Once again the alpha male, Dad, stopped my attempts to find his family. As my dog Holtz and I walked on a dirt road in his field, Dad stepped out from the brush in front of us onto the road. Holtz immediately started to chase Dad and I stopped him with his leash. Dad bounded away from us down the road, but kept his head turned behind him and saw me restrain Holtz. He stopped and quickly returned to begin his display.
Dad defecated and scraped dirt. That was followed by an approach, head down with an intense unblinking glare directed towards Holtz. A dog will similarly approach another dog in play, where tension is created between the two as the distance is closed. The approached dog sallies and a play fight results. Instead, with Dad and a restrained dog, the approach stopped, followed by to-and-fro struts. The strutting was followed by yawns and stretches, a trot away and a return moments later. It does seem that Dad had expected Holtz to sally and fight. It does seem that Dad will prevent me from observing his family.
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.
