July | 2026 | Coyote Yipps

Kinky Tail Carries On Inspiringly, by Walkaboutlou

To the left: 1st Denning Area . . . . secluded, but wolves circuit here regularly. To the right: Rendezvous area. Much more “coyote” friendly. Grasshopper, voles, berries galore. Pups can self educate and grow in skill as she comes and goes.

Good morning Janet,

I haven’t mentioned Kinky Tail a long time..Ive not been to “her people” awhile, the people who know her and local coyote 3 human generations!

She has had a very tough denning season but is on the upside of it. In the last days of her pregnancy her mate and yearling son simply disappeared. It could of been so many things. In that areas roads and vehicles are far away…But the fact that both disappeared same exact time likely point to being killed. It could of been humans or wolves. Both locally will go for coyote on sight.

So KT pupped alone. 9 NINE👀! pups.

3 days after birth she was observed hunting voles hurriedly. She established a pattern of quick vole hunting then dash back to den. She lost ALOT of weight but kept milk going. 3 weeks into it, she detected a car hit deer that died near her den. Salvation. She ate over and over. And made constant trips back and forth days, regurgitating venison to 3 week old pups. 5 days of this….the pups exploded in growth and she gained her condition.

Likely due to carrion scent…6th evening..2 wolves came. Trail cams show them going to den site. There were major vocalizations hours. Next morning..the den site was obviously dug into…but..all 9 pups came out afternoon. It was obvious Kinky Tail had skirmishes hours to save her pups. The den held out.

She moved them that day to 2 separate locations. Weeks of constant 24-7 rounds of hunting feeding grooming naps.

As of now…they are in New rendezvous area. They are hunting voles independent of her and eating berries and grasshopper. She showed them a tiny seep of water. And they are flourishing.

KT is worn and exhausted but has done it so far. Last week she was seen with a new male…and he actually seems to have moved in. He isn’t feeding pups but does tolerate their play and mobbing and chased a ranch dog away from them.

Kinky Tail has endured SO MUCH but her tiny body and cunning mind have never given up. How she managed to get 9 pups alone to rendezvous stage…is just unreal.

I try to always be open observer to wildlife and ranges.

But I love Kinky Tail. She embodies so many traits and skills and her life story is typically coyote and gobsmaking same time.

Lou

Hi Lou —

OMG, Kinky’s story is both heartbreaking and unbelievably awe-inspiring. I, too, have fallen in love with her and her story — and I think everyone who reads this will also fall in love with her if they haven’t already. Thank you, Lou, for her continuing story and update: it’s so intense, so moving, so revealing of who she is and who coyotes are as a species. It also shows how brutal her enemies are: humans who shoot them and wolves who kill them simply because they don’t want them around. 🙏 Janet

Hi Janet,

Kinky is typical of her species but still amazing. The underdog who never stays under but overcomes. They aren’t enjoyed by many. It matters little. They faced and lived among mega fauna and many human types and cultures. And outlasted all.

Kinky Tail just carries on and in the face of wolves, cougar, hunters and dogs. She is awe inspiring and humbling to think about. She is really a lesson for all coyote. And humans. Lou

Pipa Update

A coyote with a collar standing on green grass, looking towards the camera.

A coyote standing on a sidewalk, wearing a tracking collar, with a blurred green background.

This is Pipa. She’s 10 years old: born in March of 2016, and radio-collared and tagged that Fall before she was even a year old. She was labeled with a number: F06. She was the sixth out of seven to be trapped and shackled with a collar that year, and purple ear-tags were punched into her ears. One of those ear tags caused an infection, leaving her ear permanently folded over. Purple purple — PP — that’s why her name is Pipa. She now has an injured back left leg which causes her to limp. [PS: you can click on individual photos to enlarge them for viewing better]

Close-up of a coyote peering over a wooden ledge, displaying its distinctive ears and expressive eyes.

A close-up of a coyote with a tracking collar around its neck, displaying its alert expression and distinctive features.

Moving onto the photographs, you can see how coyotes age by looking at this photo taken a couple of days ago, and comparing it to the next two photos I took of her in 2020, and one taken in 2018 while she was still in her birth territory where she is babysitting her younger siblings in the Presidio.

I’ve added a photo of her sister, Petal, with the yellow ear-tags — the Presidio tagged and collared 14 coyotes from this family in 2016 and 2017, and one in 2019.

A coyote standing on green grass, looking directly at the camera.

Next is a photo of her father — he is the only member of the family who was not ear-tagged and collared. He, as an old fella, went missing from the territory in 2019, leaving his elderly mate to defend their turf against takeovers. She could not do so alone, and the territory was indeed taken over in a battle. You know the story: that was Wired and Puff who moved in. (Puff lasted only several seasons as Wired’s mate before he disappeared and was replaced by Sparks in 2020. So the history above is what transpired in the Presidio causing Pipa’s whole family to leave).

After being displaced with the rest of her family from the Presidio, Pipa wandered routinely through, among other places, Lafayette Park with her chosen mate, Blondie (last photo in the bottom row), who she is still with, before settling into their current long-owned territory where they’ve produced litters numbering 3 to 6 pups every year. Sadly, mange is something hitting them all at this stage.

Note that ALL of our coyotes have sagas worth hearing.

From my postings on Instagram, I want to add these additions:

Here is Pippa’s photo and update as of mid-March 2026: she is very pregnant and had her pups within a few days of this first photo. The next photo is Blondie taken that same week as he waits for his new litter of pups to arrive. Blondie’s history is encompassed in the next few photos, and I’ve pasted the story I wrote about him on Instagram below.

This fella is now 9 years old, and the only one of his seven siblings who still survives. Happy Birthday, Blondie!

Sister Cai2 lived 7.5 years, until the beginning of 2025 when both she and her mate contracted a bad case of mange from which they perished: she had inherited her parents’ territory at the age of two when they left. Her daughter, Galileo, now owns the territory, continuing the family line there.

Brother Hunter lived 5 years and disappeared in 2022 after his mate was killed by a car. He was living with a fractured ankle that never fully healed — caused by dogs chasing him.

Puff lived only 3 years and disappeared in 2019, probably killed by a car. He and his mate had fought for the territory they acquired.

These 4 siblings, unusually, all found and claimed major territories *within* the city limits of San Francisco: I’m lucky usually to find any youngsters at all who have found territories within the city and can count only about a dozen in 20 years. Their three other siblings were killed as pups, one by a car and two allegedly by car coolant.

Swipe for a younger version of Blondie (3 years old) — it’s hard to believe it’s the same guy because of facial scars around his eyes — but it indeed is the same fellow.

Next, as a yearling with his siblings who made it past one year of age.

Next a chart showing their dispersals to different corners of San Francisco where they each became the alpha of their own territories.

And finally, two photos of their parents in 2018: Cai and Yote in North Beach, where this family lived with their pups year after year. Blondie and his 6 littermates were born in 2017.