Two coyotes had been in a field together this morning when one took off following a pathway. The other soon came up to the path, looking for the first, but the first coyote could not be seen. Ah, but the scent trail was there: the coyote put its nose down to the ground and followed the scent left by the first, zigzagging back and forth on the exact same course as the first, but at a run. The second coyote did catch up with the first.
Following Another Coyote By Scent
06 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior Tags: coyote behavior: scent
A New Drama: Being More Evasive & Peripheral
04 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior, family interactions, group activity
For many months now, the young coyotes I observe — they are 18 months old — appear to sleep separately from their parents, though at times the younger coyotes may hunker down together. So, in the morning, when a young coyote sees its parent, it always runs up to her, super-enthusiastically. There is an intense greeting with kisses, hugs and falling over each other. The affection is wonderful to see.
BUT, today it was different. It reminded me that young coyotes grow up and things do change. We will have to wait to see how temporary or permanent any new behaviors become.
Today, one of the younger coyotes was on a path when the mother coyote appeared about 100 feet away. I watched, baffled, as the younger coyote looked at the mother and then looked away, and continued walking away, almost disdainfully. After seeing him, the mother lay down next to the path — she seemed to have been expecting this response. She occasionally looked in the younger coyote’s direction. He remained far off, occasionally looking at her. Hmmm. I wondered what was going on.
Then, the second young coyote, his sibling, came up, and as I would have expected, ran up to his mother with kisses and hugs. At this point the “evasive” coyote slowly came forward, very tentatively, and joined in, but only for a moment, and always with his ears down or back. He seemed to want to join in, but was not in there whole-heartedly. He soon moved off to the side with ears down and watched. Why this new “off to the side” behavior? I wondered if there had been a fight with either his mother or sibling. Or, was a hierarchy establishing itself in a big way, or might there have been a severe disciplining from his mother. It was new behavior.
I have noticed that the other sibling, the one who has been showing signs of being the dominant of the two young pups, continually has gone after the more withdrawn coyote. The last five photos of this series shows this. No moves lately have been instigated by the meeker coyote towards the sibling, though he often approaches his mother for the affection he wants as he tries to get away from the more dominant sibling.
Ever since I made this observation, I’ve noticed this withdrawn coyote more off on its own, more separated from the mom and the other sibling — This is not always so, but more so than in the past. Is the hierarchy firming up? Will one of the coyotes soon move on? Or is this behavior just temporary, the result of a recent spat?
“Palm Fruit, Digested Seeds and Mom”, by Charles Wood
03 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
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- PalmSeedScat
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- PalmFruitVomit
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- MomSpy
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- MomDone
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- MomLick
Sometimes I see coyotes and other times I only see evidence they leave. I photographed palm seed laden coyote scat several days ago. I have been looking for palm fruit, both on the ground palm trees. I haven’t been able to find any fruit, with one exception that doesn’t count: Saturday I found coyote regurgitated palm fruit. It was still moist. Perhaps it was left to age a bit before taking it as a midnight snack.
Friday night at the Long Beach Recreation Park Dog Park, close to midnight, a coyote came up to the chain link fence to take a look at the dogs. Its nose was right up against the fence, a very curious animal. Two dogs rushed the fence and the coyote took off. One of my friends mistook the coyote for a stray dog. We had the pleasure of watching the coyote trot away, its movement and ears clearly not dog like. The dog park is bordered by a public golf course and two busy major streets beyond which are thousands of homes.
Earlier on Friday, from the bridge that overlooks their field, I did get a photograph of Mom slyly spying on me. She soon vanished into the dusk.
Saturday I returned in the late afternoon to my coyotes’ field. I’ve a couple goals. One is to get a picture of Mom going under a chain link fence’s gate to enter her field from the nature sanctuary. The other is to find how many youngsters I can identify. Had I the patience to remain at the bridge I might have photographed Mom scooting under that fence. Instead I left for the river bank hoping to spot youngsters. Just as I took a position on the river bank Mom arrived from the nature sanctuary. It may be that she was waiting for me to leave the bridge before entering her field. She plays the waiting game well.
She arrived in her field at a bad time. Out in the field I saw what looked like the carcass of a coyote. Despite her being present I entered their field to get a closer look at what turned out to not be a carcass at all. Fortunately my eyes and mind were playing tricks on me. Unfortunately Mom rushed my leashed dog and me. As usual she stopped short and made a scene about twenty yards from my over excited dog and me. I couldn’t settle my dog down in time to photograph her displays. When she finished she stood still and stared at us. I was able to take a good shot. On leaving, as is also typical, she yawned and after the yawn she licked her chops. Dad also yawns and licks his chops during and/or after his displays. His charges are often preceded by a good stretch and a yawn. Perhaps those actions before the charge limber his body and jaws. Afterwards the yawn and lick may disburse tensions.
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.
The Crucial Pounce
02 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior, hunting Tags: coyote behavior: hunting pounce
Here are photos of a coyote getting read to pounce, and then various pounces. The pounce involves a high leap — at times much higher than at other times — to give extra force to the initial blow it uses to disable its prey. I’m not sure if this includes an actual bite or just a very sharp blow. I do know that this initial blow is the crucial one if the prey is going to be caught. In the last photo, the coyote has had to bury its nose deep into the burrow to grab its prey.
One Paw and Two Paw Digging, and then a Nose Prod
02 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
Sometimes coyotes wait and watch patiently — hoping to see the little critter they are after before pouncing on it. Sometimes coyotes wait and listen before pouncing — the prey is too deep underground to be seen. A coyote’s hearing is so keen that he can tell where the critter is deep within its burrow. If the critter never comes close enough to the surface for the coyote to pounce on, the coyote will begin to dig. Here is a coyote engaged in a one-paw careful and slow dig. The coyote then engaged in a two-paw dig — a much more intense dig, where he was balanced on his hind legs, his back was arched high, and both forelegs were used sequentially to enlarge the opening of the burrow, with very fast digging. The last picture in this series shows the coyote thrusting its nose deep into the burrow for a last-ditch attempt at grabbing its prey. There was no prize after this series of photos.
Triangulation
02 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
By tilting its head back and forth and cocking its ears, a coyote is able to tell exactly where its prey is under the ground in its burrow. A coyote will listen intently and wait patiently, and when it hears its prey come to the surface, it will disable it with one sharp blow. I’m not sure exactly how this is accomplished, but after the initial “blow”, the coyote relaxes somewhat, knowing that the prey is his.
Mom Teases & Tests
01 Oct 2010 Leave a comment
in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy, mother/pup learning, playing
In this sequence of photographs, a mother coyote catches a vole and then seems to tease the younger coyote to come and get it. He does so, but when he actually latches on to the vole, the mother is right there and encloses the young coyote’s muzzle with hers — a sign of her dominance. The young coyote immediately withdraws. The mother again runs off with the vole and ultimately ends up eating it. But the younger coyote watches, and HE is the one in the last photo who is licking his chops!! This sequence may be about a mother reconfirming her dominance to an offspring who has been showing signs of dominance towards one of its siblings.
