When the smell you want to smother yourself in is on the top of and beside a log, it takes a bit of maneuvering to get all your parts covered.
Coyote Yipps
Information and stories about San Francisco coyotes: behavior & personality, coexistence & outreach, by Janet Kessler: Unveiling first-hand just how savvy, social, sentient and singular coyotes really are!
- Home
- Bio
- Coyote Eating Habits in SF: Gallery
- Coyote Voicings: Howls, Yips, Barks, & More
- My YouTube VIDEOS
- SF Families to 7/22
- Take A Short Coyote Survey
- Territories & Population in SF
- UrbanCoyoteSquared: GALLERIES
- *FIRST: A Guidelines and Safety Box
- Introducing My Coyote Yipps Blog
- San Francisco as Habitat and Place
- Contents By Topic
- Raising Awareness
About My Site and Me: This website reflects my 17 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!
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. 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.
Contact: Janet@coyoteyipps.com
© All information and photos in my postings come from my own original and first-hand documentation work which I am happy to share, with permission and with properly displayed credit: ©janetkessler/coyoteyipps.com.
==================
Be Aware of Denning Sites
Zoom Talk: Coyotes in San Francisco: Population, Family Life, Stewardship
(A crash course in SF coyotes!)
October 18th Presentation at PHS/SPCA: Inside the Lives of Urban Coyotes
(Another crash course in coyotes generally!)
Instagram: Coyoteyipps
This photo sequence actually continues from my last posting where Dad was reacting to his yearlings’ getting too rowdy at point blank range. In that photo he’s just saying, “cool it guys”. But in this photo sequence, he has taken the matter into his own hands more strongly and clamped down on son’s snout. It’s a disciplinary gesture by Dad. It will hurt if son tries to wiggle away, so son remains absolutely still and does not fight to get free.
More of the same — but this time in an exquisite pose! Dad, in the middle, is beginning to react to the two yearlings on either side of him. His mouth is now open, in a silent communication of, "watch yourselves you two!" He doesn't want them becoming rowdy right in front of his face.
I see a lot of similarities between coyote interactions and our own, but here’s a real difference. Remember sticking out your tongue at someone as a kid? It’s usually taunting and rude. In coyotes, in most instances, it appears to mean the opposite: “peace” and “good will”. And I’ve seen this gesture towards humans, meaning the same thing. These three coyotes are all best buddies here — they just spent a morning joyously playing together. However, I’ve also seen a coyote stick out its tongue and curl it up while flicking it, as emphasis to their warning to “Get Away!!” towards threatening dogs.
Hi All Coyote Fans!
When you don’t have a companion around to horse around with, maybe a bottle of water will do! Although you can’t chase it, you can toss it and pounce on it, and it will respond with amazing crackling sounds and even squirts of water. I bet Crystal Springs would love this for their ad campaign! He ended up tearing the bottle apart and lapping up some of the water that remained, and then trotted off, leaving the bottle behind. The bottle had already been trashed by someone else, so he wasn’t polluting the environment by leaving it.
They turned to horsing around again after checking me out. Many people don’t realize how absolutely social coyotes are: they interact and communicate constantly between themselves: in play, with affection, with anger, during greetings, while hunting, etc., communicating constantly through eye-contact and vocalizing between each other and as a group, etc. They live in nuclear families and they each have a very individual relationship with each of the other members of their family: be they their littermates, older siblings, or their parents.
Beach/Dune babies. These siblings just turned one year old: they still know how to have a blast playing chase, racing, wrestling, surprising one another. They stopped their play to check me out. I’ve also watched them spend time grooming and cuddling: they are brothers. But don’t be fooled by their sweet looks and young age. I also watched them approach dogs in a daring sort of way, almost provokingly: please walk away from them or any coyote who approaches you: this is what they want, and coexistence means respecting their need to move you away. Swipe for all three photos.
This is one of the two mother coyotes in San Francisco who, sadly, retain radio-collars. In 2015 the Presidio of San Francisco radio-collared and ear tagged sixteen coyotes, including three years of litters — all from the one family that lived in the Presidio. Most of them were eventually killed by cars. Another female coyote was radio-collared on January 3, 2019. The collars that remain on these two coyotes are non-functional: their self-release mechanisms malfunctioned/failed, which is why, unfortunately, they still have them on. I’ve been assured that the Presidio is not using them now.
This small, just-turned-one-year-old has just become a big sister. Her siblings arrived a little earlier than many of the other litters in San Francisco, some of which still have not arrived yet: they are due any day now. Her job will be to help her parents raise the pups: she’ll help bring in food, babysit, play with and teach them. It’s a solid nuclear family and they all contribute to the needs of the whole.
Coyotes can jump six foot fences, but might as well first figure out if it’s worth the effort.
The crouch before the leap. It’s sort of like pulling a rubber band back before letting it fly.
Family rendezvous. The rendezvous is the evening pow-wow — a nightly event — that brings family members together after sleeping and resting during daylight hours. It’s a time for greetings and interactions. There’s lots of excitement and often quieter vocalizations that aren’t often heard — it’s a little like a party. It usually occurs at or around dusk, so few people actually see the event. Coyotes are highly secretive — they don’t want to be seen and will walk the other way if you focus on them for too long — but in addition, their activity occurs — by choice — in the evening when we aren’t around to see it or when it’s too dark for us to see it, even though these are diurnal animals, just like we are. They are not *nocturnal* such as owls, opossums, foxes, or raccoons.
Be A Coyote Ambassador!
INTRODUCTION PAGES
- Introducing My Coyote Yipps Blog
- Contents By Topic
- Raising Awareness
- Take A Short Coyote Survey
- San Francisco as Habitat and Place
- UrbanCoyoteSquared: GALLERIES
- Coyote Voicings: Howls, Yips, Barks, & More
- Bio
- *FIRST: A Guidelines and Safety Box
- My YouTube VIDEOS
- Territories & Population in SF
- SF Families to 7/22
- Coyote Eating Habits in SF: Gallery
Top Posts & Pages
Coyotes: What to Know and Do
Download & Print Flyers
- Como espantar a un coyote para que se vaya
- Conflictos con coyotes
- Coyote Advisory from our video
- Coyote Coexistence & Dogs
- Coyote Facts & Fiction
- Coyotes Playing With Dogs
- FACTS MATTER, #resist (STOP TRAPPING)
- Farms and Ranches: the Futility of Killing Coyotes as a Management Tool
- Guía Para Coexistir Con Coyotes Urbanos
- Guidelines For Coexistence
- How To Handle A Coyote Encounter: A Primer
- Killed By Rat Poison – Flyer
- Sign in CHINESE: 土狼警讯
- Sign in SPANISH: ALERTA COYOTE
- Sign: Coyote Advisory
- Simple Rules for Coexistence
- This is a denning site
- Trilingual Video Poster
- Truth About Coyote Conflicts
- 共存简要守则 – Guidelines in Chinese
Published Articles & Recap
- A View Transformed: from fear to understanding
- Bay Nature Connections Interview
- Bay Nature: Raising Kids In The City
- Beware of the Alpha, by Molly Hetherwick
- Ciudadanos Coyotes: Vamos a conocerlos: Una introducción
- Coyote Behavior & Peaceful Coexistence
- Coyote Town: Leave SF's Coyotes Alone, by Julia Wong
- Coyote Whisperer Warns of Coyote Encounters During Pupping Season
- Coyotes: Beyond The Howl
- EXHIBIT: Coyotes, Beyond the Howl
- Family First: Wily Coyote's Here to Stay, by Linnea Due
- How To Coexist With Wild Coyotes — From SF's Own 'Coyote Whisperer'
- How to get Along With Coyotes As Pups Venture Out, Bay Nature
- How To Handle A Coyote Encounter: A Primer
- Inside A Coyote Family
- Janet Kessler: The Urban Coyote Watcher, by Leath Tonino
- Keep Our Coyotes Safe & Wild
- Making Peace With Coyotes by Tripp Robbins
- On First-Name Basis With San Francisco Coyotes
- Pacifica: Neighbors in the Night
- Photographer's Raccoon Adventure in GGPark
- Recap: My Position Regarding Coyotes
- Reservoir Coyotes, by Tom Molanphy
- San Francisco Residents Coexisting With Coyotes, by Robin Hindery
- SF Coyotes PODCAST 2/2020
- SF's "Coyote Lady", SacBee
- Sharing Bernal Hill With Our Coyote: A User's Guide
- The Bernal Hill Coyote is a Female and Human "Kindness" Could Kill Her
- The Coyote Whisperer, by Shelby Carpenter
- The Need For Wildness, by Tara Lohan
- The Need for Wildness, by Tara Lohan
- The SF resident documenting coyote population
- The Woman Who Follows Urban Coyotes
- Urban Coyotes Have Lives (PDF version)
- Wildlife In Focus: Coyotes
- YIPS & HOWLS EXAMPLES
TRANSLATION
Web Advocacy and More
- Anticoagulant Intoxication Fact Sheet
- Aversion Conditioning by Lesley Sampson
- Beware of the Alpha (PDF), by Molly Heatherwick, 3/15/2023
- Beware of the Alpha, by Molly Hetherwick
- Caught On Camera: Presidio Coyotes
- Citizen Coyote: Let's Get To Know Them: An Introduction
- Ciudadanos Coyotes: Vamos a conocerlos: Una introducción
- Cook County, Illinois, Coyote Project
- Coyote Lives In Maine
- Coyote Photos by Charles Wood
- Coyote Settles the South by John Lane
- Coyote Tracker
- Coyote Watch Canada
- COYOTECOEXISTENCE FACEBOOK
- CoyoteCoexistence Facebook (alternative link)
- COYOTECOEXISTENCE.COM
- Coyotes As Neighbors: Video
- Coyotes, wolves, cougars. . forever
- Coyoteyipps INSTAGRAM
- Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research
- FACTS MATTER, #resist (STOP TRAPPING)
- History of San Francisco's Native Plant Program, NAP
- How To Coexist With Wild Coyotes — From SF's Own 'Coyote Whisperer'
- International Consensus Principles for Ethical Wildlife Control
- Mapping Expansion of Coyotes Across the American Continent
- Melanie Furr: America vs. the Coyote
- Micromanagement of Nature Benefits Few Animals
- NapRap
- Rat Poisons Are Harmful
- Save Mount Sutro Forest
- Saving Trees In The Bay Area
- SF Coyotes PODCAST 2/2020
- SFForest.Net
- The Need For Wildness, by Tara Lohan
- The Woman Who Follows Urban Coyotes
- This is a denning site
- Urban Coyotes Have Lives
- URBANWILDNESS.COM
- Wild Dog Foundation
- WildCare: Live Well With Wildlife
- Wildlife Services: License to Kill
Published Articles & Recap
- A View Transformed: from fear to understanding
- Bay Nature Connections Interview
- Bay Nature: Raising Kids In The City
- Beware of the Alpha, by Molly Hetherwick
- Ciudadanos Coyotes: Vamos a conocerlos: Una introducción
- Coyote Behavior & Peaceful Coexistence
- Coyote Town: Leave SF's Coyotes Alone, by Julia Wong
- Coyote Whisperer Warns of Coyote Encounters During Pupping Season
- Coyotes: Beyond The Howl
- EXHIBIT: Coyotes, Beyond the Howl
- Family First: Wily Coyote's Here to Stay, by Linnea Due
- How To Coexist With Wild Coyotes — From SF's Own 'Coyote Whisperer'
- How to get Along With Coyotes As Pups Venture Out, Bay Nature
- How To Handle A Coyote Encounter: A Primer
- Inside A Coyote Family
- Janet Kessler: The Urban Coyote Watcher, by Leath Tonino
- Keep Our Coyotes Safe & Wild
- Making Peace With Coyotes by Tripp Robbins
- On First-Name Basis With San Francisco Coyotes
- Pacifica: Neighbors in the Night
- Photographer's Raccoon Adventure in GGPark
- Recap: My Position Regarding Coyotes
- Reservoir Coyotes, by Tom Molanphy
- San Francisco Residents Coexisting With Coyotes, by Robin Hindery
- SF Coyotes PODCAST 2/2020
- SF's "Coyote Lady", SacBee
- Sharing Bernal Hill With Our Coyote: A User's Guide
- The Bernal Hill Coyote is a Female and Human "Kindness" Could Kill Her
- The Coyote Whisperer, by Shelby Carpenter
- The Need For Wildness, by Tara Lohan
- The Need for Wildness, by Tara Lohan
- The SF resident documenting coyote population
- The Woman Who Follows Urban Coyotes
- Urban Coyotes Have Lives (PDF version)
- Wildlife In Focus: Coyotes
- YIPS & HOWLS EXAMPLES
Download & Print Flyers
- Como espantar a un coyote para que se vaya
- Conflictos con coyotes
- Coyote Advisory from our video
- Coyote Coexistence & Dogs
- Coyote Facts & Fiction
- Coyotes Playing With Dogs
- FACTS MATTER, #resist (STOP TRAPPING)
- Farms and Ranches: the Futility of Killing Coyotes as a Management Tool
- Guía Para Coexistir Con Coyotes Urbanos
- Guidelines For Coexistence
- How To Handle A Coyote Encounter: A Primer
- Killed By Rat Poison – Flyer
- Sign in CHINESE: 土狼警讯
- Sign in SPANISH: ALERTA COYOTE
- Sign: Coyote Advisory
- Simple Rules for Coexistence
- This is a denning site
- Trilingual Video Poster
- Truth About Coyote Conflicts
- 共存简要守则 – Guidelines in Chinese
Web Advocacy and More
- Anticoagulant Intoxication Fact Sheet
- Aversion Conditioning by Lesley Sampson
- Beware of the Alpha (PDF), by Molly Heatherwick, 3/15/2023
- Beware of the Alpha, by Molly Hetherwick
- Caught On Camera: Presidio Coyotes
- Citizen Coyote: Let's Get To Know Them: An Introduction
- Ciudadanos Coyotes: Vamos a conocerlos: Una introducción
- Cook County, Illinois, Coyote Project
- Coyote Lives In Maine
- Coyote Photos by Charles Wood
- Coyote Settles the South by John Lane
- Coyote Tracker
- Coyote Watch Canada
- COYOTECOEXISTENCE FACEBOOK
- CoyoteCoexistence Facebook (alternative link)
- COYOTECOEXISTENCE.COM
- Coyotes As Neighbors: Video
- Coyotes, wolves, cougars. . forever
- Coyoteyipps INSTAGRAM
- Eastern Coyote/Coywolf Research
- FACTS MATTER, #resist (STOP TRAPPING)
- History of San Francisco's Native Plant Program, NAP
- How To Coexist With Wild Coyotes — From SF's Own 'Coyote Whisperer'
- International Consensus Principles for Ethical Wildlife Control
- Mapping Expansion of Coyotes Across the American Continent
- Melanie Furr: America vs. the Coyote
- Micromanagement of Nature Benefits Few Animals
- NapRap
- Rat Poisons Are Harmful
- Save Mount Sutro Forest
- Saving Trees In The Bay Area
- SF Coyotes PODCAST 2/2020
- SFForest.Net
- The Need For Wildness, by Tara Lohan
- The Woman Who Follows Urban Coyotes
- This is a denning site
- Urban Coyotes Have Lives
- URBANWILDNESS.COM
- Wild Dog Foundation
- WildCare: Live Well With Wildlife
- Wildlife Services: License to Kill
TRANSLATION
Archives
- April 2024 (4)
- March 2024 (6)
- February 2024 (4)
- January 2024 (4)
- December 2023 (4)
- November 2023 (4)
- October 2023 (4)
- September 2023 (5)
- August 2023 (3)
- July 2023 (4)
- June 2023 (5)
- May 2023 (5)
- April 2023 (7)
- March 2023 (4)
- February 2023 (4)
- January 2023 (3)
- December 2022 (5)
- November 2022 (6)
- October 2022 (4)
- September 2022 (6)
- August 2022 (8)
- July 2022 (5)
- June 2022 (6)
- May 2022 (8)
- April 2022 (6)
- March 2022 (4)
- February 2022 (4)
- January 2022 (6)
- December 2021 (4)
- November 2021 (5)
- October 2021 (6)
- September 2021 (4)
- August 2021 (6)
- July 2021 (5)
- June 2021 (6)
- May 2021 (5)
- April 2021 (6)
- March 2021 (5)
- February 2021 (5)
- January 2021 (5)
- December 2020 (6)
- November 2020 (4)
- October 2020 (7)
- September 2020 (5)
- August 2020 (5)
- July 2020 (5)
- June 2020 (6)
- May 2020 (5)
- April 2020 (6)
- March 2020 (7)
- February 2020 (9)
- January 2020 (7)
- December 2019 (6)
- November 2019 (5)
- October 2019 (5)
- September 2019 (5)
- August 2019 (6)
- July 2019 (5)
- June 2019 (6)
- May 2019 (6)
- April 2019 (6)
- March 2019 (5)
- February 2019 (6)
- January 2019 (6)
- December 2018 (6)
- November 2018 (6)
- October 2018 (8)
- September 2018 (6)
- August 2018 (6)
- July 2018 (10)
- June 2018 (7)
- May 2018 (7)
- April 2018 (8)
- March 2018 (5)
- February 2018 (5)
- January 2018 (9)
- December 2017 (7)
- November 2017 (6)
- October 2017 (7)
- September 2017 (6)
- August 2017 (6)
- July 2017 (8)
- June 2017 (7)
- May 2017 (9)
- April 2017 (8)
- March 2017 (5)
- February 2017 (6)
- January 2017 (6)
- December 2016 (6)
- November 2016 (5)
- October 2016 (5)
- September 2016 (5)
- August 2016 (5)
- July 2016 (6)
- June 2016 (6)
- May 2016 (5)
- April 2016 (5)
- March 2016 (5)
- February 2016 (5)
- January 2016 (4)
- December 2015 (6)
- November 2015 (6)
- October 2015 (8)
- September 2015 (6)
- August 2015 (6)
- July 2015 (7)
- June 2015 (6)
- May 2015 (7)
- April 2015 (6)
- March 2015 (6)
- February 2015 (6)
- January 2015 (7)
- December 2014 (6)
- November 2014 (7)
- October 2014 (9)
- September 2014 (7)
- August 2014 (7)
- July 2014 (7)
- June 2014 (7)
- May 2014 (8)
- April 2014 (7)
- March 2014 (9)
- February 2014 (7)
- January 2014 (8)
- December 2013 (7)
- November 2013 (9)
- October 2013 (11)
- September 2013 (8)
- August 2013 (7)
- July 2013 (13)
- June 2013 (12)
- May 2013 (9)
- April 2013 (6)
- March 2013 (8)
- February 2013 (8)
- January 2013 (9)
- December 2012 (9)
- November 2012 (8)
- October 2012 (15)
- September 2012 (12)
- August 2012 (14)
- July 2012 (8)
- June 2012 (12)
- May 2012 (11)
- April 2012 (8)
- March 2012 (9)
- February 2012 (10)
- January 2012 (8)
- December 2011 (9)
- November 2011 (10)
- October 2011 (15)
- September 2011 (10)
- August 2011 (25)
- July 2011 (22)
- June 2011 (22)
- May 2011 (14)
- April 2011 (13)
- March 2011 (15)
- February 2011 (20)
- January 2011 (30)
- December 2010 (33)
- November 2010 (39)
- October 2010 (38)
- September 2010 (48)
- August 2010 (35)
- July 2010 (63)
- June 2010 (39)
- May 2010 (28)
- April 2010 (18)
- March 2010 (16)
- February 2010 (16)
- January 2010 (24)
- December 2009 (26)
- November 2009 (18)
- October 2009 (7)
- September 2009 (3)
- July 2007 (1)
Coyote Yipps 
Sep 16, 2012 @ 04:53:41
That’s amusing!
Sep 16, 2012 @ 16:08:33
Very funny and a great capture of some “private” behavior!