Coyote Yipps

It took a coyote lapping up water on a rock to make me notice how much water is retained in rock crevices, not only after a heavy rain, but also after a mere misty drizzle. These photos were taken in the morning after a very light drizzle. Everything else was totally dry. There were two different rock puddles which the coyote sprang to, one right after the other, lapping delectably, looking up and then lapping again, first from one rock and then from the other. For me, water always tastes best when I’m really thirsty, and that may have been the case with this coyote.

Today an incident was described to me — I was not there to see it. A walker was coming down a path next to a wooded area with his fairly small unleashed dog. Until today, the dog had never noticed any coyotes so there has never been a problem: the dog always went about minding his own business, and the owner was free to take in the scenery and wildlife.

But today, out of the wooded area appeared a coyote which ran after the dog. Coyotes have only chased dogs that have intruded upon them, so inadvertently this dog and walker may have come too close to the coyote — they may have startled the coyote. This startle and pursuit behavior has happened various times in the past with other dogs. The owner was quite upset that the coyote hadn’t just fled away from them. Instead, the coyote chased the dog right back to its owner and the owner had to scare the coyote off. The owner felt that this particular coyote was displaying a new boldness in doing so.

We discussed things that might have been going on. First, had the dog been leashed, the incident could have been halted before getting going: an owner’s close proximity to a leashed dog along with scaring the coyote off, by yelling, could easily have kept the coyote away. The coyote’s initial response to the startle might have been to stand up to the dog and give it a clear message: “leave me alone, go away.”  However, once the dog ran off in fleeing mode, the coyote’s natural reaction was to pursue it. The dog, then, of course, came back to its owner with the coyote on its tail, fairly oblivious to the owner standing there. The owner felt this behavior showed a new boldness in the coyote. At this point he was able to interrupt the chasing behavior and scare the coyote off. However, the incident left him feeling uneasy: he will have to be more vigilant now. Coyotes which have been startled in this manner tend to react this way — I have seen it often: it is another reason to keep dogs leashed as a precaution to insure safety for both dogs and coyotes.

Another possibility to keep in mind is that running after the fleeing dog may also have been a “play” response. This particular coyote is one who has always loved playing chase with his sibling until pretty recently when the sibling — dominant sibling —  decided that bullying was more fun than chasing games. The invitations to play are no longer responded to positively by the dominant sibling. “Playing” was pointed out to me as a highly likely explanation for the short chase because it fits in so well with the individual character of this particular coyote. Ultimately, we won’t know — but restraining our pets with leashes is a good idea in coyote territory.

The coyote involved in the incident is one of two young 20-month olds. It might be of interest that that these are young males who are now dealing with their own maleness and testosterone and coming of age.  At this time of year last year the one male pup from a previous litter — at the time also a 20-month old — left for good. This is dispersion time, when young coyotes go off on their own to seek their own fortunes and fates elsewhere — it’s time for them to leave the nest. Already the sibling rivalry between the two siblings keeps them much more distant from each other than they ever have been in the past. The coyote situation is a constantly evolving one. But not all coyotes do move on: sometimes some remain as part of the original family pack. I’m watching to see how things develop.  I don’t know if this might be relevant to the incident or not, but it is information to bear mind, especially about young coyote males.

Today I was able to follow a couple of the coyotes for a couple of hours. Each day is totally different from the last, and the sum of them all gives a more rounded picture of what an urban coyote’s daily routine is like. Yesterday I watched these same coyotes remain distant from the crowds of dog walkers, but on a hill overlooking them. The walkers and dogs were very aware of the coyotes, and the coyotes were very aware of the dogs, each observing the other from the safety of the distance: maybe 500 feet away instead of the more usual 200. That was yesterday.

Over time, several of us have noticed that it is often the earliest walker in the parks who “wakes up” the coyotes. Coyotes appear not to be around, and then suddenly, shortly after the first walker goes by where they are, the coyotes appear. Today it was I who created the first stirrings. Suddenly there was one coyote sitting and then lying on a hill, and as it got lighter I saw that actually there were two “piles” of coyotes: a onesome and a twosome. There were no greetings that occurred while I was there, so I got the impression that they had been there a long time — maybe they had slept there. Unusually, I heard one of the coyotes sneeze loudly a couple of times. By the time I could see them fairly clearly — though it was still too dark for the camera to work — first one, then all headed down the hill and onto the main trail in the  park towards the front of the park. No one else was there.

I went in their direction and found them “setting up” to watch for when the dogs and walkers would arrive.  One coyote perched on a hill and sat facing the main path, while the other two meandered close by. However, today, unlike yesterday, there were very few dog walkers who came to the park early on! It must have been boring!! Watching dogs is one of the coyotes’ favorite entertainments. But other things did happen.

While still sitting at this front part of the park, a lone walker with his leashed dog headed up the grassy hill, off the trail, towards the coyotes, both dog and owner eyeing the coyotes intently. We could not figure out why the dog owner was doing this. He got halfway up the hill, saw us, and decided to turn back. Mmmm. The coyotes watched them intently as they headed away and we did not see them again.

Before my friend decided to head home, one of the coyotes came towards his dog which was walking on a path away from the coyotes. The owner was surprised: “I’ll be darn.”  The dog was called and came right away, so the coyote was left on the path looking at both the dog and owner. It was one of the teenage coyotes and its intentions were obviously friendly. Still it is best not to let dogs and coyotes interact. My friend left, so I too, headed away, but in the opposite direction.

When I next looked up, the coyotes, too, had dispersed from the area, but I was able to watch them in a number of other areas and get a feeling for the kind of morning it was for them. I soon spotted one on a rocky cliff as another dog and walker came by me. He leashed his dog, and both coyote and dog eyed each other with interest until the dog walker and dog went on.

Soon I spotted two of the coyotes close to a curb beside the park. They were keeping track of each other’s hunting activities.  One hunted without results and peed — in disgust? —  on the useless hunting spot before looking up to find the other which had disappeared from view. Oh well, it went on alone.

It is at this time that this coyote headed into the street, crossing it and jaunting along — and barely getting missed by a car. It then ventured into the street, walking along its edge for the length of a block. Fortunately, not other cars came by while it was on the street.

Coyotes cover some ground during their day, and today was no exception. The coyote which was not hit by the car began meandering along some of its routine pathways, when it came across its sibling sitting calmly in the middle of a path. Both coyotes froze and stared at each other for over a minute. These two teenagers have been working out their hierarchy, so bullying is something I’ve been seeing a lot of. I was wondering if something of this nature was going to ensue, but it did not. The dominating guy then walked towards the guy sitting down, but he then just went right by him — no greeting or joy at all: something which was standard in the past. They both started walking in the same direction, but not really together. But the less dominant one became diverted and walked into an overgrown brushy area off to the side of the path. There was loud rustling. The dominating one remained and curiously watched, but then walked calmly on. I went on with the dominating fellow.

When this coyote had reached the other end of the park, he became alert, ears up, and perfectly still and tall. I knew he had become transfixed by a squirrel — a squirrel he has seen often. Experience with this particular squirrel, which I have seen before, caused the coyote to give up pretty quickly.

The coyote was headed towards one of its hideouts when a walker appeared. “Wow, a coyote” you could feel him think from his stance. The coyote was not so thrilled, but stood perfectly still as did the observer. After a few moments, the observer was very careful to go way around the coyote, taking some photos on the way. The minute he was gone a woman and large unleashed dog came sauntering along — the coyote was still on the edge of the path. The other coyote had re-appeared close by. I suggested that she leash her dog. It was fascinating that she would not do so until she spotted the coyotes, which took her some time to do. These coyotes are very well camouflaged. She had never seen coyotes before and was fascinated. I told her a little about them. By this point the coyotes had had enough input and disappeared into the bushes. That was the end of my observing for the day.

Some of us love the rain, and some of us don’t so much. It boils down to individual differences and preferences. I myself love donning my slicker and boots and venturing out into the elements. Animals, too, have their individual preferences: some love the rain, and some do not. For instance, when I would open the front door on a rainy day, my own dog used to get up, just to take a look. The minute he saw the rain he would shake himself out before even venturing out into it — just the thought of getting wet made him shake off the water: no, he always preferred to stay indoors and dry. Yet I’ve met dogs who aren’t affected one bit by being wet: today a large lab was walking alongside its owner in the pouring rain — tail wagging. I asked the owner about it and was told that the dog has never shown any aversion at all towards rain!

So, I suppose these individual differences also apply to wild animals. In the rain I’ve been seeing hawks flying around and screeching and I’ve seen lots of song birds out — they seemed to be out because of the rain. As for coyotes, I have seen them relaxing on a rock in light rain, and I’ve seen them hunting in heavy rain. Whether they really happen to be enjoying the rain I couldn’t tell, but they were out.

The reason I’m adding this posting is because recently a dog walker brought four dogs to one of the area parks which is known to have coyotes — all the dogs were unleashed. The walker told me that since it was raining, she thought there would be no coyotes out. This is not correct. The photos above depict a coyote meandering on a path in fairly heavy rain, and then lifting itself on a rock to get a better view through the rain. It might be true that some, or even most, coyotes might not be out in the rain, but this is not true all the time for all of them.