, “just in case” the dog might go after it. The woman and her dog walked on, saying they would be back on their way out of the park. The coyote came out, no longer to follow these two, but to bask on a rock in the sun, even dozing off a little now and then. The coyote might have been waiting for the return of this dog — if it had learned of their walking routine.
After exactly half an hour, the coyote stood up and gazed intently in one area. It kept its eyes glued on a trail which I could not see. It turned out that the coyote was watching this same woman and her dog returning. When I finally did see the owner, we waved at each other and she acknowledged the coyote’s presence, and then she proceeded onto a trail out of the park. The coyote at this point got up, stretched, and follow them to the entrance.
By the time I reached the entrance to the park, the walker was gone, and the coyote was examining something at the end of the trail. I wanted to put this into my blog because it seemed to me that the coyote actually had chosen to follow this particular dog as it entered the park, and then to follow it as it exited the park. There was nothing “threatening” about the following, just a certain “nosiness” on the part of the coyote: “what are you doing and where are you going?” I think the coyote was confirming for itself what she already knew as the pattern: that the dog was just “visiting” the park and then “moving on”.
I have seen lots of instances of coyote “nosiness”. A few mornings ago I was walking with a friend when we noticed a coyote dart by quickly, almost undetectably. Sometimes a coyote might dart by on its way somewhere, and that is the end of that. But sometimes, especially if you, or you and your dog, stop to observe the coyote, it will do the same, even coming back around a bend or a bush fairly close so as to be able to examine you. The coyote wants to know what you are doing and where you are going. I suppose nosiness elicits nosiness in this case!! Or call it curiosity. The coyotes might engage in this for a few minutes, but inevitably more walkers and dogs appear and the coyotes run off.
