Mom, resting and waiting, wasn’t in the mood to play with her two yearlings. She went so far as to show them some teeth! Once again, they were waiting for their dusk rendezvous and Mom looked spent. This event marked the first time I’ve seen the two 2011 yearlings together, confirming my suspicion that Mom and Dad had two puppies last year. It took about a year for me to see just one of them.
Play and Wait, by Charles Wood
29 Aug 2012 4 Comments
in coyote behavior, family interactions, reunion, video
Coyote Yipps 
Aug 29, 2012 @ 13:16:19
Thanks so much for sharing! I keep hoping that I will see coyote pups one day but alas I’ve only seen a young coyote with parents one time – a snowy Christmas morning 2 years a large coyote came out soon followed by two others – one smaller than the other two. The largest seemed to keep watch as the other two played for a few minutes before heading up the hill to their den. We thought it a quite nice Christmas present. This year we rarely see one and then only momentarily. I think the male was killed, the den has moved, and a stray dog moved onto the farm (adopted us). So I think the coyotes have moved on. We used to enjoy watching the pair who lived on the hill.
Aug 30, 2012 @ 04:02:50
Thank you Barbara. Of course, the normal behavior of coyotes is to remain unseen to humans. Aside from Janet’s pictures, most of the other photographs I’ve seen are of problem, human habituated coyotes who need to be discouraged from being known by us. I think Janet’s circumstances, where her coyotes ignore her and allow her to view their unforced behaviors, must be unique. A normal sighting is brief and distant. My contacts with coyotes are forced and obtrusive to them.
Sep 01, 2012 @ 00:32:59
That’s what why you and Janet are making important contributions to our understanding of coyote behavior. My primary resources are a couple of inexpensive game cameras, a good set of binoculars, and the large farm house windows which look out onto the fields. Find it abit amusing that the coyotes are careful to not be seen but don’t mind leaving their scat along well used tractor paths when the scat could easily be hidden – as if they don’t want us to see them but want us to know they are around. Establishing their territory?
Sep 01, 2012 @ 01:01:35
Hi Barbara —
Yes! They seem to want you to know that they are around and that the territory is claimed! Janet