Squirrel Teases Coyote

22 Oct 2010 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, hunting, playing Tags: squirrel teases coyote

These two saw each other, one from high in a tree and the other from on the ground. I would have thought that the squirrel would have remained high and safe in the tree. But no. It descended half-way down, head first, holding on tightly with its sharp claws, scolding the coyote loudly, and flailing it’s tail with equal intensity. The squirrel then came all the way down to the coyote’s level, allowing the coyote to come close enough to almost make it a hunt instead of a game. The teasing went on for four full minutes! Finally the squirrel came down no more but remained high in the tree, and the coyote, knowing its chances for catching the squirrel were nil, lost interest and wandered off.

2 Comments (+add yours?)

webmaster
Oct 22, 2010 @ 03:29:49

Oh this is marvellous! I wonder if the squirrel thought it was driving off the coyote?

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- yipps
  Oct 22, 2010 @ 04:08:38
  
  Maybe. Or maybe the squirrel was diverting the coyote away from a nearby secret cache of hidden winter food?
  
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About My Site and Me: This website reflects my almost 20 years of intense, careful, and dedicated field-work — empirical observations — all photo-documented without interfering or changing coyotes’ behaviors. Be welcome here, enjoy, and learn! I am a self-taught naturalist and independent coyote researcher.

Coyotes reappeared in San Francisco in 2002 after many years of absence, and people are still in the dark about them. This site is to help bring light to their behavior and offer simple guidelines for easy coexistence.

My information comes from my own first-hand observations of our very own coyotes here in San Francisco. What I’m presenting to you is the reality of their everyday individual lives. They have not been studied or observed so thoroughly by anyone else. Mine is not generic information, nor second-hand.

Note that none of the coyotes I document and photograph is “anonymous” to me: I know (or knew) each one of them, and can tell you about their personalities, histories, and their family situations. There have been over 100 of them, distributed among over twenty families, all in San Francisco. Images and true stories have the power to raise awareness and change perspective.

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