Punishment Again

10 Nov 2013 5 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in bonds, care for the young, coyote behavior, coyote parenting, dominant vs. submissive, family interactions, hierarchy, life cycle, mother coyote behavior, mother/pup learning, parenting, pupping, social behavior, social interactions, squealing

This is the second time in the same day that I observed this behavior between this particular seven-month old female pup and her mother. Please see the previous posting.

I had two thoughts that might be related to this:  the first about Great Horned Owl dispersal, and the second about canine intuition regarding the alpha quality in another canine.

I’ve seen Great Horned Owls lovingly raise their owlets for almost a full year, from the time they are born in late March, through the fledging stage when they leave their birth nest, and through months of teaching hunting and other survival skills. Then one day, towards the end of the Fall season, both parents — these are parents who have mated for life and have raised their owlets together for the last 15 years — turn viciously against their offspring forcing them to leave the area. There is room for only one mated Great Horned Owl pair in any territory due to limited resources. As time approaches for the new reproductive cycle to begin, at the end of the calendar year, any offspring born that year are driven away by their parents. I’ve always wondered what it must feel like to be so totally loved and cared for, and then have those who loved you suddenly attack you. This is what goes on. The young owls fly off to areas as close as the next park over, if there is room there, or as far away as across the US.

My second thought stems from how my 2-year-old female dog reacted when we brought home a new 4-month-old puppy — a male. We found the puppy — abandoned — and we couldn’t just leave him. She must have intuitively known that he would be growing much bigger than her, and that, based on his behavior and activity level and disregard for her, that he would assume the dominant status eventually. It’s only with hindsight that we came to know that this was going on right from the start. Over an extended period of time we noticed that the alpha status had segued to him, and she just accepted the inevitable. An alpha coyote in the wild, it seems, would do its best to prevent this from ever happening, especially from one of its own pups who began showing signs of any kind of dominance.

So, we’ll soon see how this situation pans out: if it settles down, or if it leads to something.

Dominance Display

01 Nov 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in communication, coyote behavior, dominant vs. submissive, hierarchy, video

This is a rare observation. We’ve all heard of the term “dominance”,  but how many of us have seen it in operation? Here is a blatant show of dominance by one coyote. There is literal truth to the phrase “top dog”. These coyotes get along really well, but it is obvious that the existing hierarchy needs reconfirmation now and then. The underdog did not like being bumped by the dominant coyote and reacts. But the dominant one does not allow him to get away with his reaction, and literally puts him in his place.

The underdog struggles a little, but the dominant one is much more adept. The physical hold is finally let go when the underdog calms down. But not until the underdog reveals that he accepts his place does the top dog actually let go of the psychological hold over the underdog. When the less dominant coyote bows, keeping his head low, and stays that way for a few seconds, he has shown his submissiveness and the little display is over. The ending includes a little playful skip on the part of the dominant coyote. Both then continue grooming themselves and hunting, best friends as ever before.

By the way, I captured this clip in very bad lighting — on the dark side of twilight — I’m learning that my camera video capability is amazing!

Mister Reprimanded?, by Charles Wood

20 Jun 2011 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, family interactions, hierarchy

Dad and Mister

Sunday at twilight Dad spotted me as he was coming down his Los Angeles area road.  I was on the bridge to his north about 225 feet away.  He paused and then kept coming.  He stopped again to sniff.  In a moment, he resumed his trot and Mister came from the brush to join him.  Mister is new to me though he has been with his parents and sisters all along.  Dad made Mister get down as shown in the “Dad and Mister” photograph.  Soon they were up and both trotted across my bow, Mister coming first.  I had seen Dad first, Mister came out on the road and got in trouble, then Mister led them away, apparently doing as he had been told by Dad.

Was Mister truly in trouble?  I can’t know.  Until yesterday I didn’t know that Mister was there, had confused him with his sister Bold, and had thought he therefore was female.  There is room for getting simple facts like gender incorrect, so my story of Mister and Dad’s complex behavior has plenty of room for other interpretations.  For example, Mister may not have seen Holtz and me on the bridge and Dad may have been communicating my presence and a danger assessment to Mister.  Both continued on, Mister in front. As they went camera left, both glared at me, Dad with his neck and shoulder fur flared to make him look big.

The one thing I consider clear is that Dad is in charge of his son Mister, whether reprimanding Mister’s misstep or warning Mister of what they both have come to regard as a concern:  Holtz and me on the bridge.

Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for these and more coyote photos: Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.

Acceptance of Who’s Boss?

05 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

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

The more dominant of these two coyotes ran up to the other to intimidate him to bug off. It appears to be a compulsive behavior. He has always been successful in his bullying toward this fellow, but notice that, although the intimidated fellow runs off, he does not depart far or for long. Is he building a tolerance for the other’s behavior, treating it as just a minor inconvenience by letting it happen and then sidestepping it?  He’s not quite standing his ground and being his own man but neither is he avoiding this dominating fellow — he has no fear of consistently, although carefully, approaching the dominant fellow when his curiosity is raised.

Deference Paid

05 Jan 2011 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy Tags:

The same fellow who extracted deference from his sibling, here pays deference to his Mom. Notice that he comes in with his head lower and tries kissing her from below. They probably made eye contact when they first met, but after that she does not look at him at all. Rather, her attention is riveted in the distance where her other year old pup is hanging out. She looks over again at this pup only briefly as he heads away and then returns her attention to the distant fellow. The respect and love here is deeply felt. It is both easily and freely given. There are no demands made by Mom.

Family Interactions & Dynamics

26 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, family interactions, group activity, hierarchy Tags:

These interactions lasted about nine minutes. It was not light enough to see anything but the outline of one coyote when I arrived at the scene. I sat down to watch. Soon I became aware of two more coyotes — the mother and subservient sibling, resting only a few feet away from the first fella — the dominant sibling. I’ve put captions on the photos rather than explain it here below. This family interaction took place a while back — at the beginning of November. The family consists of a single mom and her two 21-month-old male offspring who have recently established a strong hierarchy between themselves.

The dominant sibling is the one doing all the approaching on this day: he approaches his sibling to dominate him, and he approaches his mom to increase his bond with her at the expense of his brother.  Of special interest here is that after Mom watches Dominant Sibling hover over and dominate his more subservient sibling, she then makes sure to let this dominating fellow know that she is above him. She does this first by taking his snout in hers and then by raising herself above him with her paws on his back. He allows her to do this: he is below her in the hierarchy, but above his brother.

Displays of dominance include a dominant muzzle enclosed over the more subservient muzzle, standing over and higher than the other fellow, holding the tail up high often with hackles up, approaching. Signs of submissiveness I’ve seen include cowering with ears down or back, head held lower and moving in a slinking fashion, displaying vulnerable parts and letting the dominant guy bite your inner thighs, hitting the ground on your back showing the belly, fleeing.

 

Wanting To Play; Getting Bullied

26 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

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

One of these two young coyotes found an abandoned dog’s ball and picked it up to play with it. Bullying brother came over and knocked the coyote over for the sole purpose of showing him who was boss, and then hovered over him menacingly. When the bully became momentarily distracted, the more subservient coyote was able to run off. This kind of behavior happens regularly these days and serves as a constant reminder and confirmation of a ranking status which has to become accepted by both coyotes. These photos were taken at the beginning of November when there were still attempts by the more subservient coyote to interact with his sibling.

A Hierarchy At Work

20 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy Tags:

Here are the workings of a hierarchy within a coyote family.

More Intimidation & Choosing Your Position In The Pack

10 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy Tags:

Here again, is an instance of dominant sibling intimidation. From the distance you can see the dominant sibling approaching. When he reaches his sibling he pushes him to move — assertively and possibly threateningly. The accosted guy faces him, eye to eye, for just a minute, but then bows low before running off with his ears back. The dominant sibling pursues. It is only for a short distance — only long enough for the dominating fellow to feel that he has the upper hand and that he made the other one move off.

Apparently every coyote in a pack chooses its role and position in the pack, including the subservient fellow. Dogs do the same thing. Hierarchy is thus established without a fight and without injury which could actually hurt their survival.

No Contest

05 Dec 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, hierarchy, oneupmanship

Sometimes, the best strategy is to lay low, even though you are already as low as you can get. There was a little bit of snapping at the aggressor, but the fellow on the ground opted to stay down. He usually flees or hits the ground when the dominant guy approaches to get a rise out of him. The aggressor soon tired of this and moved away — which is what the underdog wanted!

The Stick Finder & The Stick Snitcher

26 Nov 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy, playing

Here, one fellow finds a stick and begins having fun with it: tugging at it and chewing on it. But a second guy comes up and wants that very same stick.

The first guy repels the second guy’s attempts to take it with a growl.  However, the second guy doesn’t give up and tries to weight down the first guy and then he tries a frontal approach again, both unsuccessfully. Finally he tries the ultimate put-down: he mounts the first fellow who then moves to get away from the tight grasp.

Seeing that the stick is no longer his, the first guy resigns and  moves off some distance to watch. Not to be totally defeated, he returns and grabs a different stick to pull on. Ohhhh, but now fellow #2 actually wants THIS particular stick and goes for it.

Fellow number one snarls angrily, but it is fellow two, who at this stage is succeeding in showing himself to be the more dominant of the two, now has the second stick.

So, the fun is over for the time being.

Back When Play Began Turning Into Bullying

26 Nov 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, dominant vs. submissive, hierarchy, playing

The two siblings in this coyote family used to play evenhandedly — this is not so now. In the first slide, as one of the siblings begins to dominate the other, Mom snarls her discontent at them and moves away from them. Notice that one sibling continually goes after the other one to dominate by pushing him, mounting him or forcing him to the ground — it is always the same one that does this. In the end, the dominated runs off from his tormentor, almost always with ears back, tail under and back arched.  These photos were taken at the beginning of October — about when I started noticing this one-sided pattern to sibling interactions.

When “Mouthing” Was Still Play Only A Short Time Ago

17 Nov 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, dominant vs. submissive, hierarchy

Here are some photos from September that I did not post. Posting them now actually works well, because the behavior they depict is in contrast to what is occurring now. Now a hierarchy seems to have been established between these two sibling males. The dominant one tends to bully the other, and the other one tends to run off to avoid it: this happens now always.

But before this, at the end of September, there was more equality and lots of playing and affection between these two siblings. These photos show the coyote which has become less dominant — to our left — playfully putting his snout around the one who now has become more dominant in a bullying sort of way. It is almost a role reversal, except that back then, these behaviors were just being toyed with and didn’t seem to carry much weight at all as far as I could see.  The mouthing in these photos was part of the play involved with chewing a stick together and dealing with some bugs which were flying around their faces. But now I see it used to confirm dominance, this along with mounting behavior. Again, in a reversal of behaviors, the coyote who is less dominant now used to mount his sibling excessively — always in play: it didn’t seem to carry any weight because the other coyote did not react to it. So, the excessive mounting behavior, along with the mouthing I show here, may have driven the dominant to become so in order to squelch this behavior — maybe he got tired of it. Note that this behavior is what is occuring between 20-month old male siblings. Mom is still very clearly pack leader and has never been challenged in her position.

A thought about dominance and alphas occurred to me.  A friend recently told me that Alpha animals tend to have lower resting heart rate than the rest of the pack — they are calm and in control. After being told this, I remember how an Alpha dog was able to calm and control my dog who had a bout of “oneupmanship” when they met. My dog approached the other dog with hackles up, standing upright and ready to do battle to show the other dog where the relationship stood. However, the other dog, the same size as my dog, was the calmer and the one in control — the true Alpha. He gently pushed my dog, in a playful manner to begin play: “hey, knock it off” he seemed to be saying. They immediately became best friends, with seemingly equal status, but the other dog was in control. The point of this story is that the animal who needs to be a bully very often is not the one in control, not really the dominant one. Maybe such an animal is dominant only in a very superficial way, and in relationships below the Alpha.

Today I was able to see the coyote who has been exhibiting less dominance, the one with less “fight” in him, lead the others in a play session. Both the mother and the current “bullying” sibling were being “led” by the sibling which shows less dominance! I don’t know if this short play session has significance.  Maybe there are more nuances that the rest of us need to pick up on!

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.

Sibling Rivalry #4a: Bullied Three Consecutively Times Before Snapping

27 Oct 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, family interactions, hierarchy Tags:

The sequence of photos for this posting is long: 35 photos, so I have divided them, along with the posting into two parts, “a” and “b”.

In these photos, various things are occurring. First, the dominant sibling coyote has caught a vole. The less dominant coyote sibling watches from only a few feet away as the dominant one toys with the vole for a moment. But then the dominant guy decides to show his sibling his place by overpowering him — notice that his hackles are up. The dominance seems to be less based on strength than on a powerful personality — a willfulness. I say this, because the smaller coyote is the more dominant one.

Maybe the dominant guy saw that the less dominant coyote might want his vole? See One Coyote Filching The Other’s Lunch! I don’t know if this was the case here, it is just a thought that later occurred to me. The less dominant coyote falls to the ground and remains there until the dominant one’s attention is diverted, at which point the less dominant one slips away — but he is overpowered again, until the dominant guy thinks of the vole he caught a few minutes earlier.

Continued at:  Sibling Rivalry #4b: Bullied Three Consecutively Times Before Snapping

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