Wired (left) is 6 to 8 years old. Sparks (right) is four years old now and on his 2nd litter. Notice the knot on his left arm — the broken bone he sustained in 2020 healed crooked leaving him with a detectable limp.
You may recall Sparks from my update last year — it’s been a long time since I’ve updated his developing story, so I’ll do that now and recount his past.
He indeed now is the alpha male at the Presidio and has been since last year. He may even have moved into that position the year before when the then-alpha male went missing, though those pups from two years ago were probably sired before this happened. Sparks most definitely could only have moved into the alpha male position there if it had been naturally vacated because with his healing broken leg, he was in no position to fight for it.
Sparks and his now-mate, I’m told, have four pups this year — only three of whom I’ve seen so far. Whereas last year there were a number of yearlings still living with the family and passing through the den area regularly, this year I’ve seen the alpha parents as the only adults around. Not having yearlings around to help puts an extra work burden and stress on parents.
There’s a long history associated with the alpha female who I call *Wired*. Briefly, we don’t know her origins and won’t until our DNA analysis is completed, though I suspect she’s from the North Beach coyote family. She was captured in the Presidio in January 2019 where tags were punched into her ears and a bulky radio-collar was clamped onto her neck. She became famous as her story intertwined with Scout’s — another female whose territory Wired tried taking over. But Wired moved on from this saga. She found a mate and ended up fighting for the Presidio territory where the previous alpha male had somehow succumbed and his older alpha mate was unable to defend her long-time territory alone. That older alpha female was forced out and fled south where she was eventually killed by a car — as per the Presidio ecologist.
Since that time, Wired has lost both of her ear tags — probably they were ripped out by something in the environment — you can see the scars left on her ears — see square image below — but the cumbersome collar remains attached to her, along with the all the grit you can imagine under it. She is unable to scratch or groom herself under it. The collar was supposed to self-release after a year for humane reasons, but it malfunctioned and so she’s stuck with it. It is much too difficult, and probably more damaging to her to try and capture her than simply to leave her alone with the collar on at this point.
As for Sparks himself — the now alpha dad on his 2.4 square mile territory — you may recall that he fully broke a front leg when he was a year old during his dispersal. It took him more than six weeks to recover to the point where he could at least hobble/limp, albeit badly, on it — there were Good Samaritans who allowed him the safety and calm of their yard during his recovery, where he slept most of that time, and was probably in great pain. He retains a large knot on his front leg, showing the deformity that resulted in the self-healing bone, and he runs with a limp which looks to me like he still feels the injury. This disadvantage has caused him to cultivate a much stronger wariness of people and dogs than he had as a younger coyote. In fact, he tends to appear inordinately stressed when he is alerted to danger, and stands back, whereas his mate takes on the front line.
Sparks turned four this Spring. Briefly, in his Glen Canyon birth family, (see genealogy), he was one of five siblings. He was the daring one out hunting and exploring his surroundings well before the others, and not terribly concerned with people watching him. I mention this because it changed. He developed a close bond with his litter-mate sister: the two of them actually *dispersed* together, but she eventually returned to her birthplace, whereas Sparks’ trajectory took him much further away. I had seen him living on the periphery of the Presidio for a period of time and wondered why the resident coyotes were allowed this. I’m also wondering if he sensed a weakening of the then-alpha male’s condition, and was waiting for the inevitable so that he could move in.
A few months before moving to the Presidio he was harbored by the North Beach family for several weeks: I’ve always wondered if this was because they sensed his injury and his plight and therefore didn’t see him as a threat. I had never seen this before.
I’ve posted some recent photos here taken in late Spring and early Summer of this year. On the first day I returned to hopefully see them, I saw Wired grooming Sparks affectionately — he closed his eyes and soaked in her warmth: it was joyful to watch. The next day I spotted him alone high on a knoll guarding his den from afar: so he is totally ensconced in warm family life right now! See photos.
I took a series of photos of one of the pups at two months of age. A month later, you’ll see three photos of two of the pups at 3 months of age. The bottom darkish photo was taken only a few days ago: in the dark, late dusk, I watched two coyotes hurry off together for their nightly trekking activity. I thought it was the alpha parents who would have tucked-in their offspring beforehand for safety. But when I got home and actually zoomed into the photos, I saw that it was two pups heading out on their own! These youngsters are growing up quickly.
Wired affectionately grooms Sparks
Above: A two-month-old pup explores during the daytime and uses 8-inch open abandoned pipes to escape into.
Above: This most independent pup from the litter of four — we’ll call her Volt — at two months of age enjoyed her time away from the family: exploring, practicing hunting, sleeping. Each pup has his/her own preferences and personality and this one’s is coming to light early! She seems to be taking after her father. :)
Above: Pup buddies a month later at 3 months of age, slurping up the morning dew and just being with each other. These are the two that headed out alone together, depicted below..
ADDENDUM of August 8th: Four pups at four months of age, with the den moved to a new location:
