This coyote appeared to be contemplating a straight up leap: the distance must have been about 13 feet. The leap was not made.
Hiding From Dogs and Walkers
22 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
This coyote spent part of a morning calmly hunting. The other task he set for himself was not to be noticed. He was very effective. To begin with, coyotes are well camouflaged — they blend in well to their surroundings. This coyote was good at keeping to the shadows where he was less conspicuous: he was actually out in the open where, if one had looked directly at him, he would have been seen. Whenever a passerby appeared, this coyote would stand very still, and afterwards moved very slowly, continuing his hunt. If anyone came up the path he was on, he would slither quietly under the nearby brush, and if there was a dog, he would distance himself even further by slithering under the bushes and then leaping beyond some hedges, and then, again, not moving at all, or moving very slowly. Out of 25 people who passed, one lone walker saw him on some steps. One leashed dog saw the coyote and got excited — unbeknownst to the owner. This dog had made it known to the coyote that it wanted to chase it, and the coyote picked up the message. Fortunately this dog was leashed. But it is from this dog that the coyote leaped beyond the hedges.
Another Toy: A Smelly Sock!
20 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior, curiosity, playing
Coyotes, like people, are curious about the unusual. So, when a single dirty sock was found, it was examined, toyed with, marked by urinating on it, and then abandoned. Why was this single sock in a field in a park? I doubt that it had been dropped there by a human because it was not close to a trail. My suspicion is that the coyote found it elsewhere beforehand and brought it to this spot where it would come across it again. People leave clothing out in bags for charity, old clothes are dumped in the garbage, there are homeless camps. I know that dogs very often like smelly objects, such as human shoes and socks. Coyotes also like smelly objects, and a dirty sock would have fit the bill!
A Pine Cone Is Added To The Arsenal of “Toys”
20 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
The light was too dim for me to see what the coyote had caught, but it looked like a fairly large “catch” — bigger than an everyday vole. Whatever it was, it was carried to the side of the path, where it was “crunched” again and again. Ahh, yes, I’d heard that same sound before: it was the same sound my own dog made when he chewed on a pine cone! This coyote had found yet another toy to play with. This pine cone was almost 5 inches long.
Nighttime Sounds With Zero Visibility
20 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
Wildlife has its own very specific set of noises. Familiarity with these sounds makes hearing wildlife as exciting as seeing it, especially if you can dive a little deeper into interpreting the sounds. So, although I could not see a thing because of its being nighttime, I was able to hear coyote sounds as I approached a park. To hear a coyote at night is very exciting, but to be able to interpret what the sound was about made it even more exciting. These were intense and high-pitched, ecstatic squeals which, I have learned, are emitted during happy reunion greetings. I didn’t have to see a thing to know what was going on. COYOTES
Within this same time frame, I heard the hooting of an owl, and the croaking of a raven. The owl hooting was to be expected, but are ravens nocturnal? The owl made three hoots in a row, and continued doing so with pauses in-between: GREAT HORNED OWL. The raven made deep gurgling sounds, with long pauses in-between: RAVEN.
And Coyotes Eat Crickets!
19 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
Not until I blew these photos up could I see that what was being eaten was a cricket! It appears that the coyote was able to locate the bug by smell. It then pushed leaves aside and grabbed the insect. From the way the coyote’s mouth moved — tiny skilled manipulating movements — I got the impression that maybe the head or some other unwanted part was cut off and discarded — maybe unfit for consumption?
On Extreme Alert
18 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
I was in the park early and enjoyed seeing two calm coyotes walking around. A couple of dog walkers soon appeared in a different part of the park. Interestingly, one coyote, then the other, headed closer to the dog walking area. Could it have been on purpose, maybe out of curiosity, that the coyotes had headed where a dog might be, or were they headed this way first when they “happened” upon a dog that was on the path?
Neither the first dog nor its owner ever saw the coyotes. One of the coyotes made it to the safer thicket area on the other side of the path, but the other had not been able to do so when another walker saw it and shooed it off: “scat, get out of here.” This coyote backed up where it sat half hidden from any additional walkers or dogs that possibly might come along. From the photos you can see that as this coyote waited for its chance to cross to a safer area, it went into high alert mode, with its ears stretched up high and very focused on the walking path below. The coyote was about 50 feet from the dog walking path. When the coyote felt it was safe, he hurried across to the safer side.
Aggressor Wins The Ball
17 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy, playing
In the past, these two male siblings have always played rather casually. Their “play fighting”, always ended with two “winners” and the play session was always fun for both. Recently, the play fighting has turned more intense: it has become important for the more dominant one to win, which means that the other one “looses.”
In this sequence here, it is the less dominant coyote who found a frayed softball and took it off to chew on it. The other one came up, dominating the first one, and ended up taking the ball. The looser walked off defeated in the last photo. Notice in the photos that the aggressor was always on top or with the ball.
More and more, recently, I have seen the same aggressor coyote intrude on what the other one is doing and take over. We can all guess where this behavior is leading to and what the end result might be.
Daytime Sighting Of Coyote Does NOT Suggest Aggression, by Heather
16 Sep 2010 1 Comment
I see a coyote often in the day, and I hope it’s not a bad sign. Some websites suggest that daytime sightings are an indication of increased aggression, but this coyote is really something of a wimp.
Just yesterday, the coyote RAN into backyard from the right-side of the brush-covered, steep hill behind us. Clearly frightened, it/he/she came to a stop and looked back at its path. Then it BACKED-UP several more feet gaining distance from whatever it imagined or could see was after him/her. Then it anxiously squatted in what I guess was a long pee still without taking its eyes off of the the direction it came in from, and then took off with a little less haste. We also have a bear in the neighborhood, so now I became a little frightened about what might be *above* this coyote in the food chain. A second later, a neighborhood HOUSE CAT came walking into the scene from the coyote’s feared direction. The cat stopped, stared, in the direction of the coyote as if “take that!” and then turned around and walked back into the woods. Cat scares off poor coyote?? We have a neighborhood fox that has been witnessed taking after cats with far more aggression – and success – than this coyote.
“A Coyote Buries A Rock” or “Leaves Gift For Ailing Squirrel?”, by Heather
16 Sep 2010 2 Comments
Found your website while trying to research coyote behavior. We are regularly observing some very interesting behavior in our backyard (Sierra Foothills). I would love to know if anyone else has observed coyotes burying rocks. This particular coyote carried a large rock (about 7″ x 4″) from some distant location and then buried it in the ground (!). The coyote did all of this in a very casual and deliberate manner. After placing the rock in the hole, the coyote covered it completely by pushing dirt with its nose. Then it walked away. Can anyone explain this?
There are more details to this rock story:
The area where the coyote put the rock was used by a squirrel just a few days earlier. It had been an especially hot few days (100+ degrees) and the squirrel wasn’t looking healthy to me. In any case, the hole (more like an indentation) was near the base of a tree in soft, dark dirt. This is also in a shady, currently-dry gully. The squirrel had been stretching out with its entire belly flat on the soil — as if cooling itself? Then, maybe 3 or 4 days later, the rock incident occurred. It’s been a few days now since the rock burial, and maybe I should see if the rock is still there? Mostly, I just observe from my windows and don’t bother the creatures or their habitat even though they are clearly in MY yard. It’s only across a small lawn. Maybe another subject line for the Rock Burial could be “Coyote leaves gift for ailing squirrel?”
Great blog, you have. I’m glad Google pointed in the direction, and I hope to hear if others have ever witness this rock burying behavior or even carrying behavior.
Oh, Rats!
16 Sep 2010 2 Comments
Among the rodents that coyotes catch and eat are rats. Rats tend to be large in this area. They cannot be crunched down and swallowed whole as are the voles. They must be torn apart. Today this coyote was working on a large rat. The rat had only been eaten part-way when the coyote moved forwards and urinated on it, marking it as its own. But then, interestingly, the coyote snarled and moved a short distance where it scratched the ground — something I’ve only seen before as a sign of dominance when a dog is around. I wonder what this behavior meant here. The rat was moved and eaten some more before the coyote licked its chops and wandered off, leaving a half-eaten rat, to which it may return at a later time.
Licking Palm Fronds
15 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
Palms have various types of edible seeds which might interest a wild animal, but in this case, this coyote is mouthing the fronds themselves. I could not figure out why. Coyotes seem to mouth and sniff a lot of different types of plants. Could they be testing them for edibility?
Update: Coyotes are called “opportunistic” eaters, which means they eat what is around. I have seen them licking palm fronds and wondered why. I did not see them eat the palm fronds, but Charles Wood’s posting of September 25th clears up that they do eat them: “Dad Sighted” by Charles Wood. Charles has noticed palm fronds and palm seeds in coyote scat. I don’t know how nutritious palm fronds and seeds are, but I have heard of palm oil being very nutritious, and I did find out that the seeds and fronds are ground up and sold as animal feed.
“More Waiting: A Southern California Update” by Charles Wood
14 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
in communication, coyote behavior, coyote living areas, coyote's coat
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- Mom’sWinterCoat
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- MomPup
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- Mom
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- Pup
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- MomPupDark
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.
A Chicken??
14 Sep 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior, human behavior
Today I watched a coyote eating something way in the distance. The more I photographed, the more worried I became, because what was being pulled apart and eaten was rusty in color and about the size of a cat. Once I got home, by zooming into the photos I would be able to tell what this rusty thing was, but I could not tell from looking at the digital screen on the camera. Finally, I decided to check this thing out for myself directly. Yes, I would be intruding on the coyote, but I needed to find out. It was a long trek, but I got to the open field and the coyote was still working on its meal. As I came up, the coyote walked off: he wasn’t guarded or protective at all about his prey and allowed me to look at it.
I was surprised that the pile of rust was feathers! I thought to myself, “Wow, how did this coyote get a hawk? It must have been an injured hawk.” I took photos of the feathers and began to leave, when it struck me that these feathers were much too red for a hawk and there were no large feathers. It is then that the thought occurred to me that it might be a chicken. I went back, and, yes, it had to be a chicken, a fully feathered chicken. This is not a place where chickens hang out naturally.
However, I’ve been told that more and more people are keeping chicken coops in their backyards. Could this particular chicken have escaped from its coop? The other sad possibility is that this was a dead victim of a cock-fight. This illegal and cruel activity continues in our area; carcasses are tossed into wilderness areas in the hopes that the remains will be disposed of by the wildlife. This possibility was suggested to me by the director of one of our wildlife museums. She said that two years ago two roosters had been found in her park area — they had been disposed of there after having engaged in cock fighting. The last possibility is that a human tossed the chicken, either dead or alive, into the area on purpose to feed our coyotes: this also is an illegal activity. Whatever the reason, I’m hoping this was an isolated incident.
As I left I looked back to see the coyote taking the chicken to a safer place — a place where I would not find it.
