April | 2014 | Coyote Yipps

Squawk! A Warning Call for All Forest Dwellers Within Earshot

30 Apr 2014 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, harassment by other animals

In a forest there is always some animal that calls out warning alarms when they sense trouble or danger lurking in the area. The cries serve to broadcast alarm to all citizens of the forest within earshot. Other species besides just their own learn how to read these cries of alarm, including me! Among others, ravens, flickers and blue-jays send out cries of alarm.

And that’s how I found coyotes today. Hearing a blue-jay squawk obsessively, I thought a coyote might be around, and sure enough, I was right. I ran towards where the sound was coming from, where I found the jay single-mindedly belting out its “beware, beware” admonition. And then I spotted a coyote close by. The coyote hurried off a little distance when it saw me and then stopped on a rock to scratch himself. Within a minute another coyote joined him. They allowed me to watch them for a moment, and then one, and then the other, hurried off into the bushes.

The fun part was being summoned to what was going on by the especially distressed squawking of the blue jay, and being right about what the commotion was about!

It’s Baby Coyote Season

23 Apr 2014 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, wildlife rehabilitation

At this time of year, youngster coyotes are being found and taken to wildlife rehabilitation centers. Most of them need to be left where they are: coyote parents leave their youngsters for long stretches of time as they themselves go off hunting. If you see what you think is an abandoned coyote pup, leave it in place, but check on it for 24 hours. You’ll be surprised at how, in most instances, parents soon return to continue their parenting. Only after a period of 24 hours, if there is no sign of a parent, should you consider interfering in the situation.

This young pup was brought into a rehabilitation center several weeks ago. Listen to his tiny vocalizations, recorded when he was only a few days old. The photo was taken more recently — he’s already been weaned from his formula and is growing fast!

If you would like to donate to help defray the expenses of raising this orphan, please visit the AWARE website. They can use any contributions you are willing to make.

“Didn’t Mom Tell You Not To Play With Your Food?” & Dad Steals The Meal

18 Apr 2014 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in "toying" with prey, coyote behavior, coyotes, family interactions, father coyote behavior, feeding, parenting, social interactions

This was absolutely entertaining to watch today! Little female yearling wanders off to hunt from the area where her Dad had stationed himself to keep an eye on things. She works hard and is extremely patient, which pays off: she succeeds in catching some prey after about 15 minutes of intense effort, and immediately kills it.

Instead of eating the prey right away — an indication that she was not terribly hungry — she plays with her catch for a few minutes, tossing it up in the air, catching it, pouncing on it, and generally just having fun. “Didn’t Mom tell you not to play with your food?” A friend of mine suggested this might be a good descriptive title for this posting.

When I was a kid, if you could get away with it, much more fun than eating was to see how high you could stack the peas, form a dam in the potatoes and break it so the gravy would run out, make the chicken wing work, organize the carrot sticks in geometrical patterns, spread everything around so it looked like you had eaten most of it. “Don’t play with your food” we were told, but no reason was ever given.

Today I noted that there might be something to that rule! Within a few minutes, Dad came walking over from his lookout post. “There’s Dad! I’ll show him what I can do!” The youngster tossed the prey high up in the air one last time and tumbled over in the process, with Dad watching and closing in. The prey flew up in the air and landed on the other side of Dad.

: Dad approaches

: Dad eyes the prey

: “Look, Dad, at what I can do!”

: Daughter tumbles over

: Hmmm, the prey is over there.

: Dad goes for it and gets it.

We all know that coyotes are opportunistic, and here was an opportunity! Dad grabbed the food that had been tossed and ran off with it! And he ate it up! The thief!! Might there be a moral to the story?

: Dad dashes away with what is now his.

: Dad increases the distance

: Daughter comes to watch

: Daughter watches him eat

: Dad scratches himself on a bush

: All is forgiven. Daughter grooms Dad to show there’s no ill will.

And the youngster watched, somewhat bewildered! Dad then scratched himself by pushing his back against the stiff branches of a bush, and then both coyotes headed over to where the prey had been found in the ground. But there was nothing else to be had from that location. Ahh, that’s life!

The youngster turned to Dad and began grooming him. All appeared to have been forgiven, and maybe even forgotten! The female hadn’t been hungry anyway, right?! Then, they both headed off into the bushes.

Farming With Coyotes In Maine — Geri Vistein

13 Apr 2014 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, farming and ranching

My Coyote Yipps blog concentrates on urban coyotes: on coyotes and their behaviors which one might encounter in an urban environment. But coyotes also live in areas with ranches and farms where there is a need to protect livestock. The solution to most issues with coyotes, usually, is mass killings of these animals. It’s a never ending cycle, because, of course, new animals come to fill the niches vacated by those who have been killed, so the cycle of blood baths continues year after year.

But there are better solutions that are more effective, more humane and good for everyone, including coyotes, livestock and farmers and ranchers.

Geri Vistein has created a fantastic Facebook page, Farming with Coyotes in Maine. Geri, with the rest of us, is trying to increase awareness and promote management practices that don’t involve killing. Please visit her page, even if you are not in the ranching or farming business: https://www.facebook.com/FarmingwithCoyotesinMaine. Here are her three most recent posts!! Thank you Geri!!

1) A Child Shall Lead Them ~ posted April 2nd, is about a children’s book written by Jonathan London.

2) One of Our Farmers Shared With Me an Excellent Conversation She Had With Her Resident Coyotes ~ posted March 28th, talks about an electric fence the farmers built.

3) Coyotes Miss Nothing In Their World! ~ posted March 15th, is about using guardian animals to protect livestock.

“Love the Good Earth”, by Cathy Carey

08 Apr 2014 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in Uncategorized

“Love the Good Earth”, 30″, by Cathy Carey

Cathy has painted in oil another fabulous coyote in her garden using her amazing signature pallet of bright colors. This one is entitled “Love the Good Earth”. I hope folks recognize “the” coyote on the Coyote Yipps site!

“This oil painting is another from the view I had one morning of a coyote in our upper garden. I thought she looked like the Mother of the pack. I used with permission photos from the “Coyote Yipps” Blog by Janet Kessler. I have been experimenting with adding words to my paintings, and this is the first where I did it purposefully. It was first suggested to me from Karen Lane who saw the word “Joy” in my painting – “Reaching Out”. I loved the idea of the organic meaning of the painting being part of the foliage and succulents. Look for “Love” under the coyote to the right, and “the Good Earth” on lower right. See it?” To view more of my work online visit: www.artstudiosandiego.com

Male Yearling Accepts Submissive Role In Order To Stay With Family Pack

03 Apr 2014 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote parenting, family interactions, father coyote behavior, father/pup learning, hierarchy, parenting, pupping

Father to the left, daughter in the middle facing us, submitting son to the right, down.

In a previous posting I described an observation involving a father coyote and his daughter running to an area where another of the pups from the same litter was being messaged to “leave”. This seems logical since any male would be competition for the father in this territory. However, another male youngster from the same litter has been allowed to remain. The explanations I can think of are, 1) this male and the female pup have always been best friends, and 2) this male submits readily, always, when asked to. He is not a threat and won’t be unless and until he rebels against always having to submit.

: Everyone is interest in something

: Yearling male, left, is forced to walk away

: Dad growls at the male pup and this male pup buckles under

: Male youngster, left, buckling under

Here are two incidents I observed recently. In the sequence above the male youngsters moves away from a possible “disagreement”, but he is made to buckle under anyway. Below three coyotes consisting of a dad, a daughter and a son, are interested in the same thing on the ground. Daughter considers the son, her brother, in the way and grabs his snout. Dad supports her with a growl and signs to the son to hit the ground. Son hits the ground obediently.