Grooming: Ticks-Be-Gone!

01 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, communication, coyote behavior, family interactions, grooming

The little coyote I had been watching ignored the faint sound of a siren in the distance, but Maeve, who was far off, began howling from the distance after hearing it. Immediately, the one I had been watching, Silver, joined in, but not for long. He resumed his hunting for awhile and then sat down to watch something in the distance. When Maeve appeared, I realized that he had been watching her approach. The howling had been used to locate each other. He aimlessly moved in her direction, it seemed, and finally met her on a path where he proffered kisses — but she seemed annoyed and shrugged him off with a strong nod of her head. Might this have been because I was there?

He then wandered off to hunt, and these two appear to have lost each other. Maeve went to a path where she sat and seemed to look for him. He, too, looked for her. They were close to each other but not aware of where the other was. So Maeve got up and began to wander, and it is then that Silver spotted her and approached her, and it is then that this grooming took place.

Grooming serves to get rid of bugs and to clean — here it looks as though ticks are being removed. Grooming also is a platform for showing affection, care, and reinforcing family hierarchy. Interestingly, she is the one who did the grooming, he did not groom her back.

“I Like You, Bunches”

01 Mar 2012 4 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, avoiding humans, coyote behavior, greetings, group activity, video

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This show of affection — almost cuddling — lasted one-and-a-half minutes. These coyotes touched noses over and over, they rubbed heads and rubbed their bodies against each other over and over, one clambored over the other, one held the other’s snout within its own — to confirm social rank, no doubt. There was communication with tip-of-the-tongue movements and display of emotion with ears down or back. There was a paw on the back and head rub along that same back. There was intense eye to eye contact. And I couldn’t  even see what their snouts were precisely doing part of the time because they were facing away from me — all I could tell was that their snouts were together in this affectionate greeting.

It began when I came upon one coyote grazing in an open field. Soon the other appeared in the distance. They became aware of each other but didn’t move towards each other at first. Then, they trotted in towards each other, and this sequence of photos is what resulted. Afterwards they continued to graze. A runner came by close enough to cause one of the coyotes to quickly bolt away several hundred feet towards some bushes. They both watched the runner go by, and then the second coyote kept its eyes on the first, as if to make sure it was okay and calm before proceeding with its grazing. These two watch out for each other. They are best friends.

More Coyote Kisses!

16 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, coyote behavior, greetings

Again, I came across coyotes ecstatically greeting each other. The greeting went on for a full minute. Most of the activity occurred behind bushes and grasses, but I was able to glimpse a little of it! Notice that the alpha coyote is always standing up, whereas the submissive coyote kisses from a lowered position, almost all the way to the ground. The greetings I’ve seen always involve lots of wiggly ecstatic affection, but greetings may also solidify social hierarchy within a group — these photos would suggest that.

ecstatic greeting with kisses

Adoration On A Foggy Day

09 Jul 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, bonds, communication, coyote behavior, family interactions, feelings & emotions, greetings

There is no other term — just look at the photos: adoration. I’ve known these particular coyotes for a while now. They have a very close relationship: a mother and her two-and-a-half year old son. The jumping for joy, touching, wiggling and squiggling, hugs and kisses were absolutely overwhelming displays of affection — it lasted about 25 seconds. This greeting was an intensely demonstrative one, though there were no accompanying squeals and whining which often go along with greetings.

Almost all of the affectionate display came from the younger male. Mom seemed just as happy to see the son — after all, she is the one that came up to him; he had been standing there and eating — but hers was less demonstrative and much more of a solid and dependable Rock-of-Gibraltar affection. This is how I saw it, based on many hours of previous observations of their behaviors.

After this intense “greeting”, they both ran off  together, and out of sight. It appeared to me that Mom had come to “fetch” the younger one — and he seemed ready to go with her, though, until she appeared, he seemed in no hurry to go anywhere. He had spent the previous hour hunting and eating a number of gophers. They both then headed for a denser growth area in order to “turn in” for the day. I did not see them again.

Family Greeting Sequence: Smothering Mom Who Then Needs To Get Away

26 Nov 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, coyote behavior, family interactions, feelings & emotions, greetings

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[24 slides]

Here is a display of strong family affection — affection for Mom from two of her full-grown pups aged 18 months at the time. Joy from the juveniles can be seen in their body movements and facial expressions as they approach her. They approach her with lowered heads in deference to her Alpha status — so the greeting is both one of love and a confirmation of their respect for her. Mom is the coyote on the far right in these photos. Mom appears to “allow” them to display this affection — but I have seldom seen her return it.

In this sequence, Mom soon tires of it all. After the first initial greeting with just one of the pups she moves off and lies down. At this point the other youth appears and both this time approached her with kisses and hugs (close body contact). She then gets annoyed at the pile up, reacting with a gaping snarl (#13) and then moves off. The younger ones follow and Mom snarls again (#17) but they offer apologetic kisses and then they all settle down now with plenty of space between each other.  This entire sequence lasted over three minutes. These photos were actually taken at the beginning of October when these displays were still going strong: the displays are not nearly as lengthy or nor as intense recently.

Love & Rigid Social Order

10 Nov 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, coyote behavior, dominant vs. submissive, group activity, hierarchy, mother/pup learning

A coyote social order is maintained by rituals which constantly confirm who fits where in a group. Here, Mom goes through the ritual of enclosing the snouts of both of her offspring, 19 months old, in her snout and the confirmation seems to be appreciated by everyone — they seem to have interjected their snouts into hers for this confirmation. The two siblings often battle — the battles are only a few seconds long, but they definitely are there. Here, sibling #2 begins to dominate, but Mom walks off at one point and shows her teeth in another. Sibling #2 keeps peace by walking under his dominating sibling’s chin. In the end, the two siblings banter amicably.

Return of a Prodigal Son: MORE Joy & Affection

11 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, bonds, coyote behavior, family interactions, feelings & emotions

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23 SLIDES IN THIS SEQUENCE

Well, he was actually right there, not far in the distance, where the other two could see him. But you wouldn’t have known this from the all-out affectionate welcome he received!! Here are more photos of an affectionate family.

Pounds of Love and Affection

25 Jun 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, care for the young, communication, coyote behavior, family interactions, feelings & emotions, greetings, group activity Tags:

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THERE ARE 39 SLIDES IN THIS SEQUENCE

I was watching two yearling coyotes when their mother appeared trotting down the path in their direction. The yearlings had been casually hunting but were now sitting on a bare spot. I wondered if they were waiting for their mother? They saw the mother first. They waited just a moment before running at her, delightedly and joyfully. They couldn’t seem to get enough of her. I have now seen this “greeting” lots of times. It is an indication of the extremely strong family ties which include lots of love, care and concern for each other.

The young coyote body movements alone communicated lots of happiness and affection: leaping, piling up, jumping right over a sibling.  In addition, there were the facial expressions and movements: kisses, mouths agape, ears back, head rubs, pint-size nips, smiles, squinting, reaching for the tip of the snout with a snout, a snout around the mothers, paw on mother’s back. Note that these actions are carried out by the young coyotes towards their mother.

The mother made her way, with all this activity, up to a safer place off the trail. She was the recipient of all the affection. Her expressions were different from theirs. I did not see her outright kiss either one of them. Her reactions included licking her lips, tip of the tongue out, tongue extended further out, squinting, ears back, and . . . .  ducking the onslaught!!

This greeting lasted just under three minutes. Beforehand the two younger coyotes had been hunting together. Now the three of them went off together, led by the mother. I have seen where she “gathers” them together to lead them off. And I have seen them engage in a play session after such a gathering. Very often, as far as I have seen, this morning meeting will signal a time for them to “go in” for the day.

Waiting, Greetings, and . . . Could It Be Just A Smile?

23 Jun 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, bonds, communication, coyote behavior

I watched a mother coyote walk around anxiously and finally settle down, up on a ledge, where she stayed. However, she remained anxious, looking around with jerking motions — she was looking for something. Finally, she got up quickly and trotted down the path to where I saw her greet another coyote. This coyote is what she had been waiting for. They kissed and rubbed muzzles — it’s not a calm greeting, it is very active and intense. This time the younger one, a male, put his paw up on his mother’s muzzle during the greeting. I thought, “whoa!” Is this some kind of sign of dominance from the younger male? The other pup — there are two and they are both males, a year old — has the habit of mounting his mother and she allows it, at least for a few minutes. I thought dominant females were, well, dominant. I wonder if she was teaching them things, or maybe keeping the family intact? Or, could there be other things going on?

After the greeting, they started walking down the path in my direction — I moved off quickly. The mother waited for the younger one to follow. My photos reveal BOTH coyotes, as they proceeded, with the exact same open mouth at the same time — it is very similar to the smile I see in the two young pups when they play. And then, a minute later, the mother again has the same open mouth/smile but this time with her nose pulled way up, as if to make sure to reveal the upper canines?  Right after this lip-raised smile, the mother stopped and “licked her lips” though she had not been eating anything. Otherwise, there were no real tongue-tips visible this time as I have seen before. I’m wondering if the open mouth, especially with the nose pulled up and back, has significance beyond the possibility of a contented smile? I’m finding that EVERYTHING, ultimately, has significance, even though I’m not able to decipher it right away!

Adoration, Kisses and Muzzle Rubs

19 Jun 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, communication, coyote behavior, greetings

There is intense muzzle rubbing and kissing when coyote family members greet each other. Often this is accompanied by enthusiastic jumps and lots of body contact. At my last observation I was in a position to watch one coyote’s purely adoring gaze as the other one approached before the muzzle rubs and kisses: that is the first photo above. The affection and ties within a coyote family are incredible.

Family, Frolicking, Folly. . . and Communication

13 Jun 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, coyote behavior, family interactions, group activity, playing

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Images speak louder than words. See for yourself! There are 65 slides — a long sequence. Mom mostly kept an eye on things as the young ones played. To note: exuberant smiling, tip of the tongue exposed, ears laid way back, wrestling with the winner on top, wrestling up on the hindlegs, chasing, stretching, yawning, rolling in smelly stuff, sniffing, watching dog walkers that didn’t see them, monitoring: the mom running to her pup’s defense — which turned out not to have been necessary, rubbing against a tree, teasing, looking up for crows, tails straight out or up, open muzzles over the other’s closed muzzle, a muzzle open onto the other’s back, annoyance, kissing apologies, nipping at legs, reaching out with a forearm, mounting, urinating on or immediately in back of mom (WHOA! Is this possession??). The mounting is performed by one coyote on both the male sibling — this is all in play — and the mother who always remained seated but seemed to allow this behavior in her pup until she got tired of it.

The playlist includes a mother and her two male pups who were born in the springtime of 2009. Of course, there is a lot more going on than playing: there is intense communication. Fighting never broke out because of the communication. The communication seemed to follow a pattern. A couple of times it seemed as if the playing was taken right to the limit of tolerance. I’m sure there was much more communication going on than what I was seeing, but I’ve noted a few things here.

I’ll give a couple of examples.  1) One coyote sniffed a spot on the ground, the second coyote joined in, the first narrowed its eyes and then bared its teeth in warning, the second seemingly communicated that no threat was intended by showing the tip of its tongue in a “semi-kiss”;

2) A coyote pup pursued the mom (look at his intense gaze — a gaze with intention), rubbing against her and watching her face for reactions, he then mounted her in a tight hug even though she stayed seated. She put up with this for a moment, then turned on him baring her teeth, but then both displayed the tips of their tongues, and he further apologized by extending his tongue even more and then actually kissing her;

3) Mom did not want to frolick with the pups — she kept her head low and her ears out to the sides “airplane ears” — but also the ears were back which could indicate anger. Notice that one of the pups reads her desires well: he studies her expressions and sticks out the tip of his tongue, then solicitously following her will. The other coyote reads her less well or really wants his way — she ends up baring her teeth at him in addition to having her ears back.  He leaves her alone after marking her, or right in back of her (!!!);

4) This same persistent coyote pup headed over to his brother, probably trying to get him to play by opening his jaw onto his back and then mounting him. The second coyote was slow to react but didn’t particularly like this. He bent over to the side and bared his teeth while standing still, as the persistent one continued. Finally the second coyote stuck out the tip of his tongue solicitously, showing goodwill, and the two began to play.

Could the “tip-of-the-tongue” be an indicator of goodwill and non-aggression? These coyotes smiled as they played with their tongues either lolling out to the side of the mouth or held in. Playing consisted mostly of chasing and wrestling and folly.

Continued Camaraderie Between Siblings & Yelping

11 Jun 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, bonds, coyote behavior, family interactions, group activity

Today I passed two one-year-old twin brother coyotes. What stood out is the amazing camaraderie between them. I’ve seen these two alone individually about the same amount of times that I have seen them together. When they are together they seem totally involved with the other, keeping track of what the other is doing and “joining in” with the other if it looks like fun.

These two noticed me and then ignored me, as usual. One continued walking, but since the other stayed behind to observe, the first came back rather than go on. They both then wandered around separately within my view. One pooped on the trail and then entered the tall grass where he apparently looked for food. The other walked by, and, seeing the one in the tall grass, “pounced in” after it — it was an enthusiastic leap. The grass was tall, so this coyote could not possibly have seen prey from his location, but he pounced in anyway to be with his brother, I think. They both then hunted together. I didn’t see that they caught anything at all. One then came out of the grass and walked a way on the trail. The other then came out, smelled the poop left earlier on the trail by his brother, and then headed away from me down a path, then waited for the other, and the other ecstatically followed.  Further on, where the path diverged, one kept going and the other turned off, but kept his eye on the first. This is when I lost track of both of them.

An hour later I saw their mother in this same location: coyote family life and mutual support is very strong, even after the pups reach a year of age. I wondered if she were looking for them, or monitoring for dog activity. Suddenly I heard a “group yelping” that I had never heard before. Although it sounded like five or six coyotes, I know that it could only have been the two young coyotes I had seen earlier. The minute the mother heard them, she was off in their direction. So this “yelping” was a communication — different from the “barking” which had not elicited a behavioral reaction from other coyotes except for a mild perking up of the ears.

Yelping. The “yelping” was not the “barking” that we are so used to in our urban parks. The “barking” has always been a result of having been chased by a dog: a complaining and possibly a statement of “leave me alone”. This “yelping”, on the other hand, lasted only a minute and had a distinct tone of complaining: could it have been that they, the comrades, were fighting over some food? According to Wyman Meinzer, it is at food caches that hierarchies between coyotes are broken and new orders are established. I wonder if this is what might have been going on? I went to the area where I thought the yelping might have come from, but couldn’t find the coyotes. I then walked along the street where I asked a man if he had heard them. He had just come back in the car from walking his dog and had not heard them, but his wife had. Her thought was that after a “kill” this is how the coyotes called the others. Hmmm. I myself have only seen gophers and voles become prey. I’m wondering now about this “yelping” as communication/calling, and if possibly it might have involved a larger animal of prey such as a skunk? The mother definitely had responded to the “yelping”, whereas I have seen her totally ignore “barking”  from another coyote — each had communicated something totally different.

Amazing Maternal Care & Affection: A Typical Example

30 May 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, bonds, care for the young, communication, coyote behavior Tags:

What a thrill I had today as I observed coyote behavior.  The intricacies and depth of care, and the bonds and affection within a coyote family I am finding to be very profound.

This morning the moon was full, bright and overpowering. So I sat down to photograph it. I was hoping to get the details of moon topography which my camera is so good at picking up — not so my naked eye! As I was doing this, yes, a coyote wandered by, looked at me, went further off, came closer and then wandered on. What a nice opening for my day!  I then continued my own walk, not needing to see anything else at all that day.

An hour later, on my way back on one of the looped footpaths, I saw the mother coyote headed to where I had seen the other one earlier — the other one being a year-old offspring of this one. I followed at a distance in hopes of picking up some interesting tidbit of behavior. This coyote kept stopping, looking around and then moving ahead, rather purposefully. Then, right at the edge of some tall grass I could barely discern some activity: there were two coyotes now, falling over each other with joy, kisses and hugs. Yes, that is how I would have to characterize it. This greeting lasted about 8 seconds — I only got one bad shot of it. The one photo I have does not convey the intensity and warmth. I have never seen two dogs greet this way, and seldom have I even seen a human and dog greet in this manner. I think the greeting must have also imparted a message to “come with me”, because the mom seemed to lead the way and the younger one followed, back in the direction from which she had just come. Whenever the younger one stopped to examine something, the mom stopped and waited — sometimes sitting patiently while doing so. When the younger coyote appeared in the path in back of the mom again, they walked on.

They soon veered off the path, and proceeded over rocks, tree trunks and overgrowth. I followed as best I could and did end up where they did. The mom trotted on and junior followed. He had been led to food: mom had fetched him to take him to this food. The young one began eating and the mother moved out of sight and into the further distance. I was too far away, with shrubbery in the way, to be able to tell what was being eaten: it looked like soft food, such as a pear or potato.  It was not of animal origin. Possibly there is a pear tree in the area? Or, could the mother have retrieved this from someone’s garbage? The other possibility is food left by late night revelers — of which there are plenty in the park as attested to by the beer cans we find on the weekends.

When all had been eaten, the younger coyote urinated on the food spot, looked around, and moved into the brush area where its mother had gone. I went to the spot where he had eaten to check it out, but nothing remained. So I continued to follow. At this point I could see the mother coyote waiting up on a hill, continually looking in the direction of the younger one. I assumed the younger one was supposed to follow. But the younger one continued to hunt in the area, and then I lost vision of it. The mother obviously was waiting for the youth to follow her. When he didn’t appear, she went looking for him!! The mom began a fairly intense search, trotting this way and that, looking and smelling for clues — even looking down an escape path which I have seen coyotes use. She finally disappeared into the underbrush. I returned to find the young one in the area where I had last seen it. When it saw me this time, it took off into the underbrush, too.

So, this very purposeful family interaction was very rewarding to watch. The sequence included the mom’s initial search for the younger coyote, the super-affectionate greeting, her waiting for the younger one, leading him some distance to food, her going off to wait while he ate, and then her searching for him when he was supposed to follow. The entire series of behaviors constitute a thrilling show of family interconnectedness, care and affection. In coyotes, the family, with all of its attendant interactions, appears to be what social structure is based on.

Family Interactions

12 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, coyote behavior, family interactions, playing Tags: ,

First I noticed one, then two coyotes sitting calmly out on a grassy hill. They were both staring in the same direction — the reason for the staring became apparent when a third coyotes appeared. This was a family group of a mom and two one-year-old pups. When the second pup appeared, the two young ones joyfully ran up the hill to mom as she stretched in anticipation: this is depicted in the first nine photos above. As they neared mom at the top of the hill, one of the pups, the male, held his ears back and went into a crouching — submissive? — position. This one came up towards the mom by coming up under her chin. The three then walked a short ways, rubbed heads and happily hugged in close to each other. I could not see all the details of the interactions because of my distance and the tall grass. Mom then moved out of the picture.

The two younger ones began romping and exploring. Each kept looking at the other: they were very curious about what the other was up to. Finally they romped down the hill where one of them found something that must have looked like fun. This coyote pawed at the object, tossed it in the air a few times and finally pounced on it. I could not tell what the item was except that it was floppy rather than rigid. The other coyote watched, transfixed, but never tried to go for the object. Eventually, without leaving this spot, one of the coyotes sat down and the other one lay down, doing nothing — the play seemed to be over. When they were ready, they got up and meandered into the brush where I could no longer see them.

Grooming Shows Affection and Care

11 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, bonds, coyote behavior, grooming Tags: ,

These two coyotes were out looking around: a mother and her yearling pup. They were together, but one would go off to explore separately and then see the other, or even look for it, and then trot over to be with it. They kept tabs on each other and looked for each other after being apart only a few moments. One reached this rock first, and then the other joined. Immediately the mother began grooming the younger one’s back. Could it be that she was taking off a tick? I say this because it looked like there might have been a tick on the younger one’s eyelid earlier on. After the grooming was completed, and it lasted only a minute, both coyotes continued to look about.

Grooming serves both to get rid of potential health hazards and to strengthen social bonds. There is a lot of affection between this pair of coyotes. Coyote family life is as intimate and as involved as our own.

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