Fur Changes

11 Oct 2011 2 Comments

by yipps in coyote physical appearance

Winter fur is taking on its very full look at this time of year. The fur will remain thick and long through the winter months and then will start shedding in the springtime. By the end of June coyotes are looking pretty ragged and scrawny because of their sparse fur.

Compare these two photos, one taken in October and the other taken at the end of June. Colors and markings also become muted when the fur is at its sparsest, and this is when you can see their true size: they are scrawny little things weighing 25 to 30 pounds — the rest is all fluff!

The Natural Progression of Life, by Charles Wood

08 Aug 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote physical appearance, life cycle Tags: , ,

Dad message

My dog Holtz and I are about the same physical age, his having caught up with me, both of us with some gray and stiffness.  Dad seems to have passed us both in four months.  I’m told that there may be an underlying physical condition for why of late he is showing prominent hip bones, a sparse coat, white fur and what resemble age spots, though he may have mange.  I’m told that without a physical exam, there is no way to tell what is going on with him.  Christine Barton of the Fund for Animals Wildlife Center continues:  “As long as he appears uninjured and able to move and function normally, there would be no reason to interfere with the natural progression of his life.”  He may look like a beat up old coyote, but he isn’t acting like one.

Dad following up

Sunday before sunset, in the nature preserve, Dad placed himself in front of me and did some scraping.  I took some pictures and Dad walked away from us.  I began to walk away from him, towards the exit.  Seeing me leave, Dad turned and trotted towards Holtz and me.  I lobbed a golf ball towards him and he cut into the brush.  At the exit he re-emerged at a trot, making sure we had got the message.  Seeing us so close to the exit, he trotted off into the woods and disappeared.  I would say that Dad continues to function normally.

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.

“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.

Shafts of Fur

30 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote's coat


The rain isn’t necessarily good for taking photos, but in some instances it actually serves to make things clearer. Because the coyote was very wet, the fur clumped together, so the camera was better able to focus on these clumped shafts of fur. From the photo you can actually see what these shafts look like from end to end.

This fur here is part of the crescent shaped pattern located just below the shoulders crossing the coyote’s back. Each hair has three stripes: dark at the skin line — this is the longest section, then white, and then dark at the tip. The fur in this location across the upper back is the longest found on a coyote except for the tail. It gets to be over two inches in length.

Raincoat

03 Jan 2011 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote physical appearance, coyote's coat Tags:

By raincoat, in this instance, I mean a coat that has been impacted by the heavy rains. This coat isn’t wet, but the top appears to be much darker in color than usual, and it is matted down in a way that makes it look like one of those doggie raincoats that many owners buy for their pets!

Lush Winter Coat Revealed In The Wind

15 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote physical appearance, coyote's coat

Here are photos of coyotes in their full winter coats. The wind blowing through the coat of one of the coyotes reveals for us not only how long and thick the winter coat is, but also how the coloring works throughout the length of the fur shaft.

Tail Spots

14 Oct 2010 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote physical appearance, coyote's coat

Very often, the spot which is about one-third of the way down a coyote’s tail, can be used to distinguish one coyote from another, at least from the back! Here are three different coyote tail markings. Notice especially the middle fellow: his marking is almost lightning shaped — the same as Harry Potter’s scar! During the summer, because the fur is shed, the marking are less distinguishing than when the coyotes have their full winter coats.

Jaws And Teeth

07 Oct 2010 3 Comments

by yipps in coyote physical appearance Tags:

My first impression upon seeing a coyote skull was of how small in size it was. I’m used to seeing coyotes in real life: the skull appeared so much smaller than life. Coyotes are known for their long snouts. The palate length/width ratio for a coyote is more than 2; whereas that for wolves and dogs is less than 2.  The entire jaw length is 5.5 inches; the line of teeth is just under 4 inches. Of particular interest is the very narrow lower jaw.

Like dogs, coyotes have four canine teeth, two upper and two lower, for grabbing and holding prey. These canine teeth are not as sharp as those of a cat. The premolars — teeth behind the canine teeth — are used for tearing chunks of meat from larger prey. Coyotes also have molars for chewing, but these teeth don’t get much use except in crunching bones or eating hard objects such as nuts. Coyotes are very versatile in their eating habits: consuming fruits and insects, as well as carrion and rodents.

How sensitive is a coyote’s mouth, and how finely can a coyote manipulate its teeth?  I’ve seen a coyote dismember a cricket before eating it, and I’ve seen a coyote remove a thorn from its paw: things most dogs cannot do. I’ve seen a coyote pick a tick off of another coyote’s back. So a coyote’s control of its mouth is VERY fine.  My own dog’s very uncanny ability to finely manipulate with her teeth may be indicative of a coyote’s ability to do so.  My little dog had an instinct for what was healthy and what was not. Cinder did not like the bandaid on my finger — I’m sure she could sense the small wound underneath which needed only air to heal. As I sat with her she caringly began to take the bandaid off of me. I let her do it and watched. The gentleness and precision involved were absolutely astonishing — she barely touched the finger itself at all. The reason I allowed her to do this was because of a previous incident involving her own health.

Cinder was born with fragile coronoid processes which broke and got into her elbow joint. The bone chips had to be removed. The operation involved an incision down the front part of a foreleg. And she had 11 stitches. The amazing thing is that four days before the stitches were to come out, she took her health into her own hands. Stitches left in too long can become infected. She may have sensed infection beginning or maybe she sensed that they were no longer needed. I saw her take out her own stitches, one at a time, ever so gently so as not to hurt anything else. Using her teeth, she actually unknotted a few of the stitches, and she cut through the rest. Once she began this, I allowed her to continue because it was obvious that she knew what she was doing. I trusted her innate knowledge, even more so as I continued to watch. The doctor’s timeline for the same stitch removal was only four days away. This story is to show how extremely finely specific dogs can manipulate their teeth and mouths. For a coyote, the control would be even more precise.

 

“More Waiting: A Southern California Update” by Charles Wood

14 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment

by yipps in communication, coyote behavior, coyote living areas, coyote's coat

It has been over a year since I entered my coyotes’ field to take pictures of birds.  At that time I believe there were three or four coyotes regularly in that field.  Two I have come to know as Mom and Dad.  The other one or two I haven’t seen this year and presume them to have been their offspring.  Last summer I didn’t come across the coyotes very often.  A couple times I noticed one coyote sneaking up on my foraging dog.  I shouted the coyote off and leashed my dog.  Another time my dog and I ambled out of the brush onto a dirt road.  My dog alerted and I looked up and saw three or four coyotes resting quietly by a large puddle on the dirt road.  They looked as we would have looked at strangers who had abruptly stumbled upon us while ensconced in a relaxing, private conversation.  Each coyote’s head was turned and frozen for a moment, looking at us with surprised concern.  Before they all darted off into the brush, one slowly stood up first and then paused as if to say “Well then, we’ll be leaving now.”  Dad’s muzzle wasn’t scarred last year when at the end of summer when he finally chased me and my dog out of his field.  In late spring 2010 I returned with the birds.

2010’s most memorable moment was viewing puppies in early June.  Soon thereafter I saw seven puppies together though now I seem to be seeing only two youngsters with Mom and Dad.  They meet around dusk at the same place in their field and if I’m lucky I see them before dark.  That particular place is, as I now think back over the last year, the place where I was most likely to come across coyotes.  It is not far from, and on the way to the place I go in and out of their field.  I would pass that area in leaving about the time that light became too dim for photography, their time.

Mom now has her winter coat, the coat that will keep her warm until January or so when she again comes into season.  Monday Mom was with a youngster, pictured together and separately.  They stayed within easy reach of each other.  They saw me before I saw them, that is, at least Mom did.  Mom was sitting and watching when the youngster’s movements caught my eye.  Mom wasn’t moving so I didn’t see her, though the camera did.  At times I don’t see Mom even when she is moving.  Twice this month she has surprised me, once at the bridge and once along the river.  Each time she seemed to be instantly there.  She marked, scratched dirt, mock charged and withdrew.  There was a time when only Dad so messaged me.  Since they now both do, I leave their area before it gets too dark.  Earlier this summer, sun still out, three times Dad sneaked up behind me and got way too close before I saw him.  Neither Mom nor Dad is getting used to or comfortable around me.

I did return to an area to the immediate north-west of their field.  There, on September 3, I was surprised when a young coyote poked out from the brush into the clearing in which I was standing.  It turned and fled, my dog having barked and charged.  A couple days later, at the spot I had been standing, lay coyote scat, small coyote scat that appeared to be a couple days old.  Good job!

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.

Coyote Coats Are Beginning To Fill Out Again

18 Aug 2010 Leave a Comment

by yipps in coyote physical appearance, coyote's coat

I have noticed that coyote coats are beginning to fill out and lengthen already by August: note the tail, especially.  During the coyote’s shedding period, fur loss moved up the shoulders from the legs. The last place to be shed was the neck area: in June some of the coyotes even appeared to have lions’ manes before this last bit of thick winter fur was shed!  The shedding was completed in June, leaving a coat darker in color as compared to what had been shed.

In June and July coyotes appeared at their scrawniest due to the minimal amount of fur: bones and ribs could be easily seen. Because of the sparse and short fur, the very distinctive markings of each coyote almost disappeared during the end of the shedding period. Bushy tails became thin and wispy. But now I’m seeing the same original, distinctive markings re-appear that I had noted from wintertime. These includes distinctive colors as well as distinctive patterns, especially on a coyote’s back. The coats seem to be at their fullest and most colorful in the fall, and last until January when the fur will start, again, to be shed slowly, leaving grayer/silver and blacker tones which cause a lot of the coyotes to look alike. The change is amazing and particularly noticeable in very young coyotes! What remains the same, of course, throughout the year, is a coyote’s facial features.

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