Nursing Coyote Mothers

01 May 2013 2 Comments

by yipps in coyote behavior, lactating mother, life cycle, pupping Tags: , , ,

a lactating mother coyote

a lactating mother coyote

I had been told that nursing mother coyotes stay in the dens, or fairly close to them, during the 5 weeks following birth when they are being nursed. Guess what? They don’t!

A nursing mom’s need for nourishment skyrockets during this timeframe in order to keep up with the growing nutritional needs of her pups for which she is the sole supplier through nursing. Nevertheless, moms appear to keep themselves pretty secluded and out of sight. New moms are even more secretive and evasive than normal because the lives of pups now depend on them — it’s a safety measure.

This new mom was in a field only a moment or so. The rest of the time she moved slowly under bushes and next to “edges” of taller growth, where she could easily slip away from view. When she saw anyone coming, she slowly stepped behind something, be it a tree, tall grasses, bushes or a stump, where she would not be noticed, and she wasn’t.  She headed “in” for the day when a man and his dog came around a bend and saw her. He stopped and observed. She calmly slithered out of sight. The dog was leashed and well behaved. It all happened so quick and smoothly!

It’s much too early for pups to be out and about. Pups are kept secluded in their dens until about the fifth week of birth, and even after that, their introduction into the bigger world will be a gradual one, and as secret as possible to begin with!

Mom’s Transformation, by Charles Wood

16 Oct 2012 2 Comments

by yipps in coyote behavior, life cycle, mother/pup learning, video

When I first met Mom she appeared to be a timid coyote. The first two pictures, from May and June 2010, show a reserved Mom. In the May 2010 picture she was peering out at my dog and me. She didn’t want us there and perhaps in just showing herself she said she wanted us to leave.

In the June 2010 picture, she barred my dog’s and my way into the den area. She was lactating and her puppies were about fifty yards behind her. Yet still, with puppies to protect, her eyes didn’t even dare to meet ours.

By August 2010 she had transformed. No longer reserved, the picture from August shows the first time Mom came up to my dog and me to scrape dirt. She seemed exhilarated and free.

The picture in December 2010 shows Mom giving us the look I still see today. Compare her December look to the look she gave in the May and June 2010 pictures. Quite a difference.

The video opens with Dad waiting for his pack to arrive after having run up to me and my two dogs. In fact, Mom was around the corner and up on a ridge, out of Dad’s sight. Neither seemed aware that the other was nearby as they waited for each other. Not shown in the clip, Mom came up just below Dad. He didn’t rise to greet her and his body language wasn’t typical of a happy greeting. Instead Dad looked startled. Maybe Mom had caught Dad unawares, but I think there was more to his atypical gesturing. I think that Dad wasn’t at all surprised to see Mom. Instead, I think Dad was surprised by Mom’s mood.

Upon meeting, typically Mom and Dad are pleased and happy to be in each other’s presence again. They expect joy from each other when greeting, exude joy upon first sighting each other. Yet that day Dad acted startled when he first saw her. To me, Dad’s reaction was a surprised “What’s this? You’re upset? About what? Oh yes, I see. Of course I’m with you on this, of course, of course.” It teemed with domestic intimacy.

Dad had previously approached me and my dogs, messaging us. He was done with that, relaxed, situation under control. When Mom arrived, she wasn’t done, wasn’t relaxed, and the situation wasn’t under control. The man was still there with his camera. Lynne, with two dogs, had been watching Mom as Mom watched Lynne watching her. Then Lynne had started to walk in the wrong direction, toward the den, not away from it. Mom came off the ridge and headed toward Lynne. Coming down, Mom then saw Dad. He was lying with his back to the dogs and the two people, doing nothing. Situation under control? Hardly. Upset? You bet she was upset. With everything!

To Mom it was all messed up. Compared to Mom as she was two years ago, Mom is today a completely different coyote. If my dogs and I are in part responsible for her transformation, I can’t help feeling a little sorry for Dad. Then again, maybe there was no transformation, perhaps I just hadn’t yet seen that side of her. Maybe I wrongly thought she was the “nice” coyote when all the while Dad knew her better.

Fierce protector, a master of the bluff, Mom in the clip studied the field as Dad stretched, he preparing to follow Mom’s lead. To camera left, Mom looked toward Lynne as she walked toward me with our two leashed dogs. Mom didn’t even wait for Dad to finish his stretch. She took off at Lynne and the dogs a fraction of a second before Dad was fully ready. Mom looked totally into it, with an exaggerated bounce in her gait. In contrast, Dad’s body language said that he was just along for the ride, accommodating his spouse. I left the camera, ran at the coyotes and they broke off their mock charge.

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

Aging In The Wild

10 Jun 2012 4 Comments

by yipps in coyote physical appearance, life cycle

What happens to our urban wildlife neighbors as they age? I took some photos of an older coyote today. I could see that, as the years go by, the body becomes worn and feels the effects of the accumulated wear and tear, and the effects of time. There is a slightly slower gait and it takes longer to get going. You are a little stiffer and some of your joints hurt — bending to scratch takes a little more effort and does not look as easy as it used to.  You seem to crumple into a blob when you sit sometimes, hanging from your bones instead of sitting up straight and strong.

More time is spent napping during the day and you forget that you’ve already stretched before you take off — or maybe it just takes more stretches to get all the kinks out? Your coat is a little more ragged, tattered and torn and the many scars underneath show through. Not only might your eyes be more swollen, you have to squint often to see past your weaker eyesight — and the animal world doesn’t have the privilege of glasses. Unless a gopher is an easy catch you won’t go for it.

But, to me, it is because of these changes that this coyotes is more adorable than ever. He’s worked hard and earned every one of these badges of his accumulated years. Also, young pups have come and gone, and so have a couple of mates. Life never has been particularly easy, and I can see that it is less so with time.

What really matters is that this coyote is still the alpha of his pack, that this is his own territory, that he protects and hunts every day for his family and his yearly offspring. San Francisco in one of the best habitats around: there is water nearby, there still are trees and thickets which provide protection and cover, and there are fields for hunting! Life is still pretty good!

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.

Dad’s Health, by Charles Wood

03 Aug 2011 2 Comments

by yipps in coyote behavior, life cycle, urban coyote ailments Tags: , ,

April

Tuesday I found a spot in the nature preserve that seemed good.  I had a long view of a straight paved utility road and hoped to catch crossing it a very young coyote.  I got tired of waiting and walked slowly down the road.  A tree squirrel alerted a bit too far from me.  I stopped to listen for why.  Behind a tall wall of drying wild mustard I heard a quiet rustling coming knee high ever so slightly towards me through the brush.  I backed off immediately and retreated fifty feet.  Then a coyote pushed onto the road where I had been standing.  It was Dad.

August (a)

He stared, shook himself for his face being slightly wet and then trotted away from me on the road.  He cut into the brush on the side opposite from which he had come.  I continued leaving, knowing that Dad would re-emerge and that if I wasn’t quick enough, he would do so ahead of me.  We know each other’s tricks.  Tantalizingly, along the road on the side from which Dad had first appeared, more rustles came from the brush, although I couldn’t take time to investigate.  Dad appeared behind me as I arrived at the exit.

August (b)

Last April Dad looked fit.  Tuesday, allowing for this season’s sparser coat and for his head being a little wet, he nevertheless looked gaunt and his face looked whitened, like that of an old coyote.  I love that coyote and I couldn’t believe the change in him, felt wounded.  It is he, my having checked his markings down to his busted lower left canine tooth.  His eyes are the same, and before I checked that tooth I thought that if it isn’t Dad, then surely it’s his daddy.  Dad’s hips poke out, he seems to squint with his right eye, there is a dark patch on his left face and there are new dark eraser sized markings on his forehead and on the sides of his face.  He is looking like a beat up old coyote.  Yet even so, he’s still got game and I’m hoping he still has his health.

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.