I’m seeing tongue tips pretty often as communication between coyotes. I’ve noticed it between a dog and a coyote, and I’ve noticed it between coyotes themselves.
Between the coyotes, sticking the tip of the tongue out seems to communicate good-will, no harm intended, I’m sorry, let’s get along. With the dog there happened to be antagonistic body language, so there the tongue tip might have communicated “I need you to keep away, but let’s not really fight” — see posting: Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked Challenge: Coyote reactions to Dogs. Were a couple of those tongue-tips meant to convey something to me? I noticed this only after blowing up the photos when I got home. Might it have communicated goodwill — I assume this because it would go along with the rest of the coyote’s comportment as I’ve been photographing. I don’t really know, all thoughts are welcome.
A few of the tongue-tips were actually fully extended “kisses”, but these were not greetings or displays of affection. Rather they seemed to be more conciliatory expressions. At the thistle, the tongue-tip could have been an indication of tentativeness and carefulness: this would actually conform with the other “tongue-tips as communication”.
