A Magical Moment

07 Nov 2011 1 Comment

by yipps in coyote behavior, human behavior, reactions to a human

I was observing a coyote in the distance when a fellow suddenly appeared where there had been no fellow before. I wondered how he got there since I had not seen him approach and there was no path where he stood. He was leaning over, packing his backpack. Ahhh, I now remembered the brightly colored object I had seen earlier hidden in the grasses. That must have been a sleeping bag which he was tucked into.  He finished packing and began to walk off, when he caught sight of the coyote right there only a short distance away, just sitting in the grass and watching him.  The fellow seemed overtaken with amazement. Everything became still. The coyote looked at him and then look away, so as not to threaten. The young man did the same. There seemed to be a mutual appreciation and respect — two different species crossing paths in the early morning. This little encounter lasted two full minutes. Then the fellow decided to move on very slowly, without any sudden movements.

When the fellow got to where I was, I said “that must have been a pretty fantastic moment for you.” He agreed that he would never forget the amazement and wonder he felt as he stood there: it was a magical moment with a glimmer of something that most of us have lost touch with because of our highly-civilized world — a stirring of something which was new and exciting — a connection and mutual understanding, if only brief, to something wild and untamed, yet gentle and accommodating.  I have had various people tell me about their special coyote encounters, their touch with the wild. This one was particularly nice. I’m sure the coyote had been very aware of the presence of this fellow all night in its habitat, and might have been curious to watch the fellow get up and take off.

Rendezvous, Almost – by Charles Wood

02 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote barking, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, family interactions, reactions to a human

Mister

Mister

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Friday I saw four of my Los Angeles area coyotes, all more or less together.  Before twilight, Mom and Bold headed north from the nesting grounds to the rendezvous area.  Then Mister showed up to bark as I followed them.  I hadn’t seen Mom since June 13 and at that time she appeared to be traveling alone, as did Bold on June 30.  I often see my coyotes either singly or paired.

Although two coyotes together aren’t unusual, three suggests my pack may be gathering for a rendezvous.  At dusk a fourth coyote showed up, Shy.  Eventually the three yearlings moved out of sight, like Mom who hadn’t showed herself since before twilight.  The only adult I didn’t see was Dad.  I reasoned he must have been with the new puppies and hoped they would head towards us.  They didn’t.  Perhaps Mom went to join Dad and the rendezvous was rescheduled.  Or perhaps there is another rendezvous area and I delayed them moving there to join Dad and the puppies.  In any case, I didn’t see Dad and the puppies.

My presence is definitely seen by my coyotes as involved and the behaviors I see are mostly of their interactions with an involved human who brings his dog.  It was my dog who introduced us, and my interest in coyotes sprang from my interest in their field as a playground for my dog:  not a good start, a start that won’t be overcome.

Once I attempted to break Dad’s misimpression by playing tag with my dog while Dad watched.  I was thinking he would possibly be persuaded that we were cool.  There was no sign of reappraisal, his unamused glare embarrassed me.  Mom expresses Dad’s view, as do Mister, Shy and Bold.  If they have a theory of my mind, it wrongly informs them that I share my dog’s desire for their food.  Yet admittedly, given certain hypotheticals, I would eat their food though they could hardly know I wouldn’t relish it.  Then again, with a flame, ketchup, mustard, vinegar and a dill pickle I can conceive of their food as enjoyable.  I concede they know me in my essentials as well as they need to.

Mister

From time to time I’ve seen coyote life seemly unaffected by my presence.  For example, some crows once buzzed Mom.  She moved her gaze off me and onto the crows, sauntered from the road into wild mustard and returned to gazing at me as the crows moved on.  I had expected a more energetic defense by Mom.  Later I realized that crows can’t fly through wild mustard and that her defense was elegantly parsimonious.  My imaginary defense against buzzing crows, flailing wildly as I thought she should have done, would have been untutored.  It didn’t occur to me that Mom knows crows better than I do.

Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for these and more coyote photos: Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.

“In Shifts”, by Charlotte Hildebrand

29 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote behavior, human behavior, reactions to a human

I don’t know why I’m afraid to talk to my neighbor Thea about the commotion next door; perhaps because I talked to her last year about feeding the feral cats and skunks and raccoons and nothing came of it. My fear comes, too, from the fact that an old woman can be sharp edged as a knife, dangerous as a steel trap and unyielding to the point of chicanery.

Don’t get me wrong; my neighbor is a wonderful woman, but the busy schedule of the comings and goings of various animals has gotten out of hand. Something has to be done:

7 a.m.: Breakfast, Coyote, table set for one
7:30-8 a.m.: breakfast, seven skunks
noon-3: brunch, six rowdy crows
5 p.m.: supper again for the coyote, although in this part of the country I think you call it dinner.
5:30 p.m.-until dark: skunks in shifts, the occasional possum and raccoon

Note to self: The point of my argument (to make her stop setting out food) must be in the interest of the wildlife she’s feeding.

Who will get to the bowl first?

I’ll start out by saying, “Thea, you’re not helping the animals; you’re making them dependent on the food you give them. What will happen when you’re not here?”

Why would I not be here? she’ll ask.

Pause. Am I to say, at your age you’re headed for the big ballpark in the sky; anything could happen? But I can’t say that; it would be too cruel.

Well, what if you get sick, I’ll say. What will the animals do? The coyote might become aggressive and attack some unsuspecting child or small pet; maybe jump over the fence and bite me for interfering with its supper.

She’ll shake her head like last time and say she doesn’t agree with my assessment.

I’ll say, Okay, you win; let the skunks fill up the afternoon air with stink, let the coyote become a stalker, let the crows caw to their hearts content. I give up, I give up.

But it didn’t go like that. When I called her at noon to talk about the problem, she was all good graces; she said she had wondered herself if she was doing the right thing. As a child during the war, she lived on the edge of a forest, and it was only natural to feed the animals during winter. I gently reminded her, that here in sunny CA, an abundant harvest is always available; there’s enough little voles and moles to fill up Dodger Stadium. So, she agreed to stop. If she couldn’t feed one, she wouldn’t feed any. She promised, no more food.

But I feel a little guilty that she won’t have the animals to feed. She’s lonely up here on this hill since her husband died five years ago; her daughter lives in Pennsylvania and comes out only a few times a year. It must give her pleasure to take care of so many small creatures. I wonder if I’ve done more harm than good.

P.S. Woke up this morning and noticed three bowls in her yard, and a possum lurking about. What the…??

This posting follows from Charlotte’s posting on June 8: HOWL. For more of her writing, please visit her website: http://charlottehildebrand.blogspot.com/

“I’m Outa Here, but ever so slowly. . .”

14 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, reactions to a human

 

When to move if dogs are coming down the path? Well, it is important that they see you. After all, this is your territory and they need to know that. So you lay there watching them and they don’t see you, so you stand up. You continue to watch them, twitching your ears — they are coming slowly, so you have time for this.

Someone tries to scare you off, still at a substantial a distance, with a yell — heard on the video at about 20 seconds. This might be a good time to think about going, but not lickity-split. The time finally comes to leave as the dogs move in closer. But, first, it’s important to have a very visible stretch, and a yawn, so that all those who might be watching will know that you are not afraid and have not been pushed into leaving. You take one more back-glance, and then you trot off at a good clip, but definitely not at a run.

HOWL by Charlotte Hildebrand

08 Jun 2011 9 Comments

by yipps in coyote behavior, reactions to a human

My own HOWL woke me up yesterday, early morning. First the crows making a racket on our railing, then caw caw cawing overhead.

Then a swish and movement in Thea’s backyard.

I snuck outside along the walkway between our houses, and saw my old neighbor Thea putting two plates of food down on the ground next to the canyon, and a second later, a coyote cautiously approaching. . .

I would say with almost certainty this is the same coyote I saw in the canyon at this time last year, when it was only a toddler. I worrid then that Thea might be feeding it, but never imagined she’d be so blatant, deliberately putting out food for it to guzzle down. And guzzle down it did, indicating it’s probably dependent on my neighbor — in her delusions of goodwill and ignorance — for the food it eats.

. . . but I freaked it out!

It caught me peeking around the corner to take its picture. For the next hour, it filled the canyon with its growls and barks, howls and HOWLS, pursuing me, through the canyon, to the back of my house (how did it know where I lived?) and approaching in its awkward, frightened, vulnerable, sad way.

Do I call animal control? Do I let Thea continue feeding it? What is the right thing to do?

You can hear it’s yips and yaps, along with the crows, in the video below:


[Reprinted with permission by Charlotte Hildebrand from her blog "The Rat's Nest": http://charlottehildebrand.blogspot.com/2011/06/howl.html]

Not A Pup: Baby Coyotes Are Not Out Now

09 Apr 2011 2 Comments

by yipps in coyote behavior, human behavior, reactions to a human

Several people have told me that they have seen baby coyotes wandering around — about “yea high” — half the height of a full-grown coyote. They all were adamant about what they had seen — “positive” beyond any doubt that they had seen a baby coyote, or several of them.

But coyotes only come into heat once a year, always in January or February. They are just being born right now. No small coyotes will be seen wandering about at this time of year. Baby coyotes spend the first month of their lives in dens — they do not emerge until they are 4-6 weeks old. I wondered if there was some kind of anomaly occurring, caused by a global warming problem or something like that maybe?

So I asked a gal who said she had seen them to please show me where this was. We went. Sure enough, we found a coyote jumping and hiding behind some bushes and then peering at us from its hiding place with wide open eyes and big ears. My friend said “yep, that’s it”. It sure acted like a little puppy, but it was a full-grown two-year old — one which I have been observing over the last two years. I actually thought it was interesting that some people see coyotes as shy little pups, and some see them as dangerous and large. Maybe it depends on how one WANTS to see them!

“River Pack Update: Some things change, some stay the same” by Charles Wood

31 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in avoiding humans, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyote's coat, group activity, identifying individual coyotes, individuality, reactions to a human

My last post was February 22, 2011 when I photographed the mom coyote that lives in a small field that borders one of Los Angeles County’s concrete ‘rivers’.  That post was about 9 weeks after having seen Mom, Dad and their two undispersed female children who by today would be about a year old.  In the past I called one of the children Bold and the other Shy.  I have included their earlier photographs in today’s post.

A couple weeks ago I began to enter their small field a few times to walk along its roads with my leashed dog Holtz.  Coyote tracks and droppings were on the roads, yet my coyotes, if even present during my visits, would not come out.  I remember winter 2009-10 was a time I rarely saw my coyotes.  Winter 2010-11 has been the same.  I wondered if Dad was still paired with Mom and if not, who would be with whom and would there be more pups this year.  I wondered if the two female youngsters had dispersed or worse.  Perhaps they had all moved to other areas.

Today as I walked south on their road, at their nest area, I spotted the first youngster peering from the brush.  She came out to watch us and then left to hide.  In her photograph, note she has distinct blemishes below her left eye.  Regardless, I’m not sure if this first youngster is Bold or Shy.  I seriously doubt it was neither.

I continued my walk and later left the field via the same road.  Dad peered out from the nest area.  I photographed him and he went back into the brush.  I walked on towards the exit and Dad and a youngster came out to the road and watched our progress and assessed whatever odors we had left on the road.  I say ‘a’ youngster because I am not sure which it was.  Eventually Dad and the first youngster pictured began to follow Holtz and I as we continued to leave.  They did so after returning to the brush and coming out to the road several times.  For the fact that they were not in my continuous view, I’m not sure Dad’s companion in approach is the same youngster shown marking on the road.  I am sure Dad’s companion in approach is the first youngster because the final picture of her in this series shows the same blemish pattern below the left eye.  If she is Bold, she is still so.  If she is Shy, she is less so and learned more from Dad today about how to deal with intruder dogs.  What has changed, and what is the same?

Certainly Dad is the same in his distaste for Holtz.  When following us, Dad decided to quickly close the distance between us.  Before so doing, he scraped dirt.  He and the youngster split up, where Dad came east of the rocks and the youngster came towards us to the west of the rocks.  They met up at the rocks, the youngster holding back as Dad charged Holtz.  The Dad And Youngster photograph was taken after Dad’s charge.  He had come to about 20 feet and stopped, backed off some and stood as shown.  He seemed calmer so I took his picture.  I didn’t take pictures during Dad’s charge because I was charging towards Dad to get in front of Holtz.  Here we see one function of long hair on a coyote’s nape and shoulders:  he sure looks bigger!

My exit strategy after such a confrontation is to walk on, stop, turn around and stare, walk on, turn to stare.  Dad’s exit strategy is to pace, yawn, poke his tongue out, find a nearby site to lie down, attend to his grooming needs and stay put as we leave.  The youngster wanders around, visits Dad, wanders some more, going back and forth yet not forward.

I’m happy to know Dad is still holding his field and that at least one of last year’s pups is alive and undispersed.  I suspect that Mom is present and that there may indeed be more pups this year.  I’m interested to know if last year’s pup(s) will remain and have a role in caring for newborns.  The weeds are growing back quickly in the areas cleared in fall and winter.  The coyotes make use of the additional cover as a puppy kindergarten.  Last year I began seeing the pups in late June, observing them from outside of the field.  The information gained today leaves me content to now keep out of the field.

Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for these and more coyote photos:Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.

“Youngster Gets Bold, continued” by Charles Wood

30 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote behavior, curiosity, family interactions, reactions to a human

From Janet: I’m wondering if the youngster is more curious than “confronting”? The youngsters here, at 18 months, still don’t have it in them to confront — but they are curious sometimes and have approached a little because of this.

It may be that the youngster was being curious as opposed to confronting.  The Approach picture in this post was taken just prior to the YoungsterContronts picture in my previous post.  It really is hard to infer intent, state of mind.  What does the body language in Approach communicate?  I am not at all sure.  Does the raised tail suggest anything?  The picture EyesonMe was taken a few minutes before the youngster came down the road.  The look it was giving me seems as it should:  no warmth.  When the other day I saw one youngster emerge from the brushy den area and then quickly retreat, I waited an hour for it to “get curious” and pop its head out again.  In vain I waited.  In Spring 2009 I was taking pictures in their field and noticed a young one about 10 feet away spying on me from the brush.  I was startled and it startled and ran off.  The big trouble this year started when a new pup did the same.  Dad showed up shortly after the pup fled.  Dad first sought out the transgressing pup and then hurriedly returned and went ballistic on my dog and me.  How Dad had handled the pup I couldn’t see.  What happens in dense brush stays in dense brush.

Part of my inclination to infer that the youngster on Wednesday was confronting comes from the contexts of the particular road the youngster used for its approach.  Both Mom and Dad use the same road to approach me aggressively.  The parents will go down that path half way to stand and stare.  Also, they will lie at the half way point on that road.  It is a good vantage point to track me along the river or when I am on the east-west road with the bridge.  Either Mom or Dad will take that half way position and watch as I leave.  Once I leave for the other side of the river they retreat from that position.  Also, Tuesday night Mom charged my dog and me down that road, came all the way to us at the fence and ran back and forth, did some dirt scraping.  The youngster took the same path Wednesday evening and was moving at a half trot even after my dog alerted.  It was a stealthy choice of an approach path considering where I was standing Wednesday night.  I had to carefully study the area my dog was looking towards in order to see movement in the dim light.  I believe the youngster halted because I lit it with my flashlight, an aid to get my camera to focus.  In the dim light, looking through my telephoto lens, I thought the approaching coyote was angry Dad and wanted to stop him.  Its demeanor suggested Dad, and I wasn’t certain of which coyote it was until I got home and enlarged the photograph.  All in all, I am predisposed to think of that particular path as one which my coyotes use for signaling displeasure.  These preconceptions of mine make it hard to not assemble a “story” that in actuality may not be at all related to the actual intent of the animal.  Either way, as a challenge or curiosity, the youngster was showing some new independence.  I left because Mom and Dad may have not liked that and it was dark enough for all of them to become really unpleasant.  It is the case that when the parents come down that road towards the fence it is always to warn and watch.

I’m wondering if at 18 months your boys are a little slow?  It is so cute that they seem to be mamma’s boys.  One difference may be that they don’t have (or do you?) coyote rivals that dispute with your pack?  I’m waiting to see how the two boys eventually separate from each other and their mom.  Are there other females around to entice them away from Mom come January?  I can’t wait to find out.  I wonder if another male will solicit their mom and chase the boys off.

That was a great link to that Carol Kaesuk Yoon article.  I’m heartened to read that coyote watching is “like working with a ghost species.”  You have such great opportunities there, always something new with great pictures

From Janet: Yes, the situation I’ve been observing here seems very unusual. There is no dad, and there are no other coyotes close by who might challenge these youngsters. They live in an idyllic haven and have not HAD to grow up. These particular youngsters have been “allowed” to be “slow” in growing up. I, too, am particularly interested in dispersal time and mating season and what this will bring in the way of new behaviors. The pup of the year before dispersed in November, at the age of 20 months — will it be the same with these? That pup either followed his own instinctual timeline or may have been booted out because of conflicts with these younger siblings — I’ll never know the exact reason.

Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for these and more coyote photos: Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.

“Youngster Gets Bold”, by Charles Wood

30 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote behavior, group activity, reactions to a human

At dusk Dad, Mom and a youngster showed at their usual gathering place.  There may have been a fourth, another youngster.  Mom and Dad, one youngster hanging with them, did seem to be watching for another.  They were relaxed and didn’t seem to be on alert for intruder coyotes.  Of course they were aware of me although neither Mom nor Dad seemed concerned enough to chase us off.  The light soon became too dim to keep track of their positions.  As I watched them my dog alerted.  I noticed a coyote coming in our direction.  It came towards us on a dirt road that runs up to the fence that runs along the riverbed where I stood.  I moved closer to get a picture of the approaching coyote and thought that it had to be Dad.  It wasn’t Dad.  It wasn’t Mom.  It was the youngster who for the first time took on the duty of challenging my dog and me.  Bold as that behavior was, it came only half way down the road, perhaps stopping short because it knew it had been spotted.  Nevertheless it didn’t immediately withdraw.  It stood some, ambled around sniffing, stood some more and then trotted back towards its parents.  Not a bad performance for its first attempt at confronting us.

Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for these and more coyote photos: Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.

“Dad Sighted” by Charles Wood

25 Sep 2010 1 Comment

by yipps in coyote behavior, family interactions, group activity, mother/pup learning, reactions to a human

Friday September 24 I saw three of my coyotes.  I last saw Mom and a youngster September 13, and hadn’t seen Dad since August 31.  I had been seeing them fairly often for about a month.  I thought I understood their early evening rendezvous routine.  I felt I could count on seeing them almost daily at a particular time and place.  When I had come to that conclusion they stopped showing up.

In the 10 days since my last sighting I tried varying my visiting times.  Once I went after dark, walking with my dog heading south along the east side of the river, starting at the north end of the nature sanctuary.  About half way to their field, I heard some rustling in the dense wood and brush in the sanctuary.  I couldn’t see an animal even with my flashlight.  The rustling did morph into some obvious leaping, where brush and branches rattled for about two hundred feet at a lightening pace.  It sure sounded like a bounding coyote, evidently spooked by our presence.  A couple of times I went about an hour before sunset and wasn’t rewarded with a viewing.

Thursday September 23, impatient, I decided to enter their field.  Their field has their den and is south of a nature sanctuary.  I have observed them going in and out of that sanctuary and have also seen Dad and a youngster in an area to the north-west, across the river.  Before entering their field I visited that north-west section.  There I spotted some coyote scat on a dirt road.  I took a stick to turn it over and the dust underneath the scat was still damp.  It consisted of several fibrous palms seeds strung together with the usual brown material.  I wondered if my coyotes get enough to eat.  I then headed across the river and went south into their field.

Once in their field, I noticed more palm seed strewn scat on one of my coyotes’ roads.  I kept my dog on leash and walked south along their main dirt road.  I came to the area that has their den. A young coyote poked its head out of the dense brush, ears up and staring.  It held still for a moment and backed into the brush.  I left the field encouraged and waited on the river bank for an hour.  I didn’t see a thing.

The next day, Friday the 24th, as the sun was setting I watched from the river bank.  I hoped at least to see Dad who I hadn’t seen since the end of August.  Instead I had been seeing Mom.  There was a long period when the pups were first brought out that I would see them with Dad and never saw Mom.  I don’t consider it unusual to see only one parent.  I don’t have any certainty about why that should be so.

As soon as I arrived on the river bank Mom and a youngster showed up on the east-west dirt road.  Mom was fed up with something the youngster did and gave herself some space.  The two settled down for some waiting and watching.  I noticed Dad was near them.  I took a fairly clear shot of the youngster alone and recognize it as one of the two I saw in the rendezvous on August 31.  I’m hoping these three’s watching and waiting Friday is a clue that the other or other youngsters are still alive.  Friday’s youngster could not stay still.  Mom and Dad were vigilant yet also at times were curled up, their eyes either closed, looking down the dirt roads or looking at my dog and me.  The youngster was ignored by both Mom and Dad despite its attention seeking antics.  Mom and Dad had jobs and attended to them.

I’m thoroughly impressed by the consistency with which Mom and Dad do their jobs.  If their job is to sit still and wait, they sit still and wait.  If their job is to chase my dog and me off, they do.  I can’t imagine a coyote parent ever having to exhort “do as I say, not as I do!”  The youngster, obviously with “ants in its pants”, simply could not do as its parents and just sit still.  Yet it was not chided for ambling around.  Mom did snap at the youngster when in its amblings it disturbed her with body contact.  I read that as her saying “be a puppy, just don’t be one too close to me.”  In contrast, tonight Dad seemed better able to simply tune the youngster out, even when body contact was involved.

Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for these and more coyote photos: Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.

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