Food For Thought, by Walkaboutlou

29 Nov 2022 9 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyotes and human behavior

Hello Janet.

Recently I stopped by a spot to take a break with dogs. It’s country but by no means quiet. An isolated factory on one side, a major highway on other. Sandwiched between them is a strip of forest and a small swampy area.

I was literally eating lunch standing there dogs around when a blactailed doe came pronking towards us. Tongue hanging and sides heaving…she had obviously been running hard. 

She blasted away and I put my pack in a stay. These kind of things happen often out here. I thought little more. Finished lunch and walked a little. We were in a rise overseeing swampy spot when I saw her again moving strangely.

I realized..2 coyote were working her. She sought water but it wasn’t deep enough. We didn’t interfere. My pics are terrible..very far. But within a few short minutes they took her down.

Many people get mad at scenes like this. But coyote are predators. And they will rise to the occasion and hunt deer.

Terrible pics very far with phone…but..you get this gist.

Not all coyote. Many coyote are chased off and turn tail from healthy adult deer. However….

There are certain coyote that develop skills or are gifted in detecting weaknesses. Being hit by cars, being wounded by hunters and lost, being ill from various diseases or old age…many deer fall into this category regularly. 

And bring attention from these unique coyte.

A 40lb coyote isn’t a powerhouse. But they are very enduring. And some develop great hunting and fighting abilities.

I think it ironic that many people revile them..because truly…they are the most adaptable wild canid on earth.

On the other end, a farmer I used to know back east is irate with a local pack…because they enjoy his handouts.

He has been feeding deer years damaged apples from his orchard. They have food plots and apple piles off and on ensuring deer are growing to very large size. 

But they also have noticed a local pack of coyote has grown very large and healthy.

They do not bother livestock or pets.

But they sure love apple piles, clover plots, berry batches and deer offal or lost deer in Fall.

If someone wants to feed deer, (even where it’s legal) just know you are feeding and growing more coyote too.

I may have tested our acquaintance. I told him….you are growing very big coyote. Good job! 

And finally…my dogs and I remove nutria from ranches. This invasive giant rodent ruins ecological wetlands..and property. They can grow enormous and reproduce explosively. 

One spot we used to dispatch them..has seen them go down in number. Beyond our work. I was surprised to learn local coyotes have sorted them out..and harvest them now.

These are not easy prey. They send dogs to vets all the time. Yet the local coyote have added them to the prey list. We’re very grateful.

Local coyote learning to handle nutria. This is a young nutria.

Whether it’s preying on invasive giant rodents, flourishing on discarded apples or taking down compromised deer, the coyote continues to adapt and thrive in the lands we humans influence. They respond to the situations we created. And flourish.

I tell people..remember…they saw and dealt with megafauna. No problems. And We’re alot easier then a sabre cat or dire wolf. 

Lou

Updates on KinkyTail and RIP Slim Jim, by Walkaboutlou

22 Nov 2022 4 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, territorial changes, Territorial fighting, territoriality

Hello Janet, 

I’ve recieved updates on Kinkytail and as well news of Slim Jim’s peaceful death.

The 4 biology students who also are rancher’s kids and grandkids have really kept up especially with Kinkytail’s life. They have goals as not only biologists but to turn several vast ranches into one enormous bison operation. Great kids and very observant. 

Slim Jim was observed end of October very slow and wobbly. He slept in open spots not caring it seemed but usually in middle of bison or out on rocks. His daughter Kinky seemed to visit him regularly. He was seen stiffly yet successfully hunting voles though nearly 100% blind. He also..every day..still tossed sticks about briefly in play.

Early on in November Slim seemed to vanish. His vocalizations weren’t heard. And Kinkytail howled for days…one of the observer’s said “that’s stress. Thats loss”. 

On Nov 9th Slim Jim was found curled inside a rounded hay bale in fields. He seemed to have passed in sleep. He had a small stick in paws.

He was examined by the students and cremated on his land on ranch. He weighed 38 lbs and seemed in reasonable condition. All of his remaining 7 teeth were worn very low. His neck and upper spine vertebrae were deformed it seemed by traumatic injury…(likely the wolf attack nearly 2 years ago) but he healed and was mobile. If a human..wheelchair and canes would have been needed. Slim carried on. His cataracts were thick. Glimmers of light likely seen and shadows. Age likely 12-14 years. A tooth was removed to age in lab. 

The indomitable Kinkytail

Rest well Slim Jim. In his long life we only knew his latter years.His mate and pups were killed by wolves and he was injured badly. His surviving daughter Kinkytail not only survived with him..but grew up ultra advanced. Some call her mean and ruthless type. Kinky got her Mate early in life and pupped as yearling. She then came back to her old place and Slim (again). She fetched her Father when she pupped. He babysat. She seemed to check on Slim often in his little pocket of quiet. Currently..she has banished a daughter pup. She is driving off her Mate it seems. He seemed “lackluster” in helping defend turf or following passing wolves or dogs or seeing off coyote visitors. 

Older pic of Many Blows. His swelling is now reduced. He is a very scarred but powerful veteran coyote.

She is being visited often by Many Blows..an older veteran coyote who had swollen jaw months. Many Blows had 2 younger female follower..whom Kinkytail has routinely chased off. They have not been seen recently. And Many Blows keeps chasing the lackluster but confused Mate..and Kinkytail watches in approval.

Kinkytail grew up in enormous litter of two combined litters. Her older sister returned when widowed and bore her litter with her and Kinkys mom. So…

Kinky grew up with huge litter. Which attracted wolves. Her Mom and littermates wiped out, she stuck with injured Dad and grew up fast. Very intense little coyote.

Bad Ears Pack…making incursions but kept at bay.

Kinkytail will spot you and bark miles away. She trails wolves when they pass through and escorts them out. At distance. She accepts the students who watch her..and disappears on other humans.

Same with ranch dogs. She knows the locals. Including my pack. Chases strange dogs off her land.

She has an intensity and toughness surpassing any so far. Especially for one so young. She seems very strategic. All summer she has resisted the incursions and scouting of the Bad Ear Pack. All of them bear her tooth marks. It’s thought with a powerhouse like Many Blows Kinky Tail will do very well in future.

It’s always guessing with the coyote. Wild lives are tenuous and can change in literal heartbeats. But..Kinky Tails aura is no guesswork. And Slim Jim’s life was a great one indeed.

Lou

Four Coyote Myths Debunked, by Julie Zigoris of The SF Standard

19 Nov 2022 5 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote myths, newsprint

Here are some myths I’ve been writing about for some time, at last appearing in newsprint!

For more, go to: https://sfstandard.com/community/4-myths-about-sf-coyotes-debunked/

Surviving Pup is Excluded

14 Nov 2022 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in alpha pairs, care for the young, coyote behavior, coyote courting behavior, cuddling, families, family interactions, family relationships, hierarchy, social interactions

This was an eye-opening, unexpected observation. I arrived at dawn on October 30th to fog so dense that I could barely make out the outline of anything ahead of me. I was at a dog play pen and noticed what I thought were three German Shepherds meandering around. I climbed up the trail parallel to the enclosure looking for the owner of the three dogs. That’s when I encountered Ana, with her dog barking ferociously as she approached me on the trail and I wondered why. I asked her if she had seen the coyotes this morning, and she pointed to within the enclosure. The dogs in the fog had sure fooled me — they were the resident coyotes!

Most of my observations lately have involved single individuals, so I was happy to see several coyotes together for a change and hoped to record some interactions. Coyotes are highly social, so that was bound to happen. The fog and bad lighting were a problem — the “auto” focus was giving me a lot of blurr, but I managed to capture some telling activity.

I began taking still photos. The ones here show Dad, Step-mom and the single remaining pup. The pup’s sister had been killed by a car only a few weeks before. If you know coyote youngsters, you’ll know that they play with each other incessantly: they are always on top of each other, chasing, tackling, poking, teasing — life for them is one of perpetual motion. There were two pups that survived in this family until a couple of weeks ago when Sister was hit by a car and killed. So this remaining pup must feel exceptionally lonely. You would think that Mom and Dad might fill in the void, but that is not what happened as I watched. In fact, the youngster was excluded from the mated pairs fun and games.

Above you see Mom and Dad together, horsing around and teasing each other. Six-month old pup is off to the side.

Here above is the pup, reaching in their direction but not part of the play.

And here, above, he is looking on as his parents play.

The youngster attempted several times to join the fun, but they never invited him in. Instead, the parents were into their own courting play: pair-bonds are being formed and/or strengthened at this time of the year, so that’s where the focus and energy were going. In the last series of photos above, the adults end up turning on the pup angrily, snarling at him and grabbing his snout. In the last photo he snarled back at his step-mom. Below is a video of the group’s interactions immediately after the above stills were taken.

Hunters may no longer be dictating Wildlife Policy

09 Nov 2022 12 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in managing wildlife, newsprint, Uncategorized

A new philosophy is being established for how our country’s wildlife is being managed. Hunters and the NRA have always had a monopoly on decision making in this arena. But this is now changing, as explained in this article below. More environmentalists and non-hunters are entering the controversial conversation, and they want to rely on nature, in all of its glory, to balance itself more naturally, rather than massively killing predators. Please add your voice and support to the numerous organizations listed which are opposed to “managing” wildlife mostly for the benefit of hunters. I’m posting this as a follow-up to Walkaboutlou’s article on slaughter hunting. Press the long link below the photo to read the article which was published in Outdoorlife.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/in-washington-state-hunters-may-no-longer-be-necessary-to-manage-wildlife/ar-AA13Qwad?ocid=msedgntp&pc=W037&cvid=d2b15a08f3d74d0b8f8c85fddc9ef933

Repercussion of Slaughter Hunting: Survivor Coyotes, as observed by Walkaboutlou

06 Nov 2022 14 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, hunting, survival mode

A Genocide mentality

Hi Janet,

This email [won’t be liked by many readers of your site] but I wanted to share it with you. It’s hard to fathom some of the recent realizations I’ve had with some coyote hunters. But at same time it’s also developed coyote off the chart in abilities and toughness.

East of here 100 miles there are areas of enormous coyote populations. The terrain and food favor them. Also … 3 years of widespread fires have given new opportunities to coyote. 

I don’t worry about the species obviously. But it still is an effort to detach and analytically interpret the current situation area by area.

Some of these hunters are getting 30, 40, or more coyotes in less than 2 days. I find it excessive and morally repugnant. 

But then you realize … how far reaching this is to the species. I cannot adequately describe the survivor coyotes vigor and behaviors … except that they recover in populations immediately. They scatter, rally, create new packs or pairs … and thrive.

At same time … I’m sure it creates generational PTSD of sorts. Not as humans. But relatable. When a hiker or rancher says coyote came to their dog and attacked unprovoked … there are reasons.

These survivors were hunted by teams and packs of dogs accompanied by rifles, infrared rifles and more. A pack of coyote can be wiped out in moments. So the survivors saw, heard, etc… family wipeouts. The memory of aggressive dog packs … stays.

And hence why some coyote seem to act in ways seeming unfathomable.

I’ve lost some ranch property patrols due to not sharing local coyote knowledge. I don’t care really. 

Sorry to vent … but the numbers hunted as well as the behaviors it unleashes in human and coyote has been growing in ways I am still trying to grasp.

I can only take succor in knowing the coyote will absolutely overcome and thrive.

Lou

===================

Hi Lou —

Gosh, the bloodbath makes me want to cry — you have to wonder why and how this cruelty ever got so out of hand — in such a massive way. 

I know there is unbelievable hate for this animal. Even here in San Francisco, the hate boils over among certain individuals — individuals who don’t want to think, they just accept what they’ve been taught: that coyotes are vermin and need to be eradicated. People try to convince me it’s based on fear, but I don’t think so, I think it’s just hate, on the level of racial hatred in some people. Yes, occasionally, small dogs have been taken and killed by coyotes, but also by bigger dogs: one is accepted, one is not.

I’ve read where 400,000 coyotes are killed every single year here in the US, mostly by our own government “Wildlife Services” — which means that our tax dollars are supporting it. That agency works not to preserve and protect wildlife as the name somehow implies, but works at the beck-and-call of ranchers like the ones you know. 

It is known that the coyote population has not been affected at all by all this persecution: they soon make up the difference in their numbers. I’ve seen it on a small scale here in SF where an alpha male was shot by authorities (for protecting his densite), and then a newcomer male came in and bred with both the alpha female and her daughter: the stable social order was disrupted by the shooting. So this is how the population soon gets back to what it was. In this particular family, after one season, it’s back to one alpha male and one alpha female again. 

So this is exactly what you are saying, only you have an inside view of it all: the killing frenzy “among the hunters with their dog packs and infrared rifles”, and then how coyotes, amazingly, resiliently, respond: “by scattering, rallying, creating new packs and pairs and surviving.” I’m sorry you’ve lost some of your patrols. Thank you for sharing with me. The trickle-down effect of it all as you are able to see it from your immersed perspective is what’s most interesting.   :((  I myself think more people need to know about it.

Janet

=========

Hi Janet,

I think coyote hunting at this level across certain communities is at a political religious cultural biased prejudiced vibes. It is almost always by certain groups and the incredible thing is ….

It’s accepted and very enjoyed by whole communities … and that coyote actually go right back to even greater numbers. I cannot think of any predator or even mammal that can take that kind of sustained persecution save rats. And coyote are not rats.

It’s getting harder for me in some ways to go to certain places. I just do not enjoy areas that have this sort of hunting. It feels spiritually morally personally so wrong. 

And oh … yes … the trickle down is you have coyote who are ghosts … and also either stay invisible … or become really aggressive raiders. They will kill sheep goats etc..very erratically. They sometimes will surplus kill. They won’t return to any kills. They become real issues and very hard core. I have seen coyote keep to hills and jackrabbits. Then persecuted … becoming the coyote you don’t want. The pet nabbing livestock killing ghost you will never beat. In packs. People create the local coyote. Every time. I just can’t conceive how most people don’t get this fact. Leave them be: Pairs of stability. Hunt them hard: Canine chaos. I think many young men ENJOY the havoc of a predator that absolutely comes back. So it isn’t control. It’s..more of a deviant view of hunting morals. And it won’t stop.

Yes … there are people here that regularly kill scores of coyotes in mere days … and somehow … coyote return in more numbers then ever. The fires … the open areas created by fires … the relentless year round hunting..the arrival of wolves … all have caused larger packs and numbers of coyote. There is no animal as vilified or successful then they are. 

Lou

============

Hi Lou —

Yes, morally and ethically soooo gut-wrenchingly wrong. I have a question: You say there are MORE coyotes after the persecution, but I’m under the impression, based on what I’ve seen here in San Francisco, that their *territoriality* actually limits the population. Each territory here in the City is about 2 square miles, which is about half of what it is in the wild, and each of those territories is claimed by ONE family — no other coyotes are allowed in, so there’s not room for other coyotes except a very few interlopers who hang out on the periphery of territories, hoping one of the alphas who has a territory dies or loses ability to defend his turf. So where would the *more* coyotes fit in? More territories??

Janet

========

Hi Janet, 

In answer to your questions … I’m not a biologist and can only answer for what we’ve experienced regionally especially last 4 years. 

The thought and reality of territoriality is subjective to the realities of terrain and the canines there.

Your land there and ours here could be different planets.

Here … the lands are absolutely enormous for coyote. To them … without measure. And while they would like a solid territory and stable family… that simply is the exception rather then the case.

Several factors create local numbers of coyotes to increase. 1) 3 years of expansive fires have created vast open areas that within a year grow grasses…and huge populations of voles. The flush of new lands led to large litters. Then … east of us, several professional coyote hunters developed. These are not drive on dirt road take a lucky shot guys. They develop dog teams that lure in coyote for shots with high accuracy rifles. They even use infrared and night vision equipment. They literally can wipe out whole packs in moments. And they travel vast areas methodically and meticulously to hunt down any coyote anywhere.

When inevitably a coyote survives such persecution, especially if young, they scatter. They give up territorial claims in the face of overwhelming pressures. If they have seen a partner or pack wiped out they especially scatter.

Imagine dozens of coyote chaotically roaming while being hunted sometimes days or weeks or months.

When the hunters leave area or ease up, the canid diaspora settles … then you see by calls and behaviors almost a gold rush type of rapid influx. Coyote combing and marking and calling.

We also are seeing many coyote stay peripheral and semi nomadic. If a coyote is pressured by snares and traps and greyhounds and decoy dogs and distant marksman or night hunts, they simply give up any patterns of territoriality. They may prefer some areas but lay no claims definitively. You cannot claim homes when war is being waged upon you. You dont garden. You don’t set up. You eat. You rest. You move constantly.

Hence..a quiet spot gets many coyote nomads, locally flooding the scene…until spring denning time or hunting shifts everyone again. 

If this sounds chaotic..it is! And there are no hard and fast rules.

But in the face of extreme hunting, coyote become extreme. And will continue to roam rally and somehow…increase numbers even if giving up some traditional behaviors.

Lou

==========

Hi Lou —

So it’s the single youngsters who make up this chaotic group of increased numbers, and order presumably would be re-established when they pair up and claim exclusive territories. Is that wild group reproducing, and if so, where might they be hiding their pups if they don’t have protective territories? 

Janet

===============

I would think it’s yes ….mainly pups and yearlings that become nomadic in high pressure settings. Anywhere from 5 months to yearlings. Then they pair up … but the incessant hunting never ends. Never. So pairs of territorial parents just try their best to raise pups to a level of independence. High pressured packs usually are forced to fragment. Also … in some areas … nomadic coyote dont establish the typical den area. They den wherever its quiet. We’ve seen old tractors, sheds, barns, as den sites. Drains. And they move pups ceaselessly. Few days or week here. Move litters constantly here or there. 

PS-In essence … the coyote blueprint impels them to follow the canid plans. Establish territory. Pair up. Build a possible pack. 

However…

Incessant human hunting and pressures cause coyote to go into permanent evasive tactics and endless strategies. 

They do try to settle in lands. Most find it nearly impossible to live normally. So they switch into the chaotic often nomadic type of surviving until they sense a good place or time.

Ironically … some of them choose highway median stretches of grass … and have raised whole litters between highways! 

Lou