“Running Away From Home”

06 Jun 2022 4 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote pups left alone, denning, exploring, families, feeding pups, pupping

I put this collage together to reflect the thought

Well, “running away from home” isn’t exactly what happened (which is why I have the title in quotes), but watching a tiny kitten-size pup the other morning trekking decidedly away from his home inspired the idea. For a fun twist, I put together the above collage, and have written this posting sprinkled with that thought.

The morning began with a coyote dad bringing in a mouthful of animal-prey to his denning area. It was too far off and I wasn’t quick enough to see what they prey was, but it was the size of a large duck. He disappeared into the brush, and I hoped I would see him again. Within a very short time, I heard a coyote calling to another — I wasn’t given enough lead time to record it, it was not a sound I hear often: a short, warbled sound.

a pup follows his parents, but is told *no*

I looked up to where the sound came from and saw him standing and apparently waiting close to where I had seen him disappear earlier. He had been calling to his mate, because within a minute, she joined him. As they headed off, one and then two of their pups attempted tagging along. They either were told *no* or knew they wouldn’t be able to keep up because they immediately turned back. Youngsters desperately want to be with their parents, but no means no, and they were left in the safety of their den area. That was all I saw of the parents that morning.

One pup of this litter is a runt. I’ve observed runts before. They often don’t play with litter mates because their size makes it not fun for them: who likes to be beat up all the time? So they frequently play by themselves. And they go off by themselves. I’ve also seen runts given special attention by their parents: the extra nurturing probably helps their survival. Mom was there today most likely to nurse them, and I saw Dad bring in solid food as I stated above. I wondered if the runt might have been unable to get his share of milk or of what was brought in by Dad? I thought of these things immediately after what I saw next.

Leaving the den took several tries, each ending with his return to the den. On the fourth try, he made it across 100 yards of ‘treacherous terrain’, including flower beds, trees, lawn, and paved paths.

Within the next ten minutes, I saw the runt heading off and away from his denning area. My eyes popped out of my head when I saw him because it was broad daylight and he was so tiny — so much smaller than other pups at this stage of their development — he was alone and completely vulnerable out in the open in a high foot-traffic and dog area, and in the daylight. I seldom see pups, much less traveling alone over vast expanses of open areas where they are totally visible. Of course, I kept my eye on him to see what he was up to. He moved with purpose, the same way you see the adults do: they always seem to know where they are going and what they are doing. Thrice he turned back after about 100 feet, as though he were trying to make up his mind whether to proceed. But the fourth time he reached the point where he had turned around before, and he made a sudden dash forward, across a network of paved paths and a large open lawn. I was able to watch him for about 100 yards before I lost track of him in the ivy. Ivy is a wonderful coverup for them. If a dog had been there, that might have been his end, and I prepared myself to grab any unleashed exploring dogs, but none happened by at the time.

My next post will be about dens, but here I need to state that immediate denning areas are larger than the size of football fields — they don’t simply encompass the temporary dugout birthing den — they are much larger areas than that. Parents will defend this football field size area and more than 1/4 mile beyond it. This youngster was well within his football field area, but because of his direct trajectory, the idea of his running away from home popped into my mind and made me smile. I wondered about the issues faced by a runt: his likely inability to compete for a fair share of the milk or food brought in. I wondered if there might be more going on than simply being a runt: such as illness? He was wobbly in his steps and rickety in his appearance, with bug bites over his back and watery eyes. That’s all I saw of him in the morning and those were my thoughts. No parent was present to lead him back or protect him had he needed it.

Dad waits outside den area for mom to finish nursing and then tires of waiting and leaves.

In the evening his parents returned and everything looked normal. It is customary for parents to leave their pups all day long. They tend to stop by very sporadically, including at dusk for nursing or feeding before heading out again. They are not at the densite often, though Dad in particular, will hang out within several hundred feet, snoozing away the daylight hours and performing his sentry duty. This evening when she came, Mom disappeared into the brush and Dad waited for her on the periphery. He waited and waited, and finally trotted on by himself because Mom was not appearing. I saw her later playing with two of her pups. I could see that Runt was not among them. I despaired for him.

very kitten-looking

The next morning I was there to observe any changes, and to docent, asking folks to please keep their dogs leashed. I saw Dad looking around, but he didn’t seem particularly concerned. Another thought popped into my head: Being the runt, this one looks somewhat like a kitten with its exceptionally short baby snout. What if some human were to *save* him by either adopting him or taking him into the SPCA or ACC. It is illegal to keep wildlife as pets here. In addition, separating a youngster from its family drastically diminishes the youngster’s chances of survival. Few animals taken to wildlife rehab centers survive in the long-run: they simply have not been given the skills to survive: only parents can do this. Please leave all found pups alone — you can only hurt their situation.

Runt is back and safe

I was back in the evening and heaved a sigh of relief when I glimpsed Runt. He’s there! For him, it was just another day, as if nothing special had happened over the last 24 hours — and it hadn’t — but for me, I wrote a whole post about him running away from home and ruminating about a runt’s welfare. But these little guys are hardy and resilient and much smarter than we think. However, it’s important to remember that pup survival rate can be as low as 20 to 30%.

Runt back home

PS: Although I distinguish coyotes by their faces, I have real trouble distinguishing pups. However, Runt stands apart and is very identifiable by his underdeveloped size and ragged/rickety appearance. He’ll probably emerge as King of the Forest some day!! :)

Novelty Spurs A Super Playtime At The Rendezvous

26 Aug 2018 8 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coexisting with coyotes, coyote behavior, exploring, father coyote behavior, playing

A while back I was told by someone with some animal behavior training, that “novelty” is something coyotes stay away from. That novelty and smelly human socks were things coyotes avoided and therefore could be used to drive coyotes away.

Actually, the opposite seems to be true. I’ve seen coyotes absolutely delight in smelly old human shoes, their socks, coats and hats: they tend to actually be attracted to these things and to anything novel, including balloons waving in the wind, and even large objects like huge dirt piles and tractors — and no matter that the size and configuration of the huge dirt piles changed daily over a five day period, that the tractors were never in the same places, that the huge log piles grew and then slowly disappeared over a five day period, the coyotes returned for their play there day after day.

The morning that I took these photos, a huge, deep hole had been dug into the very level ground. It went down as deep as the piled up dirt was high. You can’t really tell from my photo, but the pit is very deep. My fear when I saw the hole was that if I, or a coyote from the family which roams the area were to slide in, there would be no getting out without help. Luckily, everyone was sure-footed and no one fell in!

So, after the tractors had done their work in the morning, I arrived at the huge pit and dirt pile. It was rendezvous time, which is the evening get-together when coyotes meet-up for play, grooming, re-confirming their family positions and eventually trekking. At the allotted time — and I must say that I don’t know how each coyote knows to appear at about the same time because they emerge from different areas of the park — possibly they’re just waiting and watching — they raced excitedly and playfully towards each other with greetings.

Initial play and greetings before heading over to the novel items

Their greetings were full of fun, as usual, and then they headed straight over to the three huge tractors and dirt pile that hadn’t been there the day before, where they exploded in play: running around as though these things had been placed there specifically for their enjoyment! They ran and chased each other along the top ridge of the dirt, and up and down, they explored the tractors, they explored and clambered all over the high wood-pile. And they smiled at all their fun. They did not avoid anything new, and it all was new. Enjoy the fun!

Smiling and happy after an intense chase on the ridge of the dirt pile

A Puddle

21 Nov 2017 4 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, curiosity, exploring, investigating, playing

This scene brought to mind the opening line in Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ “One Hundred Years of Solitude”,  where the author remembers going “to discover ice”.  Here, the discovery is water. Of course, the coyote knows water — he drinks it all the time, but here he seems to discover something about it beyond its thirst-quenching capabilities or its wetness. For one, the large puddle suddenly appeared where there hadn’t been one only the day before: THAT was something to investigate.

The youngster, a six-month old, curiously tests and discovers its qualities as an object and a phenomenon.  He touches its surface several times: it sends out waves when he does so, he can step through it even though it looks solid, he can see reflections (might he see himself?), it splashes, he can lift a little on his paw before it falls apart and off his paw, he can feel it and it “responds” but doesn’t hurt him, and of course he can drink it, and it’s wet and cold. The natural world is endlessly fascinating, isn’t it!

I was able to capture some still shots when this occurred, which you see above. The video, which I switched to at the very end, captures only the last few seconds of the coyote’s charming investigation.

Suspicious of Novel Items in A Known Environment? (Revised and Updated)

01 Oct 2015 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, curiosity, exploring, nosiness, wariness

A new pile of debris, consisting of cardboard pieces in a pile, caught the attention of this 3-year-old female coyote as she headed to her favorite hideout retreat for the day. She approached the pile, as though she were hunting — slowly and carefully, almost tip-toeing in. Then, she turned her head from side to side as she listened for what kind of sounds the new “object” might make. The pile remained silent, so she decided to investigate closer.  She snuck up, ever so carefully and hesitatingly, and attempted grabbing a section of the cardboard in her mouth. This caused another piece of cardboard to shift and move where she had not expected movement. She immediately flinched back, backed up, and then stood behind a planter, keeping an eye on the pile of cardboard. Nothing happened, but, for the time being, it wasn’t worth the risk to explore further. Her suspiciousness ruled supreme, and she skedaddled lickety-split away from the cardboard, around some bushes, and out of sight.

Coyotes are very aware, wary, and suspicious of any changes in their known environment. In this case, someone had dumped some cardboard outside their home. Even though the new material made her uneasy, the coyote was curious and checked it out: she was actually drawn to it. The unexplained movement in the cardboard served to further raise her suspicions, but only temporarily: she moved away but then came back to finish her investigation. Now, I see her there constantly, totally ignoring the piece of cardboard. Each coyote is different, and in what I’ve seen, innate curiosity seems to trump fear — at least little fears!

 

When the Cats Are Away….

06 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, exploring, interloper, territoriality

In each of the parks I frequent, I always see the same coyotes. These coyotes claim their territories, keeping other coyotes, for the most part, out. But the coyotes also engage in excursions to other areas, and I’m not sure what their claim is to these other areas — are they just interlopers?  When they make these excursions — and who knows what they go checking out or why — they are not at home to oversee their own territory. Hmmm….

So, today, the resident coyotes in one of the parks were gone. And…. the “intruder” took it upon herself to roam and explore their home territory in their absence. This is the most I’ve ever seen of her. She did a lot of sniffing and roaming, and she fled quickly from a couple of walkers who saw her. But, interestingly, although I found one small piece of scat on a trail before I became aware of her — and I have no idea if it was hers, I did not see this intruder coyote “mark” at all as she explored. Was she avoiding leaving her scent? Exploring coyote behavior is a voyage of discovery for me, too, and very fascinating!

Leaps n’ Bounds

20 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, exploring, hunting, video

I guess something exciting caught this fellow’s eye as I followed his movements from across a street. Whatever it was, it got away! The coyote ambled on, as he had been doing before the leaping began. Better luck next time.

Coyotes Like To Check Things Out Thoroughly

04 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, curiosity, exploring, hunting

Here a coyote is stretching up high to check out a tree stump — coyotes are very curious and inquisitive, and they can be very purposeful. They normally trek along, sniffing at ground level or at eye level, but I also have seen coyotes climb the lower branches of trees when they’ve seen a squirrel there, and I’ve seen them jump high onto an unlikely rock ledge to check out a sound, smell or something they saw. Here, the coyote headed for the tree as if it knew what might be there, and scrutinized it intensely — he seemed to know exactly what he was looking for at that particular spot. He spent over a minute engaged in this activity. However, he left as empty-mouthed as when he arrived. I later checked out the tree stump for myself. There were two large hollows where the coyote had been exploring. One was about a foot deep and the other was about two feet deep. Each was about 8 inches across. Nothing was in those hollows — and they were too close to the ground to serve as wise critter nests.

My thought is that the coyote had found something very interesting there before, or maybe another critter had recently visited this spot leaving its scent there? Seeing this coyote check out the tree reminded me of how keen the memory is for canines. My own dog remembered the exact tree, way off the beaten path, in a heavily wooded area that we had visited only once a year or two earlier. At that time, a raccoon had run to that tree for protection. My dog had followed and watched the fellow watch him from the crook of the tree. Memory of the raccoon incident, and its exact remote location in the middle of nowhere, from a single incident long ago, astonished me because I had totally forgotten about it until my dog ran up to that tree again.

What To Do With A Long Strip Of Tree Bark?

15 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, curiosity, exploring, playing Tags:

If something like this were to appear in your path, you might be inclined to look at it, grab it, move it and then, after some thought, abandon it as not being too interesting after all. A good long bored yawn might cap off the “encounter.”

Into The ‘Hood

01 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote living areas, exploring Tags:

Sometimes coyotes venture out of the parks and into surrounding neighborhoods. They don’t stay long. If you see them, they seem to know exactly what they are doing and where they are going — there is purpose in their movements. Interestingly, most humans don’t even see them. This one returned quickly to the unpaved park area.

Play: Another Possible Toy?

22 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, exploring, playing

After an intense play session, this coyote found this shredded stick and carried it a few feet before dropping it and leaving it. Maybe the coyote changed its mind about it. I’ve seen coyotes pick up a piece of bark or twig which they will carry a short distance, sit down with, and begin tearing or chewing. This did not happen when I took these photos above: the stick was dropped and left.

What Coyotes Do: Wandering About on a Hill Slope

05 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, exploring, hunting Tags:

I don’t know when or where this young coyote’s wanderings began, nor when or where they ended. I was able to observe a 15 minute snippet of it as it wandered in an area of about 300 feet. The area was an overgrown grassy hill slope near a road and near some houses on the edge of a park. The coyote was probably trying to get one last bite of food — possibly a gopher — before heading in for the day. I saw it “pounce” on something once, but it walked away without a prize. The coyote’s activities included: meandering at a walk, a romp down the hill, hunting by standing very still and watching movement on the ground, pawing the ground in one spot which produced no results, sitting very still to observe roadway activity, monitoring for noise and activity around a house before continuing — possibly it was listening for dogs which are a coyote’s main threat in an urban setting, peering carefully into bushes, and standing still at alert to watch for danger on a regular basis. The coyote did not venture close to the road or houses, but always remained within the “wilder” overgrown park. This coyote was unaware of me — otherwise it would have “checked” on me now and then. I was far in the distance and obscured by some tall vegetation.

Mom and Yearling Still Together

05 Apr 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, coyote behavior, exploring Tags:

I observed a mother coyote relaxing as she watched her yearling run up to her and then go off to explore a very high rock — maybe an 8 foot tall “needle” rock. The pair was out in the same spot for over half an hour. The youngster on the rock must have felt like “king of the mountain”: it remained there for twelve full minutes, standing tall and turning to look in various directions. It undoubtedly had a wonderful vantage point. After the twelve minutes, it lithely climbed down the sheer, almost 90º wall of the rock — how it was able to get a foothold I have no idea. It then slithered into the bushes and I did not see it again. The mother remained out for a little longer before “going in” herself.

A Young Coyote Casually Observing the Rain

03 Mar 2010 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, exploring, what coyotes thinks about Tags:

It has been raining lately, and it was raining heavily when I saw this coyote.  No one was around. The lone young coyote appeared bored. It sat in an open field in the rain and looked around — that way, this way, down, up: if you follow its gaze you can see that it is focusing on the movements created as raindrops landed on individual blades of grass and leaves. It also yawned and it stretched. Finally, as the rain got even heavier, the coyote ambled a short distance before it shook itself out and went into a thicket area. The yearling had been absorbed this way for about ten minutes.

Coyotes are very attuned to small grass and plant movements right at ground level. This is because one of  their primary nourishments comes from the voles and gophers whose burrows are under the ground. These small rodents often “work” on their tunnels, creating small movements in the foliage that grows right around their “doorways”.  Coyotes are always on the lookout for these movements which alert them that a meal is close at hand if they go about their hunting undetected.

What’s This? – Coyote behavior

29 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, exploring Tags: ,

Exploration and discovery are  fun to see in all animals. I have photos of my own puppy barking ferociously at a low-floating helium balloon. And I remember him barking at a ceramic goose — doing so ferociously, and then retreating lickity-split, “just in case”. An office chair on the sidewalk caused my other dog to make a wide circle around it, way out into the street — an infraction she knew was severe; but to her this was safer than getting too near the alien object.

So, all within about half an hour, I watched a coyote find things and react: sounds and sightings. The coyote’s reaction to the blue stool cushion reminded me of my own dogs.  I record everything with my camera and did so this time. I’ve put captions on the photos rather than write any more. The coyote’s nap was very short because a person appeared — coyotes are not comfortable with humans in the immediate vicinity. If a coyote senses that it has not been seen, it might stand perfectly still as a person passes. Otherwise it will walk briskly away from the person to keep the distance a comfortable one.