A Magical Moment
07 Nov 2011 1 Comment
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.
The Plight Of Some Of Our Urban Coyotes
01 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
Hi Janet,
I’ve been meaning to write you these last few days, but you beat me to it! I have been thinking about those coyotes in the Presidio [where we took our walk -- but now where trees and habitat are being removed because of Doyle Drive renovation work and because of non-native tree removal], and also have been worried that all that change is driving them into the city. I really hope that the increase in activity won’t hurt their campaign to be seen as good neighbors!
But the reason I have been thinking of writing you is with very sad news. We have a family of coyotes here in my new neighborhood in Sausalito, and sometimes they are even in my back yard at night, singing. My house is about 1000 feet from the freeway, though a thick grove of eucalyptus makes it feel further away. I have made a few attempts to find routes the coyotes must be using to cross to get out to open space of the Marin Headlands on the other side, but so far I have found only small drainage culverts that are only 36″ in diameter. Then there is the spencer underpass about a mile from here.
Anyway, I’m sure you can see where I’m going with this. Friday morning I found a yearling male who had been struck trying to cross from our side. He was still warm when I pulled him from the second outer lane at about 6:30 am. His death was instant, I’m sure. But I am deeply saddened, as it feels like losing a neighbor’s kid. We talk about how the youngsters get killed when trying to leave for new territory, but it’s different when you experience it in person. I thought of you when it happened, and knew you had experienced similar heartbreak.
The irony of this is that just yesterday I nearly hit a youngster bobcat that ran full speed in front of me out in the Marin headlands, but my antilock breaks saved the day. We really need to work on this problem as a society — as it is such a terrible waste to kill so many animals. We could prevent this simply with better planning, and putting in larger drainage culverts under roads with the idea that both water and animals could use them to travel from one side to another. And across freeways, the deliberate location of gaps every few thousand feet so animals who find themselves on roads can get off them safely. I see even salamanders and snakes killed by cars on driveways, but it is so easy to use small pipes to act as tunnels under the asphalt. We have a lot of work to do! And thanks for all your hard work on Coyote Yipps. You are the human voice of those coyotes, and they really need it. Jennifer
UPDATE
On the coyote — I made some mistakes in my assumptions. It’s worse than I had thought. I don’t know my pack here as well as you know yours, but I now suspect the coyote I found last week was the alpha male. I had assumed a young male, given his small stature and the fact that he had been inexperienced enough to be hit. But I did an autopsy to learn more about him, and found he was not young, but old enough to have several benign tumors, some of them quite sizable. He also had some wearing on the teeth that make me think he was several years old. But the shocker was when I recovered two 22-caliber bullets lodged in his shoulder.
Last year my neighbor told me he had been awakened by the coyotes singing, but then someone had fired shots and then my neighbor had heard one of them whimpering (in the city limits!) It makes me wonder if this is the one who was shot then. He also had some tapeworms, though no heart worms. All in all, he appears to have been quite healthy. A real tragedy. (You might wonder how I came to know enough to do an autopsy, but remember I was on my way to being a wildlife vet before discovering my passion for botany.) So my neighbors lost a father and mate last week. I don’t know if they have pups this year. Not sure how this info effects your idea to post, but you are welcome to share this with your audience. Jennifer
“In Shifts”, by Charlotte Hildebrand
29 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
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/
Dad and His Two Daughters, by Charles Wood
05 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, family interactions, human behavior
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- Daughter 1
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- Park Ranger
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- Dad
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- Daughter 2
Before sunset today, as I stood on the river bank that borders my Los Angeles coyotes’ field, three of them went by. The bold daughter came first. Three minutes later I saw a park ranger’s car driving in the area where the coyotes were headed. A minute later Dad stopped to stare before following the bold daughter. Three minutes after that the shy daughter went by.
I didn’t see Mom today, nor did I see any puppies. It is significant to me to have confirmed that two siblings remain with their parents, both about a year old. Mom is lactating and there are new puppies in that field. Getting a look at them is another matter. The park ranger said he was looking in the field for two boys. The boys had been fishing where they shouldn’t have been. Today I was where I should have been: on the road.
The park ranger said delightedly that he had just seen a fox hunting, pouncing on prey. I said there were coyotes in the field. He said he knew what a fox looked like and that it was a fox. I asked him if there was anyone in the neighboring nature area who was familiar with the coyote groups there. He said that he didn’t pay any attention to coyotes. If he doesn’t pay attention to coyotes, can he distinguish between a fox and a puppy coyote? Do four adult coyotes let a fox live in their home range? Has my desire to see the puppies affected my ability to properly reason?
The park ranger didn’t stay around long enough to catch the two boys that I later saw leaving the field with a bucket. The boys walked along the field’s roads without encountering a coyote. Yet just a few minutes before, three had gone to the area in which the boys were hiding. The coyotes had a lot to keep track of before sunset: a man, the man’s companion, the man’s dog, his companion’s dog, a man in a car, two young boys and an unknown number of puppies. And don’t forget the fox, maybe.
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, Five People and a Dog, by Charles Wood
03 Jun 2011 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, human behavior, pupping
Dad on hold
As I left my coyotes’ field at twilight I met, under the bridge, four adolescent women hanging out and taking pictures of themselves in front of graffiti. At just that moment, Dad appeared. He stopped farther away than usual as he assessed five people and a dog. One of the young women asked excitedly if that was a coyote. I said it was. As Dad trotted away she said that was “so cool and random.” I agreed. We talked more and I told them of the four adult coyotes with puppies. One of the young women said, “So they are more territorial now?” Exactly. They said they hadn’t been advised on how to deal with an approaching coyote. So I told them to not run and asked them what else to do. One said, as she raised herself up and held out her arms: “Make yourself big.” Another said she would yell and make a lot of noise. I was satisfied that they knew exactly how to handle an approaching coyote and I added that in the field it is a good idea to scan 360 degrees as you take your walk.
I haven’t seen the puppies yet. In the sand, I want to think that the little tracks next to the larger coyote tracks are puppy tracks, yet I don’t know. I want to think that the smaller droppings are from puppies, yet I don’t know.
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.
Lost Alpha Status?
16 Apr 2011 1 Comment
in coyote behavior, coyote living areas, human behavior, native plant program
I’ve followed a female coyote for several years now — I’ll call her “mom”. She had puppies the first year and the second year — they all grew up and eventually dispersed. But the third year and this year there were no puppies. Why? We are told that only “alpha” coyotes reproduce. So, might no puppies be due to her having lost her “alpha” status and might this also have something to do with the possibility that a new family group of coyotes might now be using this same territory?
Coyotes form nuclear family groups which exclude other coyotes from their groups and from their territories. I’ve watched this mother coyote raise her various families. Never have we seen other coyote faces within her family group, or other coyotes in her territory.
The theory of lost status occurred to me due to a rumor — unsubstantiated at this point — that a new coyote group, including juveniles, might have been spotted recently, passing through what has been her territory. I have not seen a new group at all. Coyote rumors are rampant in this area: they often spin into a life of their own. So my theory is speculative, at the moment, and will have to remain that way until we verify what we have heard through the grapevine. But I wanted to explore this possibility of loss of alpha status, even if it exists only as a theoretical possibility. I have noticed changes in behavior that might be explained by a loss of alpha status.
Coyote groups are always family groups: genetically-related individuals with the same parents. They are not like dog packs, where unrelated individual dogs form groups for survival purposes. If a new group of coyotes was seen that included juveniles, the young ones would have had to have been born last year, when our mother had no pups. They would have been born to another alpha since only alphas breed.
The presence of another family might also explain why our mom coyote’s forays into the larger part of a park have dwindled, if not totally ceased — she has been limiting her outings to a smaller area now, and I’ve seen her eyeing the adjacent area where the new coyotes were purportedly spotted.
Why might she have lost her alpha status? Could this have happened when her mate was killed? We are assuming it was her mate who was found poisoned two years ago, right at about the time her second set of puppies was born. We assumed this because we never saw a male in her territory after that event. We only saw her and her growing pups. Was her status tied to his status, and then lost when he died? Or could she have lost her status because there was no male, whatever his status? Or might she have lost it by another means — for instance, she was badly injured by a car two years ago, which might have compromised her ability to remain an alpha?
Then again, she might be too old now for pups, or she might have sustained internal injuries from that car accident that prevent her from having more puppies. One theory brought up in the literature is that coyotes self-regulate their population sizes. If an area has all the coyotes it can support, coyotes will have very tiny litters, or none at all.
So, no puppies, and the possible sighting of another family group including juveniles makes me think of the possibility of lost alpha status. In addition, the previous bolder behavior which suggested an alpha is no longer what I am seeing in our mom. We will never know the answer to the “whys”. But we do know that this very proud, aware and responsible mother coyote has stopped having pups altogether for the past couple of years and she has retreated to a smaller territorial area where she has been less visible than she used to be. Time will tell how long this situation will last — it might be very temporary, or it could be long-term.
Habitat destruction could be driving coyotes out of their previous homes and into new areas.
Habitat Destruction. Habitat destruction is the single most harmful human activity to wild animals. Many of us are upset at the very short-sighted policies causing this habitat destruction which lead to displacement of our wild animals. The “native plant programs” is a case in point: dense animal habitat is being removed in order to plant native plants which offer little if any habitat value — these are mostly dune-type plants. Animal habitat consists of dense areas of growth, brambles and underbrush which are impenetrable to humans and dogs — this is what makes it a safe habitat for animals. In San Francisco we have vast areas of our Presidio which are now being cleared of their forested areas for the benefit of native plants — this means lost habitat. In addition, the remodeling of Doyle Drive, and its attendant habitat destruction, may be driving coyotes out of their original homes close to the periphery of the city, and causing them to move deeper into the heart of the city to find new places to live. If new groups of coyotes are being seen in some areas, this is the strongest explanation.
Not A Pup: Baby Coyotes Are Not Out Now
09 Apr 2011 2 Comments
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!
The Interpretation
25 Mar 2011 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, human behavior
The “spooked” posting continues with an “interpretation”. These photos here show the same thing going on as in that posting: a spooked or surprised coyote hurries away from a dog and its owner, up to a ledge where it begins a distressed barking session until the dog and owner are far gone, and then follows them for a short distance or waits to make sure they are gone.
Dog owners who understand the situation are always amused at this behavior. They seem to comprehend coyote behavior especially when their own dogs are involved. However, I remember various instances of when a dog owner, after this exact same behavior, announced far and wide that there was an “aggressive” coyote out stalking him and his dog. It’s so sad when someone spreads fear and maliciousness about a coyote who basically just wants to be left alone.
Yes, there was the distressed barking, and the coyote did spend some moments watching the dogs that had spooked it. Those of us who have come to know various of our local coyotes can attest to what was going on. But anyone who doesn’t know coyotes or understand their behavior, anyone with the tiniest bit of fear, will spin a tale, and, as the story spreads, it grows, until you have a sensational story all ready for the press.
Coyotes will defend themselves and their territories against dogs. This is why it is best to leash dogs in coyote areas: dogs and coyotes need to be kept apart. But a spooked coyote is just that, not an aggressor.
Feeding Coyotes
20 Mar 2011 1 Comment
in coyote behavior, human behavior
I’ve heard of tourists feeding coyotes along roadways in places such as national park areas. This behavior is now occurring at the Golden Gate Bridge right in San Francisco. Not only is human food a bad and unhealthy choice for wildlife, but the fact that it is being offered by humans will cause these coyotes to associate humans with food.
Almost all aggressive coyote incidents have been traced to feedings of this sort. Food that is freely offered eventually becomes aggressively demanded by coyotes. Once coyotes become aggressive, they must be eliminated — killed.
And now, right in our own neighborhoods, a friend of mine saw food being tossed from a car at a coyote by the side of the road . The coyote ran into the street to retrieve what had been tossed. This is one of the worst incidents I have heard about. Please don’t feed coyotes, and please let others know that their “offerings” will lead to the deaths of these coyotes: luring a coyote with food, either into the streets or into interaction with humans is not compatible with keeping them wild, or with coexistence — instead it is a death sentence just waiting to occur.
Pursued Against One’s Will
18 Nov 2010 Leave a Comment
in coyote behavior, coyote safety, dog reactions to coyotes, human behavior
Here you have a young coyote using a trail in a park. He had been avoiding and walking away from dog-walking groups all morning. His walk is obviously a casual one on a trail which appeared to have no one on it. The coyote left the trail long enough for an attempt at hunting in some brushes but then returned to the path. Suddenly, from over 200 feet ahead, a dog on the trail spotted this coyote and came after him furiously. The dog was right on the coyote’s tail — and it is this extreme closeness which is so disturbing. The coyote got away. But the story could have been different, with the dog hurting the coyote, and the coyote hurting the dog in self-defense. For the dog, chasing is game, but for the coyote it involved running for its life: coyotes live in a much more real world than our dogs do. I have avoided putting photos of dogs in the blog, but this one needs to be put in to bring home to everyone that wildlife and dogs need to be kept apart. This type of scenario can be avoided by restraining our dogs in parks that have coyotes.
A woman nearby who watched the event was able to grab her unleashed dog to prevent it, too, from going after the coyote — something it has done frequently and I could tell from the way the dog was pulling on the owner’s hold that the dog desperately wanted to do so again. The dog probably would not have pulled this way if it had been prevented from chasing the coyotes so many times before. I was pleased that she put in this effort this time.
