I’ve just been made aware of this coyote song by a family friend of Mossy’s and a coyoteyipps follower, Dave McCabe. The lyrics, melody, singing and guitar are all Mossy’s — she wrote Alaskan folk songs: her story can be read here: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/14/arts/music/mossy-kilcher-northwind-calling.html. Her album has been out for many years, but for those who have never heard it and might be interested . . . .
Slide Talk: Citizen Coyotes of San Francisco
12 Jun 2024 Leave a comment
This slide presentation has been scheduled well in advance, two and a half months down the road, but I wanted to give a thumbs up to those who have been asking me about it. I’ll post this again as the date approaches. Note that reservations are required, so if you really want to go, you should sign up. Below is the write-up the Library has for me, or press the link above to read it directly from their site:
Janet “The Coyote Lady” Kessler is a self-taught naturalist who has spent nearly two decades conducting daily field research documenting urban coyote behavior and family life. In this presentation, Kessler will share her first-hand information, compassion and love for the animals.
Kessler will discuss where they are, who they are and how to get along. She will also describe what to expect if you have a dog and you encounter a coyote. This talk will include events in the lives of a pair of coyotes who lived in the immediate vicinity of the Park Library.
Documenting her experiences with a camera, Kessler has come to know and identify most of the coyotes and their families here in San Francisco. Recently, she has been able to map the general extent of each of their territories and some of their dispersal here in the City. Kessler has collaborated with Dr. Benjamin Sacks’ genetic lab at UC Davis where the DNA from scat she collected is being analyzed.
Please visit www.coyoteyipps.com and https://www.instagram.com/coyoteyipps/ to learn more about Kessler’s work with coyotes.
Reservations required: (415) 355-5656
Typical Yet Surprising, by Walkaboutlou
08 Jun 2024 1 Comment
Hi Janet,
It’s technically late spring but we are in summer mode, and so are local coyote. One single mom we know of has typically picked unlikely spots raising her 5 pups.
Her 1st pick to birth was a dried log jam by a creek. She spent about 3 weeks here.
Then she moved pups about a mile to a road maintenance quarry, and kept pups in discarded drainage pile. Why and how this pile of rusted metal made sense…she knows. But it provided a safe labyrinth for her growing pups.
Presently their late spring rendezvous is now…a cattail marsh. You cannot enter it without knowing the maze of little islands and tussocks. It’s mud is deep, smelly and full of leeches. However..within that green shield there are sizeable little islands, dry and formerly used by ducks to nest.
When we become aware of denning areas we leave them for weeks to come. We have a whole region to pick and choose areas, and a lone mom raising pups on voles and mice from scorched lands..is admirable and has my empathy.
Never saw log jams, junk pile or marsh used to raise pups. But she’s got a healthy litter that says her choices were sound if even unpredictable.
Lou
