Irony, by Walkaboutlou

Hello Janet,

Spring is in full swing here as calves and lambs and kids are all over ranges. The birds of prey are nesting and all over animals are prepping for young or starting to raise them.

Coyote wise it’s been the quietest we have ever seen or witnessed.

It’s ironic that I think all of us want more wildlife. More balance. More natural lands. But when we get them, it isn’t always what we expect.

We slowly have realized, the reason we aren’t hardly seeing or hearing our customer hillsides of Coyote is…they aren’t here any longer.

Wolves are.

Wolves have established multiple packs in our areas. And this is a game changer if you are a wild canid.

Before I start, I’m not speaking against wolves nor am I making any suggestions for “wildlife management”.

But wolves change the scene because that is what they do literally to survive and raise pups.

It was a slow realization for us the past few weeks. The consistent coyote chorus of individuals and territorial packs…dwindled. Now they are sporadic and very scattered.

Trail Cams, tracking and a lot of studying and listening helped us realize, a pack of 5-7 resident wolves are now here. Such a pack can claim vast areas.

They need these areas to get enough meat to sustain pack and pup survival. So without invoking emotions we relearn wolf biology and math.

5-7 wolves. Each one 80 to over 100 lbs. Each needing a great deal of meat and space. With pups coming.

Wolves and Coyote are…normally…enemies. Wolves absolutely will hunt down adult coyote or displace them. Some wolves dig up coyote dens. They scatter coyote. The coyote respond by being coyote. Faster. Scatter. And quieter in some ways. Some coyote scavenge wolf kills. It’s very dangerous.

It’s natural. It’s nature. But admittedly…its learning to accept a new Top Dog.

With the exception of Kinky Tail young female we knew of…all the other coyote we used to hear…stopped. They may have been killed. They may have left. Trail Cams show weekly 1-7 different wolves trotting thru. They don’t stay. But are performing hunting and territory patrols. Any canine found by them…lone ranch dog, coyote, fox, is in mortal danger if they don’t quickly escape. It’s 101 wild candid biology.

It doesn’t mean coyote are wiped out. But…there are way less of them. And the ones that remain are covert coyote indeed.

Kinky Tail left BOTH former denning areas this spring and seems to have pupped ironically close to a Ranch though she’s safe. They won’t bother her. Wolf tracks regularly are seen in the cliff areas, hence likely her decision.

Her mate has been feasting days on 2 road killed deer that were taken by humans to woods. (Ranch dogs like deer too hence deer are removed to woods)

He’s obviously bring her venison and burying it all about. A brook revealed Kinky drinking ravenoulsy and deflated to pre preggo proportions.

We wish them best.

So…Irony. A lot of people say they want wolves. But I think Coyote would say different lol. Still..we are seeing yet another aspect of Coyote adaptation. They’ve been dealing with wolves millennia until last 100 plus years.

Take care Happy Spring

Lou