In this video, a coyote who begins her evening trekking routine, is spotted by a dog and harassed. After sprinting to escape him, she uses her wits to avoid a face-to-face confrontation. Although the dog may look as though he’s close to the coyote’s size, the dog easily outweighs her in heft by about double.
I have read where, to escape from pursuing wolves (which weigh two to three times as much as a coyote), coyotes will run up and down hills. A coyote is light, so running up a hill doesn’t take nearly as much effort for them as for a wolf. The wolf, who needs to expend much more energy going up the hill, wears out quickly and soon gives up the chase. Coyotes are able to figure this out and use hills strategically for their advantage.
Please also note that, although the coyote was able to wear out the dog totally, it also was exhausting for the coyote. She collapsed in the grass for a long time in order to recover. This amounts to harassment of wildlife and is actually illegal. Please don’t allow your dogs to chase our urban coyotes!.
Coyote Yipps 
Jan 31, 2017 @ 16:17:33
Great footage. They are so inherently skilled. Makes me feel sad to think that many states allow “hounding”; must be so terrifying for the coyotes and should be illegal. Valiant creatures.
Feb 01, 2017 @ 20:01:33
Thanks, Gail. Yes, hounding is so medieval. The hunters obviously either don’t think, or they think of this sensitive and sentient wildlife as mindless and feelingless, akin to inanimate material, when this is, in fact, exactly what they are. :((
Jan 31, 2017 @ 20:07:32
Wow. Thank you so much for this. That dog was close to the coyote…the coyote must have been scared as well as exhausted. I felt terror watching it. My heart was racing and I could hardly breathe. Such a waste of energy when the coyote needs to conserve whatever he has taken in….for survival and hunting (particularly in winter when food is more scarce and he needs to keep himself warm!). “Showing” with video is so powerful. I hope your video has a broad reach and creates deep connections between people and wildlife.
Feb 01, 2017 @ 20:02:30
Thank you, Cindie! I hope it wakes up some people. Janet
Feb 01, 2017 @ 03:01:57
That’s very nicely done, Janet! It was hard watching it live, as it must have been for you also. I hope the owner won’t risk this happening again. My take on the nip is that she got not the tail but a haunch, but it’s hard to tell. It’s hard out there for a coyote! I’m very glad that Lily doesn’t think of pursuing them.
Feb 01, 2017 @ 19:49:06
Thanks, Mark! I agree — I think it was a nip to the haunches and not the tail. Yay, Lily!! Janet
Feb 12, 2017 @ 18:23:34
Fantastic video. Interesting strategy.
Feb 12, 2017 @ 20:27:54
Hi Jeff — They are amazingly intelligent! Janet