A recent scare:
I was given a report that a coyote was picked up, DOA, from 101 at Cesar Chavez on September 27th. That’s Scout’s territory. For eleven days after that I did not see her, nor did most of the folks who know her, and we were coming to the conclusion that we might have lost her: the scare has always been that she would be hit by a car. She often is gone for several days, but not for almost two weeks, except the one time she was driven away by a territorial challenger. As I stated in a previous posting, Deb Campbell, spokesperson for ACC, said that 20 coyotes have been picked up this year hit by cars — more than ever before — and the year isn’t even over yet — and there are probably others that have not been reported to ACC. But Scout finally re-appeared on October 8th, so all is well. . . . for now. . . maybe. The coyote who was killed turns out to have been one of her yearlings who we have not seen since that time. Life can be brutally short for some coyotes, be it in urban setting with cars, or in the wild-wild where they are subject to guns. I’ve seen coyotes live to be 12 years old here in the city, but I’ve also seen lives cut short by cars at 4, 5 and 6 years of age. In captivity, a coyote’s natural lifespan is 14 to 16 years.
I say “maybe” about all being well for Scout, because she was absent for a reason. There is always a reason for any change in behavior. When I finally did see her, she moved slower than usual, with her weight heavy on her bones rather than tightly strung. She looked on the worn, stiff, and older side of things. She walked a little, then lay down in the sun and closed her eyes. Hopefully, whatever is affecting her will pass quickly. Her mate and another yearling son stayed with her as I watched her. This isn’t to say that she didn’t engage in some energetic protective behavior when it was needed that day. She in fact tried repelling a dog who has chased her in the past: she started by approaching and sitting on a path nearby to where the dog and owner were. The owner was exercising. This didn’t produce any results so she began slowly pacing towards the dog, who then chased her, as has happened before. She fled and howled in distress afterwards — so some things never change in spite of other adversities. This is pupping season and coyotes are very protective of their turf and their pups. And in this instance, she was being proactively protective. It’s always best to walk away from them to keep the peace, especially if you have a dog.
So, why might she have been absent for eleven days? I don’t think we’ll ever know exactly what happened, but we do know that something happened or is still going on: maybe she had a mild scrape with a car or other physical trauma; maybe she became ill due to parasites or something else. Maybe her infamous feeder has lured her to another spot? Or maybe she’s just not feeling up to par. I’ve noted that coyotes keep themselves hidden when they feel unwell or unfit and vulnerable.
So that is her very latest news. But how has she been doing previous to this, since she met her new companion in early 2020 when I last wrote about her? I’ve put together an update from that point to the present below, and will soon write a short synopsis of her earlier life for those who haven’t followed her story on my blog here.
Update since she met her new companion:
Scout’s six month exile during the first half of 2019 involved her evading the territorial challenger who pursued her relentlessly throughout the city as she, Scout, attempted over and over again to return to HER hill. That territorial challenger eventually found greener pastures elsewhere and that’s when Scout was finally able to return and re-occupy her territory in June of 2019. But the companion who had produced so much joy for her, Hunter, did not return: during her tumultuous exile, he had moved on to a life without her which can be read about here. Scout remained a loner for months, picking up where she had left off six months earlier, except that her short-lived male companion was no longer around.
Then, in the late fall, I could sense from her sudden renewed energy that something new was brewing. A change in behavior is always caused by *something*: she was more alert and aware than she had been for a while, more ready to *jump-to*. Towards the end of the year I fleetingly glimpsed another coyote several times. Oh, no! Might this be another challenger? She didn’t deserve another such ordeal. OR, might it be a newcomer male who was working his way into this territorial situation and possibly into Scout’s trust? Whoever it was, that coyote was being very secretive.
In February of 2020, I saw Scout run off excitedly and enthusiastically to something that was attracting her again. I thought, here we go again, someone is feeding her: people feeding her has been one of the biggest problems that has impacted her behavior. But, no. She returned in only a few minutes, and a minute after that there appeared a new guy coyote in her wake! She obviously was smitten with him and seemed to be showing him off. As we watched, she went up and groomed him warmly and affectionately, as if introducing him: “this is my new fella”, while he warily took in the situation surrounding himself and then fled the scene quickly. Scooter became her mate. Scout never displayed the same intense camaraderie towards Scooter as she had shown for her first *love*, Hunter, but, hey, she was older and been through the wringer which caused her to grow up substantially from the carefree, happy-go-lucky spirit she had been earlier.
Scooter stuck around for Scout, and they had their first litter that Spring — that was last year, in 2020.
I stayed away from the pupping area, but did capture the following time-lapse video showing a feeding situation; and here, at 11 weeks, the pups are preparing to move out of their birthing den area: Out of the Playpen.
Initially I counted four pups. The den was hidden in a highway right-of-way behind a fence — my camera was placed on that fence-line. It was an extremely noisy — at times deafening with the roaring sound of the traffic — location, but it was not an area visited by dogs or people, and that’s what coyotes want. Soon, only three pups appeared in the field camera: coyote pup survival rate is notoriously low. So three survived to become full sized coyotes. The youngsters have fortunately been more wary and elusive than Scout, as has their dad, her mate. Two of the male youngsters remained in the family, but as of the end of September one had been killed by a car so now only one remains as part of the family.
I became less concerned with Scout once she had a family because suddenly she had something to occupy her time. She began minding her own business rather than engaging people for food, chasing cars, or seeking human attention with her play. Over time, she reverted to some of these previous behaviors, but generally she found her niche in her family.
Issues from the past continued with dogs constantly chasing her and her family, and people feeding her which drew her into the street. To these behaviors, we can add her new protectiveness towards her pups, which increased issues with dogs. Please leash your dog and walk away from the coyotes which works superbly for preventing negative encounters.
This year in April, Scout gave birth again, and again it was behind a fence where dogs could not go, this time at a reservoir. Within weeks though, the Water Department went around blocking most of the under-fence openings that the coyotes used — this is because of the school nearby — so at six weeks of age, on June 1st, the pups were moved to another location only a few blocks away where they have remained ever since.
At this point in time, the pups are six months old, and size-wise could be mistaken for adults, but their behaviors are still very juvenile. Each pup is unique, with her/her own personality. Some are shy, some bolder, some are more solitary while the others are gregarious and competitive, some are more exploratory, whereas others are more careful. All the youngsters like picking on Sister. They are all curious. The two yearling brothers born last year spent a lot of time feeding, babysitting, disciplining and playing with the younger ones: raising youngsters is a family effort. As I said, one of those yearlings was killed by the car on September 27th.
Since a photo is worth a thousand words, here is a gallery of them, showing snippets of what’s been going on with Scout and her family over the last two years. You can click on any of the square photos to enlarge them and then scroll through them all. There have been lots of changes in Scout’s life, but there also have been some defining constants, and these include her steadfast determination and her intense psychological involvement which she now directs towards her family, as depicted in this first photo showing her adoration for one of her pups. Another constant, an unfortunate one imposed by her human neighbors as seen in the photo at the bottom of the page, is people feeding the coyotes, especially along the streets, which causes the coyotes to hang around and beg for more, chase cars, approach people, approach pets.
Dad carries some food to the pups. 
Yearling babysits the pups 
Ravens as coyotes, are scavengers: where you find one, you’ll find the other. 
Hunting and eating a natural meal! 
Coyotes trek through their territories which includes the neighborhoods in the evening: this is perfectly normal coyote behavior. 
Nightlife is full for coyotes — that’s when they are most active.. 
Grooming of the youngsters is a daily occurrence: it helps tighten bonds and keeps them healthy. 
Pup and yearling brother. 
Dog allowed to chase the coyotes is firmly messaged by Dad — this is a denning area. 
Coyotes are always interacting with each other: here Scout and Scooter give tentative approval to each other. 
Sibling rivalry escalates as the pups get older and leads to dispersal. 
Coyotes have intense interpersonal lives: Dad is disciplining a youngster here. 
Scout shows Scooter who’s boss. 
Frisbee, anyone? Pups love their found toys. 
Mom with a half-grown youngster. 
Tail pulling is part of play . . . . until one day when it may turn vicious. 
Growing pups love playing four-way tug of war. 
Complaining after being chased by a dog 
Dad (Scooter) messages a dog to keep away 
Two pups interact with Mom (Scout) 
Scout with a 6 week old pup 
lactating Scout 
Dogs who go after the coyotes could easily be nipped. Please don’t allow your dogs to chase them. 
There’s plenty of natural food for coyotes: here a gopher is caught and eaten
These almost full grown pups are jumping over or even onto each other as they play exuberantly 
Grabbing a brother’s leg as they energetically play and run – six month old pups 
More intense play at 6 months of age
Please know that these youngsters living on this almost two-square mile territory will eventually disperse if they survive the car traffic and other hazards of city life, including rat poison, and the territory will remain in the hands of the two alpha-parents until they either die or are no longer able to defend it from a younger pair of challenger coyotes. Before Scout arrived in 2016, the land had been owned by a family whose last member was killed by a car. In 2019 a dispersing female almost took over the territory. We’ll have to wait and write Scout’s continuing history as it happens.
The story of coyotes is incomplete without saying something about the humans and our unique psychologies who interface with them. People have very strong feelings about them: some are fearful of them and want them gone, whereas others have a need to love and “help” them without realizing the harm they are actually causing. We really need to leave them alone. People can be educated to help them cope with their fears, be they real or imagined, and they can be educated to know about the detriments of feeding, which cause coyotes to hang around, including in the streets where the food is often tossed, chase cars, stop cars, and approach people. their hanging around also creates more potential for conflict with dogs. We humans are behind what the coyotes become.
Coyotes learn to approach cars by being tossed food from them. 
Dogs and coyotes don’t mix well: please walk away from them. 
Feeding draws coyotes into the streets where they could get hit by cars, and they are more likely to react to dogs.
The saddest development is to see Pepper, a six-month old pup of Scout’s now hanging around the street and slurping up food behind a guardrail where it was left for him and his family. These coyotes would be better off hunting than hanging around or searching for food on the shoulder of roadways:
I’ll soon write a synopsis of Scout’s life for those who haven’t been following her story here.
Coyote Yipps 
