Hi Janet,
Hope you are wintering well. It’s been a very mild winter here. Hardly any snow.
We did fenceline checks and found the scraps of an older dead buck. The landowners knew of him via trail cams and sightings. He came to this property about a month ago. He had been shot on public land, escaped here, and was healing, but very weak.
Trail cams and sightings also verified he was followed by local coyote pair, especially the male. These coyote scavenge deer who make woods after vehicle collisions. OR…they have also taken deer injured by cars or hunters. It’s just another facet of Coyote.
There is NEVER a situation really where one can say Coyote never or Coyote always do this or that. They vary in behaviors widely. It’s very situational. So…this buck was taken. The ground showed his last struggles. And the Coyote pair and pup feasted.
Another aspect of uniqueness-2 other coyote packs eventually came and ate. The coyote here maintain territory…but if a large prize dies, (deer or cow) surrounding packs or pairs or nomads DO come in temporarily. The landowner says sometimes it’s deceptive-locals swear there is a mega pack, but no. It’s local packs disputing.
Among the trespassers were Kinky Tail and her Mate and 2 large pups. [Readers, please type “Kinky Tail” into the search box of this blog for a handful of stories about this small intrepid female coyote!]
So…a local pair that take down compromised deer. And local packs converging on each other’s territory if a large feast is on the ground.
Take care,
Lou
PS-the youngsters tend to seek other youngsters during parents forays into other’s areas. The landowner thinks this is how many meet future partners.
The deer, coyote, wolves, cougar, and working dogs, all use same trails. Thus all the local dogs and coyote and passing wolves, know each other’s scent. After 2 days and several packs of local coyote, very little left. Wolves leave NOTHING but rumen and hair. Coyote take longer and leave skeletal remains bit longer.
Jaws and Skull landowner keeping for biologist. Older buck, but his main handicaps were age but primarily, long term injury from bullet wound. The coyote trailed him off and on weeks. Then harvested him. The dogs detect and find the local going ons.But this is the coyotes and wolves homes and areas. We document and share info with local landowners trying to spread knowledge.
PS-The landowner contests many of the different packs in the 8,000 acre property, are related to degrees and sometimes can tell..who is related. He feels this has effect on behaviors…sometimes. [from Janet: I know this is true, because I can often tell when two coyotes are related, based on their looks!]
