Observing, Responding, and Rest — Hinge On The Human Factor

09 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in barking, care for the young, coyote barking, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes defending themselves, dog reactions to coyotes, family interactions, monitoring, resting Tags:

This story hinges on human conduct, which is always the cause behind coyote “incidents”, and also the route through which misinformation is turned into nasty rumors.  The only way we can control coyote behavior is through our own behavior. Leave them alone, and they will leave you alone.

So, the day began peacefully, as usual. Very often, when coyotes are out early resting on a hillside, a group of unleashed dogs will aggressively run up to their remote location and chase them. It is always the same group of dogs with the same set of owners who have never taken responsibility for keeping their dogs away from the coyotes — this group is one of the few who are not fond of having coyotes around. Ninety-nine percent of dog owners, however, are respectful and want to do what they can for the urban coyotes. They are totally responsible, keeping their dogs leashed or under voice control when coyotes are out. Repeated “incidents” always occur with the same few dogs. Fortunately, today the coyotes were not out when these dogs went by.

However, not long after they passed, a coyote did appear up on a hilltop, observing her surroundings. We know it was the mother coyote because of the behavior which followed. Several groups of walkers stopped to admire her presence in the park as she sat so calmly looking around: this was magical urban wildness. It was all so peaceful. Then the coyote jolted to a sitting up high position: her attention became riveted into the distance. She ignored the walkers below her. And then, as suddenly as she had sat up, she darted off like a bullet at full speed with hackles raised.

I’ve seen her do this before, so I knew what it was about. She sped to the spot which she had been so keenly observing. On the way she encountered one of her full-grown pups — but this is not the one she was worried about. She had the aim of heading-off a dog which was pursuing her other year-old pup. I didn’t even have to be there to know this. We then began hearing this mother coyote’s distressed and upset barking — barking she only engages in if she or one of her pups have been pursued by a dog. The barking is an indication of her distress, but also imparts a message: “Keep your distance.”

A few of us who just a few moments earlier had been watching her peacefulness, headed off to where the distressed barking sound was coming from. On the way we passed the angry owner of the dog which had chased the coyote — she now had her dog leashed. This huge dog continually chases the coyotes — it is a game for the dog who is about four times larger than any coyote. The owner wouldn’t even look at us: for her, the incident was the coyote’s fault for being there — not hers for not having leashed her dog.

We walked a little further until we spotted the mother coyote: she was rearing up on her hind legs and barking. The young coyote which had been pursued had taken cover in the bushes, but the second young coyote sat on the hillside nearby watching as its mother continued her barking for about 20 minutes.

The reactions to this incident were various: these are the reactions which get reported to our Animal Control Department.  Some people were furious that a dog walker had allowed her dog to chase a coyote again — and that dogs are not kept leashed in this “leash-law” area. Some were just fascinated by the barking, and fascinated that a mother coyote would run such a long distance to defend one of her year-old pups from a dog. Some twisted the information to fit their own image of coyotes, saying the coyote had not been chased at all, that she was aggressive and bold and a danger to humanity. And finally there was the individual who points to observers or photographers so as not to have to address his own reasons for not leashing his dog.

It was nice having the witnesses who saw the young coyote chased by the German Shepherd. More and more people are willing to give their names to defend the coyotes and I want to thank them all. When a coyote defends itself or its pack members, it is not an act of aggression or an attack. In fact everyone needs to become more aware of  nuances in terminology so that they may be able to describe what they see more accurately. Lynsey White and Stanley Gehrt of Ohio State University point out that the phrase “coyote attack” is sensationalistic and fear-mongering. We need a better choice of words and consistency to better understand how coyotes actually interact with humans. People often conflate words like “aggressive”, “assertive”, “bold”, “curious”, “defensive” and “investigating”. Details of the behavior of people, dogs and coyotes prior to and during any coyote incident are needed to really understand what is going on.

Our mother coyote finally calmed down. I watched her slowly head down a hill and into the bushes and finally up to one of her remote lookout posts, where she gave one last glance around to make sure the German Shepherd was gone. Then she lay down and napped. A couple of hours later I returned to the park to find her still in that same spot resting. Coyotes just want to be left alone. If you leave them alone, they will leave you alone. Please keep your dogs leashed around coyotes.

More Imitating Mom and Curiosity

31 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes defending themselves, curiosity, family interactions

An incident  which caught my attention was when a dog came into an area where three coyotes had been hunting. The mother coyote slowly approached the dog in her usual “halloween cat” stance warning pose, while the younger ones for the most part ignored the dog in the distance.  However, as the mother continued her warning stance, and continued her darting towards and then back from the dog, the two younger coyotes joined her in approaching the dog: one did so distantly, but the other actually seemed to imitate the mother a little bit.

This is the first time I have seen a younger pup imitating this stance of the mother’s. My thought has always been that this mother puts on this warning posture, not only to warn the dog away, but also as a lesson to her young charges. The young coyote appeared to imitate, in this case, without the underlying motivations of the mother. I say this because, having seen this coyote and dog in proximity a number of times before, I knew that the young coyote felt no threat from this dog — but the point seemed to be to imitate just the outer behavior of the mom. A few minutes later, almost as if to prove what I had just observed — the the behavior driven by the need to threaten — this same young coyote approached the same dog carefully, again without fear, in a curious manner from behind — always from behind because it is safer that way. If the dog would have turned around, the coyote would have jumped back to increase the distance as I have seen it do before — but this did not happen because the dog never turned around. The dog had been intently sniffing something on the ground and ignoring the coyote. When the dog moved on, the coyote went right up to the spot the dog had been sniffing to check it out: “What were you doing there and what was so interesting?” And here, again, is the reason we humans are so charmed by coyotes: their “insatiable curiosity.”

A Coyote Is Intruded Upon, yet again, by a Dog

18 May 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote barking, coyote behavior, coyote howling, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves

The only time I have ever heard a coyote yipping has been after it was intruded upon. I heard a coyote yipping, the same coyote, both yesterday and again today. The yipping is a distressed, high-pitched barking. It may go on for 20 minutes or more. It appears to be the coyote’s way of complaining. In the parks where I have heard it, it always has been caused by a dog. A dog had either chased the coyote, or came in too close to it. A human intrusion, such as throwing stones to ward it off, could possibly cause the same barking reaction from a coyote, however, a coyote is more likely to flee this scenario. By yipping, the coyote is both voicing its discontent and standing its ground, albeit at a distance, as far as I have seen. Please keep your dogs leashed when a coyote is around.

And now I’m seeing coyotes react to individual specific dogs walking about 100 feet away. These are usually dogs which have  chased or intruded on the coyote in the past. But also, now, I’m seeing that a coyote will feel intruded upon if specific dogs “eye” the coyote on its perch — possibly in an antagonistic way — something like giving the coyote “the evil eye”. In addition to the complaining and standing up for itself which I’ve seen when a dog actually chases it, the coyote’s barking may also be voicing its territorial claim.

I know a number of people who think, “Well, it’s a coyote and that’s what they do: they yip.” However, there is always a reason for the yipping; it never occurs without cause.

All Chases Are Remembered

13 Apr 2010 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote barking, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes defending themselves, dog reactions to coyotes, monitoring Tags: ,

This coyote was out and about when people and their dogs began arriving in this park in the morning. I was at the other end of the park when some runners told me that people were talking about having seen a coyote. I headed in the direction they had come from. As I walked, I heard a couple of women repeatedly yelling at their dogs to “come” — it was the same desperate commanding tone I’ve heard every time from dog owners around a coyote. The dogs apparently did so, because when I actually arrived there, everything was calm, and the walkers had moved on. However, I am sure the coyote was feeling defensive at this point. I saw the coyote way off to the side by a hill where I could tell it had planned to make its getaway if it had needed to.

With the way clear, the coyote meandered about, sniffing the ground in various places. When it came to a specific spot, after sniffing the spot carefully, it urinated on it. I suppose that the coyote was leaving a message which “trumped” whatever smell the coyote had just found — this may have been the coyote’s reaction to the dogs that had been called away. It was right at this moment that a very large German Shepherd, an unleashed dog which has chased the coyote repeatedly, spotted the coyote and went after it in a full blown, fast and long chase. The coyote took off like a jackrabbit and was able to evade the large dog by dodging through some thick underbrush — coyotes all have a collection of secret escape routes if they need them. The coyote had gone on up to a high rock where it began barking its shrill discontent, loudly, for about 20 minutes. The dog was unable to pursue the coyote through the thicket. The dog owner finally retrieved his dog and took off for a walk away from this area. However, when he came back past this same spot, not long thereafter, the now calmed down coyote, still up on the rock, started in again: it was at this particular dog that the coyote was complaining.

I have noticed that once a dog chases a coyote, the coyote remembers the particular dog — as, of course, the dog remembers the coyote. It is the dogs which chase, along with the uncontrolled hyperactive dogs which the coyote watches in the mornings. The large, never-leashed German Shepherd is one of those which the coyote watches out for — monitors — because of its previous, and consistent chasing behavior — the coyote does this for its own safety. What I had not seen before is this coyote starting up its barking session again for a second time when the same dog re-appeared ten minutes later, albeit at a greater distance and without chasing this time.  The barking is both a complaining and a warning to the dog to keep off. The intense barking ultimately keeps most dogs at a distance.

Also, most dogs won’t continue in at a coyote if it turns around and faces the dog. A similar type of behavior happened several times with my own dog shortly after we had adopted him: he chased a cat. When the cat just stood there and faced my dog, my dog had no idea what to do — it was the chase that mattered. However, by the time a coyote turns around to face its aggressor, the coyote is now in the driver’s seat and it may very well actually defend itself by nipping at the dog to get it to leave. For this reason, we need to keep our dogs from chasing the coyotes. Chasing is a game for our dogs, but not so for the coyote.

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Chase-Chase Behavior: Looking Beyond What Meets the Eye

25 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyote safety, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves Tags: , ,

An incident was described by a woman to me this morning. I am attempting to understand and explain coyote behavior so that we may all learn to better deal with it. The general setting involved a park with a pretty regular set of dogs and their walkers, and, in this case, a resident female coyote.

The woman said that at sunset, about 6 weeks earlier, she had been sitting in a little open park with her dog — this was not the wild part of the park where one normally might see a coyote. Suddenly, a coyote came stalking up towards her dog, and chased her dog. The chase went back and forth. The coyote seemed not very afraid when the woman first tried to deter it, but finally, with flailing arms and lots of noise, it fled. Her dog is smaller than a coyote and is 11 years old. This is a leash-law park, but no one obeys that rule. This coyote has previously engaged in “short distance back-and-forth chasing” with several dogs before finally fleeing. There is never any harm done, but dog owners don’t like it. The coyote only engages in this behavior with dogs it knows. Please see my posting of February 4th: A short back-and-forth chase. But I want to look a little further.

My question to the woman was:  But what did the dog do? The woman said “nothing”. She thought something might be “wrong” with the coyote because of its behavior. I couldn’t draw out anything that her dog might have done. But she also told me that previous to this, there had been a number of times in which this coyote had followed her and her dog out of the park on a little-used trail. A coyote might follow a dog and walker if it is curious about the dog or if it is assessing it, or possibly if it is making sure the dog is leaving. It would do so if there was something threatening about the dog.

The little-used path is by a thicket area with little coyote-size exits, where I’ve seen a coyote enter into a secluded back area — my assumption has always been that the dens might be behind this area. A possibility is that when this coyote was “following” this dog, it might have been “escorting” the dog out of the park and away from an area it felt very protective of — making sure the dog didn’t enter the secluded area.

This coyote is an alpha female with a family. She has been seen frequently enough, sitting quietly on a hilltop, observing the world. I see her as similar to Ferdinand the bull in the children’s story — peacefully smelling the flowers.  But she has defended herself when chased by a dog, and she has run down to aid another coyote when it was chased by a dog: she is not one to just flee — at least initially. She also seems to communicate displeasure, or “oneupmanship” with a few of the dogs whose behaviors she has come to know, reminding them that “I’m here, so stop your threatening activity.” We humans would not know what the threatening activity might be, but almost certainly a coyote would pick up on these.

Someone recently suggested that dogs urinating at these underbrush exits may actually be provoking a defensive response from coyotes. The dogs smell the coyote and then urinate there — I’ve seen this often. Canines use urination to mark their territories. So a coyote might see this as a possible challenge to its claim on a territorial den area. In addition, over time I have become conscious that this female coyote appears to know most dogs individually that frequent the park. This coyote knows which dogs do what — as all canine’s do.

The dog and owner regularly have walked through that side area of the park — unleashed — and the dog may have regularly urinated by one of the underbrush exit trails the coyote takes to its den. So, the coyote’s behavior as described by this woman could have been a reaction to what this coyote has seen and knows about this dog. Leashing a dog might make it adhere to the path so that “territorial marking” does not take place.

Coyotes have rich family lives and need to protect their families, they also must protect themselves and they must protect their food source. They do not just eat vegetation which can be found everywhere. Rather, coyotes must search constantly for their source of protein…. other animals, such as voles, gophers, squirrels, rats. And they need to monitor their territories to insure that competitors of any sort — in this case dogs, especially dogs with certain behaviors that we may not fully comprehend.

Coyotes are not like domestic dogs — they are wild animals with instincts and rules of their own which they must follow to survive — rules that we may not know about and may not comprehend.

We know to guide our dogs through heavy traffic intersections with leashes. We all follow the rules because there is too much going on to make it work otherwise. Our parks are becoming more environmentally friendly, more natural and diverse: there is a lot going on, including new wildlife that has been attracted to them. Our parks are not back yards made just for our pets — but places to enjoy the out of doors in all of its diverse aspects. Dogs are not wild animals and don’t know how to deal with the wild. Dog owners need to deal with coyotes in the parks the same way they would with the traffic on the streets. Following some simple rules can make it work: please leash your dogs in coyote areas.

I wanted to add one other observation. The little dog in this posting is of the type that intently and hyperactively retrieves a ball. This is absolutely normal behavior, but in the coyote’s eyes it might be distressing because of the hyperactivity it entails. I have seen this coyote calmly watching all types of dogs walk by from atop a hill. She often reacts to the smaller, extremely active types — her attention becomes temporarily riveted on them and I’ve seen her get up and pace until they pass. So here is another “distressing” dog behavior which the coyote could have remembered when it engaged in its “chase-chase” or “oneupmanship” behavior with this dog.

Please read postings on December 12th: “Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote”, November 4th:“Some Reactions to Dogs”, November 17th: “ANOTHER Reaction to Dogs”, and December 1:“Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked Challenge”.  “A short back-and-forth chase: coyote interaction with a large dog” 2/4/10. “Coyote Safety” of 11/3/2009. “Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog” on 2/8/10.

√Coyotes in the News

18 Jan 2010 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves

“Get any good photos?” someone asked, seeing me with my camera. “Not really,” I answered. I never had seen the fellow before, so I asked, “And what are you up to.” He said, “I’m looking for a coyote.” I asked, “Why?” He said that there had been a report of an “aggressive” coyote — maybe one biting a dog. I let him know that this has only happened in our parks when a coyote was defending itself from a dog chasing it. There is a leash-law in our parks, but people don’t abide by the rules. I told him the coyotes here were not aggressive.

He said he knew this, that the park department liked the coyotes, and that the park department would be patrolling the area for a little while to make sure dogs in the area were leashed. Most of us want coexistence with wildlife to work, but this entails some effort from us humans — a simple effort that many are not willing to make: simply leashing our dogs in a coyote area.

Everyone should be aware that our coyotes have never approached people, they have always fled away from humans in every instance that I have seen. Coyotes are naturally wary of humans and will keep a safe distance. Humans have not caused coyotes to approach dogs or be more out and about:  In one of our parks this idea has been propagated by a very tiny but cohesive and vocal group of dog walkers who prefer not to leash their dogs. This small group represents themselves as the voice of the park when in fact, as so many other walkers with and without dogs have told me, they represent only themselves. Dog/coyote behavior is the bigger issue, a definite tripartite one which includes the dog owners themselves. Dogs react differently to coyotes, and the coyotes react differently to different dog personality types. All coyote “incidents” in the park have involved dogs.

Two “coyote alert” signs were strategically placed at the entrance to the park and on a main path. Hopefully, everyone will become a little more savvy about coexisting with coyotes. But some will soon want to dispense with their leashes and the situation may very well be repeated.

This incident could have escalated into a far bigger one — the media has traditionally printed negative news about coyotes, but seldom do we see the positive or how everyone could make coexistence work better — the media could take responsibility for helping with this. In 2007 sharpshooters were called in to eliminate an “aggressive coyote”. The public, fortunately, reacted with outrage, especially since it was learned that the dog had chased the coyotes, in a den area, and there were pups involved.

Only the side of the story that promoted fear and sensation was initially reported: that a dog had been bitten by a coyote. The other side of the story: the den, the chasing, that this dog had chased these coyotes often, the self-defense, and that the dog was unleashed, were not publicized until much later and not very prominently. Fortunately, now, everyone is becoming much more aware that there is “the other side of the story” as new incidents of this sort are reported.

Apparently, “aggressive” coyotes, are regularly reported by any number of people to the police, to the park service or to animal control. Often, when questioned about “what” the coyote was doing to be aggressive, the answer has fallen into two categories: “well, it is standing there” or “howling”. The other category is the coyote defending itself after having been chased by an unleashed dog.

Please be aware that by far, most bites to dogs are from other dogs — and few of these make the headlines. However, a coyote story involving a self-defensive bite will catch the public’s eye — simply due to latent fears that exist in our human minds. Would a raccoon bite be reported? Would a skunk spray be reported? Real aggression does need to be reported, but coyotes are not generally aggressive — they just defend themselves. Please read about coyote safety.

Defensive, Dominant or Aggressive: Coyote Reactions to Dogs

01 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes defending themselves, dominant vs. submissive, fleeing, reactions to a human Tags: , ,

I’ve realized recently that the coyote reactions to dogs which I have written about involved mostly a dominant female coyote — a mother of pups. I need to distinguish between various individual coyote reactions to dogs which deviate from those of a dominant female. The dominant female with pups will always have the severest reactions to dogs — defensive reactions and controlling reactions. Most coyotes have milder reactions to dogs. Several distinctions might be useful.

1) Almost all coyotes will “flee” from humans. Coyotes do not want to tangle with humans. Humans are larger and more intelligent than coyotes, so invariably when the two approach in the same vicinity, the coyote will run off. I have never seen a coyote not run off when a person walks toward it. Approaching a coyote defiantly and noisily will make it leave faster. Most coyotes will also flee from dogs that run after them.

2) I have seen a coyote approach a dog on a path non-antagonistically if the dog has been previously seen by the coyote as fairly benign: the coyote may be curious. If a coyote approaches a leashed dog, please know that it is the dog, and not the human, which is attracting the coyote, and the approach may be antagonistically motivated. It could be that a dominant female coyote feels a particular dog is a threat — it appears almost always to be a dog she has seen before and evaluated. The dog may be one who pulls at the leash, or looks at the coyote defiantly or maybe it has chased the coyote in the past. The dog owner may be seen only as a minor deterrence to the coyote’s approaching. The coyote will approach with a dominance display, described below. A human can get the coyote to leave by facing the coyote and flailing his arms and making loud, sharp noises, such as clapping or shaking a can with bolts in it. HOWEVER, whether a coyote is in the distance or approaching or already close by, it is always best to leash and WALK away from it: utter and complete avoidance is always the safest policy.

3) “Defensive” means that an animal will protect itself when it is attacked or feels threatened. A coyote might begin by fleeing from a dog which goes after it, and when unable to get away, it goes into a defensive mode. Or, it may just stand its ground without fleeing: in this case it is just standing up for itself and is not going to be pushed around. Most animals will try to defend themselves at some point when others intrude upon them, and we all expect this. I’ve seen a gopher bite a coyote back, even though there was no hope. He was fighting for his life, but it was a defensive fight, not an aggressive one. The coyote’s defensive behavior towards dogs involves a dominance display, then a charge-and-retreat sequence, and ultimately a nipping at the haunches of the dog to get it to leave, much as a cattle dog does.

4) A “Dominance display” can be distinguished from aggression. It is more about “bluff” and “show” and is used to impart a message. It lets dogs know — dogs who are perceived as a threat to a coyote, such as active dogs or dogs who have chased — that they are not welcomed or liked by the coyote. It looks very much like the defensive behavior, which also might begin as a display, except it is initiated by a coyote as a message to the dog, usually because of previous negative encounters, be they overt chases, or simply messages imparted by body language and eye contact. We humans are simply not in tune to a lot of canine communication behavior.

Bluffing displays are used to dissuade and move other animals in hopes of averting a fight that might actually cause injury. We’ve all seen dominant dogs: they want it to be known that they think of themselves as “top-dog” by displaying their bigness and ferocity. They do this by standing up straight with their head high, raising their hackles, maybe growling, not wagging their tail or wagging it stiffly, looking down on the other animal, etc.

A dominance display is a warning — all dogs can read this. The dog is not only saying “don’t mess with me”, but maybe expecting its will to be the controlling factor — for instance, it may want a hyperactive dog to calm down. The dominant coyote behavior I have seen is more pronounced than dog dominance displays, after all, coyotes are fairly small animals and need to appear much more fierce and scary to have the same effect. It appears unprovoked to us humans — but often is provoked in subtle ways by the dog’s behavior which we humans seldom are aware of. The display serves as a clear message to ward off a dog: “go away” or “don’t mess with me.”

5) Coyotes in our parks are seldom outright aggressive towards dogs. We normally think of an “aggressive” animal as one who will actually attack without provocation — it just doesn’t like the other guy, and may not like most other guys. There is less of a message than an attack, though the attack itself leaves a message. Coyotes are not known to be aggressive. However, it is the exceptions you want to be prepared for, even though statistically this is so rare that these are seen as anomalies. We have learned that the few aggressive encounters between coyotes and humans have almost always been preceded by humans feeding them. I have never seen an aggressive coyote of this sort. For safety’s sake, please, never, ever feed wildlife. The closest looking thing to an aggressive coyote that I have seen is one defending itself from a dog — see the defensive photo above.

Please see posting of  December 7th: “Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote”, November 4th: “ANOTHER reaction to dogs”, November 17th: “More reactions to dogs”, and December 1st: “Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked challenge”.  Also, please see the entry on “Coyote Safety” of 11/3. Blatant Visual Message to Newcomer Dog of 2/9/10. “A short back-and-forth chase: coyote interaction with a large dog” of 2/4/10.

Mother/Pup: Affection/Protection

14 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, coexisting with coyotes, communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves, group activity Tags: , , , , ,

I saw lots of coyote affection and protective behavior this morning. I was waiting for the rain clouds to blow by so that I could get a shot of the crescent moon. I like moons. I was sticking the camera back in its bag when I noticed a young coyote only about 30 feet in front of me. It had to have just arrived and sat down. It was too dark for photos except that of the moon. The coyote allowed me to look at it for about a minute before it headed off walking, and then disappeared.

A few minutes later, I heard a walker whistling loudly. He and his dog were coming up a distant trail. The coyote apparently had heard or seen this walker, because I saw it suddenly run away from the walker. It sat down to watch. Neither the walker nor the dog saw the coyote.

At about this time the mother coyote appeared on the scene, right in back of the young one, and sat down. The young coyote was ecstatic to see her: there was jumping up, muzzle contact, licking of the face of the young one by the mother, licking of the mother’s back by the young one, body contact. This affection frenzy lasted about three minutes. My camera settings were out of sync — so the photos are totally blurry, but I posted a couple anyway: they convey what they need to.

Then both coyotes sat, one in front of the other, watching the area where the whistler had stopped to talk to someone. This man soon walked on. Things appeared calm, so the young coyote got up and walked around for about 6 minutes.

This is when the first set of dogs appeared. These were two unleashed dogs which rushed right after the coyotes. The young coyote disappeared into the brush area, but the older, protective mother, after initially fleeing, came back, as is her normal behavior. She assumed her defensive stance: hackles up, pawing the ground, snarly face. One dog returned to its owner. The mother coyote made short charge-and-retreat motions towards the dog that remained to try to get it to leave. The owner of this dog called, hyper-hysterically, and ineffectively, for her dog to return. Eventually, the dog slowly made its way to its owner, whereupon the owner leashed it and departed.

Even before this first incident was over, three more unleashed dogs appeared, all belonging to one owner. They also ran after the coyote — the owner had absolutely no verbal control of her dogs. She seemed resigned to them going after the coyote, even as she ineffectively called them. I tried to let the owner know that this was a mother coyote who was going to defend her pup. The coyote was leading the dogs away from where her pup was in the brush. The owner of the three dogs decided to leave them — they were nowhere in sight. She went back down the hill. Then the mother coyote started barking, which is how I found where she was. The three abandoned dogs were near by, out of breath, and looking for their owner but couldn’t find her. The largest of the three dogs decided to go after the coyote again, causing the coyote to dash off to a hill further off where it continued its barking. The dogs, I assume, were eventually reunited with their owner, because the coyote was no longer being pursued by them.

This entire episode, or I should say two consecutive episodes of two and then three dogs going after the coyote, took about 18 minutes.  On the hill the coyote barked distressingly for another 3 minutes before calming down. With the dogs gone, she moved higher up the hill where she relaxed for about 45 minutes, keeping an eye on the spot where her pup had hidden.

Fleeing: Coyote behavior

11 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves, dominant vs. submissive, fleeing Tags: , ,

In contrast to the dominant coyote in the previous posting which felt secure enough to sit out in the open while watching and assessing the walkers and dogs in a park, this coyote here immediately became alert when it heard dogs and humans approaching in the distance. When I first saw it, it was walking as if it needed to get away. It was on the move and very aware of “danger” to itself from the possibility of a human or a dog encounter.  It didn’t seem to be headed in any particular direction, rather, it was assessing its immediate options for fleeing: looking around in a nervous sort of way for escape routes and for exactly where the “danger” was. It climbed up on a rock for a better view, but it could not see any more than when it had been on the ground. As the noisy group of dogs and walkers came down a main path, several hundred feet away from the coyote, the coyote suddenly dashed, swoosh, into a dense brush area where no dogs or humans could follow. I did not see it again. None of the humans saw it, and if a dog saw it, it did not go after the fleeing coyote. I noted that this coyote was visible for less than 4 minutes.

This particular coyote has always reacted to human and dog sounds in the manner described here. Although it has allowed itself to be seen for a few moments, it always has dashed off shortly thereafter. The behavior is consistent for this particular coyote and cannot be generalized to all coyotes. Each coyote is different. Each coyote is an individual. The same is true for the “monitoring” behavior of the coyote I posted below: that coyote is consistent with itself. It will also flee when it needs to, but it has a predominant need to “check things out”, which requires it to be out in the open more.

Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote

07 Dec 2009 4 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes defending themselves, dog reactions to coyotes, human behavior Tags: , , ,

There are all sorts of dog reactions to a coyote. Some dogs never see a coyote which is right there in the open, some stop and look, some go after the smell without even seeing the coyote, some chase, some bark and chase, and some dogs ignore it.

Dogs seem to be calmer and more in control when they are leashed. If a dog is on a leash, obviously it will be the owner who is calling the shots, whether it is a mild dog or an active one. An owner can easily drag his pet away from a coyote if it is leashed, rather than having to call a distraught dog to him/herself first. Yesterday, someone told me of a bizarre incident which happened a year ago: that they were jogging early in the morning with their dog, when a coyote came in at them from the side, making a running leap to land on the dog. This itself is very unusual coyote behavior and the only instance that I’ve heard of it. The dog owner was able to yank the leashed dog, and the coyote missed its target! This happened last April, which is the prime pupping season — coyotes are much more territorial and protective of their areas during this time.

If a dog is not leashed, there are several ways the dog may react to a coyote. If the dog is more timid and obedient, it may look to the owner for what to do: the dog will either stay beside the owner or come when called. Some dogs have been told in the past to stay off of the coyote, and they do so. One of my friends has an obedient dog, which has been told to stay off of the coyotes, and it always does so. On one occasion, this dog hugged its owner’s leg as it walked. The owner sensed that there might have been a coyote around, even though he never saw it — the owner told me this was very unusual behavior for this dog. In this case, the dog was trying to communicate unease to the owner.

The majority of dogs are somewhat curious about coyotes — they know the coyote is something “different” from other dogs. But different dogs have different degrees of apprehension or fearlessness or sense of fun and adventure regarding the coyote, and they act accordingly.

If a dog is not leashed, and the dog is an active type out for its free run, the dog will often chase the coyote, thinking this is great fun. It may end up barking incessantly at the coyote once it gets within about 15 feet if the coyote does not flee. The coyote will easily outdo the dog in length and intensity of barking — this becomes boring or tires out the dog. However, it is only when the coyote turns to chase or nip at the dog that the dog really starts to think.

Please see my entry on “Coyote Safety” of 11/3, as well as the three entries on how coyotes react to dogs: “ANOTHER reaction to dogs” on 11/17, and “Some reactions to dogs” on 11/04. “Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked Challenge” on 12/1. “Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog” on 2/8/10. “A short back-and-forth chase:oneupmanship verging on play” of 2/4/10.

ANOTHER Reaction to Dogs: Coyote behavior

17 Nov 2009 3 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes defending themselves, human behavior, what coyotes thinks about Tags: , , , , ,

I saw Jacob again this morning. He has a sheep-dog who is super sensitive to reading other animals. Jacob wanted to let me know of a coyote encounter he had had a few days earlier, an encounter which was closer and therefore somewhat disturbing compared to previous coyote encounters he has had. In the past, he and his dog always passed the same coyote at a distance, the canines would eye each other, and both would become alert to the other’s presence. The coyote might stand up if it had been resting — this is one of the dogs that is much too alert to be yawned at as it passed. The dog also is an enthusiastic ball retriever, which means it has spurts of high energy and activity. Alertness and high activity are clues that the coyote is in-tune with — this type of dog has pursued her in the past, even though this one specifically has not.

On this particular occasion it was foggy and quiet and there was no one else around. Jacob’s dog was ahead of him, when Jacob felt he was being followed. He turned to see one coyote following him pretty closely, maybe at 20 feet, and he noticed there was another coyote further back. As Jacob immediately called his dog to him, his dog noticed the coyote. The dog, now between Jacob and the coyote, walked towards its owner, ever so slowly and carefully, walking backwards, keeping its eyes glued on the coyote. This eye contact may have been seen as a challenge by the coyote.

At this point the coyote backed up a distance, ran up a tiny incline and began scratching the ground with its forepaws and rearing up — a display used to keep the dog away, to keep it from following through on its eye-contact challenge. The coyote’s purpose was to look intimidating — and for the most part it is effective. The other coyote disappeared into the brush. The coyote’s activity didn’t last long as Jacob walked off with his dog. The two coyotes ran off.

Coyotes have sometimes followed walkers the entire length of some park, sometimes at a further distance, sometimes at a closer distance. Curiosity, sizing the dogs up, desire for contact, maybe even a bit of challenge are all possible explanations.

It is always best to create distance when you don’t know what is going on. Jacob did this by calling his dog and then facing the coyote before moving on.

Please see posting of  December 7th: “Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote”, November 4th: “Some reactions to dogs”, and December 1st: “Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked challenge”.  Also, please see the entry on “Coyote Safety” of 11/3. “Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog” of 2/8/10. “A short back-and-forth chase: oneupmanship verging on play” of 2/4/10.

Some Reactions to Dogs: Coyote behavior

04 Nov 2009 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves Tags: , , , , ,

I have been able to observe many coyote/dog interactions. Most coyotes are pretty shy and will keep their distance and then flee from dogs. Some coyotes, cautiously and prepared to flee, will allow a calm dog to get a little closer. The coyote reactions to dogs I am delineating in this posting involve a certain alpha female. This coyote is more visible and bolder than others I have seen. She can be seen at times on elevated areas, where she lifts her head as some of the dogs and owners pass at a distance, and she sits up when she feels there might be a need to escape.

This coyote knows every single dog individually that comes regularly to the park and has assessed their potential threat to her. She does this by “reading” their body language and their type of energy as they walk, and she sees where their concentration is. She is also very aware of communicating through eye contact with dogs. Not all dogs are as keenly in tune to communication through eye contact in this manner — but a few are keenly aware of it.

Different dogs have different awarenesses of her. Some hardly notice her, some notice her and think she is an animal to be chased, some know she is “different” and to be respected. One very sensitive sheep dog can spot her from way across the park — this dog is the keenest observer I have noticed: he and the coyote will “lock” into an eye contact, which means they are interacting at a certain level, during which time the sheep-dog exhibits a lot of uneasiness. The owner calls his dog and they move on.

Most dogs that this female coyote observes fall into the category of being yawned at. She observes them through half-opened eyes. These are not a threat to her. Calm dogs on-leashes and calm dogs off-leashes are in this group. They are seldom cause for concern to her. Runners with their dogs whose full attention is with the runner are also in this category and ignored. Actually, almost all dogs are in this category.

There are very few dogs who are not in the above category. The few who are not, are given quite a display.

These dogs, on the opposite extreme of the spectrum from the calm dogs, are the dogs off-leash, who are more alert, aware of their surroundings, wild-acting, fearless and out to explore. Most of them are medium size to large. These are the ones she keeps her eye out for, the dogs of most concern, especially if they have the reputation of having chased the coyote in the past.

This coyote reacts to seeing these dogs by “becoming ready” to defend herself. She begins by standing up, and sometimes running off for a few seconds. This is not a submissive coyote, so she always comes back to stand up for herself, even though she may have to run off again. She has an elaborate defensive display: bouncing up and down, her hackles up, her ears out to the sides and back. Her back is hunched so that she can “spring” up and down for easier and quick movements — it is like a dance. She paws the ground, scratching with her front paws, and makes short darts back and forth and sideways. Her head is sometimes lowered and her lips are pulled back with her nose wrinkled. These behaviors constitute her basic stance and movements. She may grunt a little, which sometimes leads to an intense barking session — but just as likely, the barking session never even begins. This, then, is a visual reaction — a display.

If the owner can grab his dog, the episode will stop there. If the dog chases her, she may initially run off  – she is much, much faster and more lithe than any dog and can always get away, but she usually comes back. She seems to know which dogs she must run from — she can easily exhaust these dogs with her speed and distance, and she knows which ones she can hold at bay or move away from herself. I have seen her run off to an unreachable ledge and begin a barking episode. If she comes back she might begin a barking episode coupled with the above display. Or she could add a short charge-and-retreat sequence directed at the dog, and, if the dog’s owner is not close by, there have been a few instances where the coyote has tried to nip the haunches of the perpetrator, the same as a cattle-dog nips at a cow’s heels, to herd it away from herself. AND sometimes, twice that I have seen, she has gone even further, “escorting” the dog and owner right out of the park — following them fairly closely to the park entrance.

These are the two extreme reactions to dogs, with the calm reaction occurring most of the time, and the reactive one occurring less often. It appears to me that the coyote knows when walkers leash their dogs — it would be so easy to prevent incidents by doing so. I’ve seen her intensified alertness calm down when she sees this.

The same alert, wild-acting, fearless dogs on-leash may elicit a shorter and milder version of the response to the unleashed dogs: the coyote starts “getting ready just in case”, but then lets it pass after only a few seconds when she sees that the dog is restrained. As far as I know, she has never gone after a leashed dog, no matter how threatening to her, though she has “escorted” a couple of them out of the park following an incident of them having chased her while still off-leash.

I once saw a tiny little dog run wildly, off leash towards its owner — it had been lagging behind and decided to catch up. It raced over the path like a little bullet. But I could see that the coyote became very excited and agitated with the seeming hyperactive, fast running little dog. Even though we humans might think that a coyote would see this tiny dog as harmless, the instincts of the coyote might have been primed due to the dog’s hyperactivity.  In this case, the coyote stood up, hunched over and began running back and forth on the crest of the hill it was on. The dog reached its owner, and slowly the coyote calmed down. One must remember that several breeds of dogs, especially cocker-spaniels, often bite children because they cannot handle the unpredictable hyperactivity that is innate in small children. Dogs like predictability, and I suppose that coyotes do, too.

Another time, I saw a coyote resting on a bluff as a walker with three medium-sized dogs walked casually, but energetically by, at fairly close range. The dogs did not see the coyote, since it was hidden from them by the crest of the hill. The coyote rose to its feet, hunched its back, pulled back its gums and began pawing the ground and bouncing. I think the appearance of these dogs had surprised the coyote during an unguarded moment — they suddenly were in its visual field, having been hidden from it, too, by the crest of the hill. But after only a few bounces, seeing that the dogs did not even look up, it stopped and lay down again.

Another time, a coyote was close to the path while a couple of us were observing it. A man with a medium size dog came by. I suggested he leash his dog, which he did, but he would not walk around to give the coyote space. Even though this dog was leashed and close to its owner, it pulled on the leash, towards the coyote, barking — and this is what the coyote reacted to. The coyote stayed back, but immediately went into a “hunched back, gums pulled back, pawing the ground, rearing up on its hind feet, wrinkling its nose, dart-and-retreat sequence”. However, as the owner pulled his dog away along the path, the coyote calmed down. Then, after the dog and owner were 100 feet ahead, the coyote followed at a quick pace, but changed its mind when it noticed more humans up ahead. This may have been one of those times when the coyote felt like “escorting” the dog out of the park, but the appearance of more people prevented it.

In some parks, certain coyotes appear to have become accustomed to some of the dogs, even liking some of them — at a distance — if they adhere to the path. One of these is an unleashed large unfixed male labrador who acknowledges a coyote it sees occasionally, but leaves it alone. There seems to be a kind of mutual “animal respect” here.  This coyote has, several times trotted closer towards the dog, all the while retaining a readiness to flee. The coyote seems to be observing the dog — assessing him.  This coyote has followed this dog and owner a number of times, at about 50 feet, all the way out of the park — all in a very calm manner. Once, before dawn, two coyotes followed this dog, one of them circling around in front of the dog and and the other ultimately running up to him from behind and mouthing its tail before racing away — almost as a dare!  The owner was amused. This dog normally does not like it when there is more than one coyote to deal with. To show how each situation is different, I want to point out that this same coyote gave this same dog a different greeting once. Maybe the dog was behaving differently — he often runs in an ungainly, waddling manner off the path to grab a stick and chew on it: this kind of unpredictable behavior may have made the coyote wary and nervous. The coyote assumed its protective stance: crouching low, baring its teeth and scratching the ground. The owner called his dog back to the path. The coyote repeated this “challenging” stance three times, and finally ran off to engage in a barking session. I put this incident in here to show that although a lot of dog/coyote encounters are predictable, this isn’t always the case.

In another instance a coyote was sitting peacefully in a field, lower than the trail as a dog and owner walked by. The dog was leashed-up when I mentioned that a coyote was right there. The coyote crouched low, remained sitting, and kept an eye glued on the dog as it passed — this was not an instance of yawning as the dog went by.

Ears are a very important “tool” for inter-coyote communication. I have not looked at what difference the positioning and movement of the ears in dogs makes on the coyote’s behavior. It might be something to investigate.

Please see posting of December 12: “Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote”, November 17th: “ANOTHER reaction to dogs”, and December 1st: “Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked challenge.” Also, please see the entry on “Coyote Safety” of 11/3, and “Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog” of 2/8/10. “A short back-and-forth chase: coyote interaction with a large dog” of 2/4/10.

Safety Around Coyotes; PLUS Behaviors to be aware of if you have a dog: Updated

03 Nov 2009 93 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, coyote safety, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves Tags: , , , , ,

This information was distributed at a health & safety fair here in the city:

PLEASE DO YOUR PART IN PROTECTING THE ENVIRONMENT WHICH INCLUDES OUR WILD COYOTES!

  •  coyotes are a natural part of this environment 
  • seldom are they aggressive, but they will protect themselves and their territories
  • small dogs could be targeted as prey 
  •  an ounce of prevention works! Protect both your dog and coyotes 
  • first and foremost, always be VIGILANT and AWARE when dog-walking
  • when walking a dog, always walk away from a coyote: Just outright AVOID it.

1) Prevent close coyote encounters in the first place:

  • never feed a coyote or try to tame it
  • never walk towards a coyote – give them space
  • never let your dog chase or play with a coyote
  • leash your dog whenever you see or hear a coyote or know one is in the area and walk away from it
  • pick up small dogs and walk away from the coyote

2) Behaviors coyotes use to protect themselves when chased by a dog

  • charge-and-retreat sequence
  • a long barking episode, often rearing up on their hind legs
  • a nipping at the haunches, same as a cattle dog herding, to move the dog away
  • “escorting” or following you out of the park (rarely)

3) If this should happen, first and foremost, GET AWAY FROM THE COYOTE by tightening your leash and dragging your dog away with you. Walk, don’t run. The coyote’s sole intention is to move you away — so please just do it!  If you choose to scare it away, you could throw a stone in the coyote’s direction or yell angrily while clapping and stepping in the coyote’s direction (without getting close), or slapping a newspaper on your thigh (as demonstrated in the video How To Shoo Off A Coyote), but know that what’s safest is simple and plain unmitigated avoidance. So, mainly:

  • grab your dog when you can and leave the area walking

4) Two coyote behaviors to be aware of — usually between a coyote and a dog who know each other:

  • “Chase-Chase” Behavior: the coyote will be traveling in the same direction as a walker and his/her unleashed dog, and will come in close with a little “darting in”  and “retreat”. The dog will return the behavior. It is almost a “dare” or “oneupmanship” with no other intention than just this — it verges on play. Some dogs can handle this, some need to be leashed.
  • A mother coyote may come to the aid of one of her full-grown pups and the two will work as a team to vex a dog to get it to leave: one coyote will distract the dog, the other will come around to dart in from the other side.
  • In both cases, leashing the dog creates a barrier of sorts: it calms down the dog — and this can be seen by the coyote. But also it keeps the dog next to the owner which serves to deter the coyote from coming in. Coyotes do not care to tangle with humans.

*A compilation of more in-depth information and a video can be found at: “FIRST: Coyote Coexistence Guidelines and Safety Information.”

Please read postings on December 12th: “Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote”, November 4th: “Some Reactions to Dogs”, November 17th: “ANOTHER Reaction to Dogs”, and December 1: “Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked Challenge”. “Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog” on 2/8/10. “A short back-and-forth chase: oneupmanship verging on play” 2/4/10.

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