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.

A Resting Coyote Responds Differently to Humans and Dogs

11 May 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in avoiding humans, coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, reactions to a human Tags:

A coyote might feel very comfortable watching activity in a park from a high ledge which is 100-200 feet away from a path. I had occasion to watch a coyote who did this two days in a row, and I was able to see two distinct reactions to passers by, based on if there was a dog involved.

First, a lone runner came by. The runner could not have seen the coyote because of the configuration of the path. The coyote heard the runner, got up and looked, and then disappeared in a flash. The runner jogged on by without ever seeing the coyote. That was the end of that. Coyotes do not want humans to get close to them and will make an effort to keep their distance and also hide. Another reaction I have seen to a human coming down a path is for the coyote to run off a distance and remain absolutely still and thus difficult to see.

On the second day I saw this same coyote relaxing on the same ledge. Before I knew what was going on, I saw the coyote bolt up and disappear in a flash. Not until then did I see that a man and his dog were walking in the coyote’s direction. Neither had seen the coyote at this initial meeting and therefore they not react. Because of the dog, there was more going on this time. I could not see where the coyote had gone, however, within a few minutes I heard the coyote barking in its distressed manner about 500 feet further on.  I headed in that direction. I have only heard coyotes bark when they have been intruded upon. Yes, the coyote had been intruded upon, but the barking had not begun until the dog probably faced the coyote, even if there was a substantial distance between them.

Although I never did spot the coyote visually after it had moved, I did see the same man and his dog right at the spot where I had heard the coyote — he was walking away from the direction the coyote’s barking came from. I don’t think that the coyote had “delayed” its barking. The coyote must have actually followed them, unnoticed, to check them out and see where they were headed. It is when the coyote finally was noticed that the coyote’s barking reaction occurred. I don’t know if there had been a chase involved in this case or if the dog just turned towards the coyote. Anyway, the coyote ended up barking its discontent loudly, but not for as long as I have heard in the past. This was for only 4 minutes rather than 20.

Coyotes have a much keener interest in dogs and a total disinterest humans, even though there is a need to keep their distance from both. The coyote needs to find out more about the dogs, and may approach them not only to find out if there is a possibility of them becoming a potential threat, but to let them know through intimidating displays to keep away.

“Coyote Behavior 101” for Dog Owners

09 Apr 2010 38 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs Tags:

Coyote Behavior In Our Urban Parks for Dog Owners To Be Aware Of: Based my own first-hand observations of coyotes in the San Francisco Bay Area. [I just UPDATED this article on 4/2024 — originally written in 2010]

Coyotes are wary — they don’t really want to confront dogs, and much less so do they want to confront humans. They prefer maintaining their distance and normally will run off when they see you. If you happen to see a coyote, they most often are “passing through” the area. However, all coyotes, as all dogs and all humans, don’t follow a single norm — there are variations. I will try to explain some possibilities here.

A coyote may stop to observe you and your dog from afar, especially if you yourself stop on a path to look at it — and especially if your dog “looks” at the coyote.  A coyote may even come towards your dog to see “what it’s are doing” and “where it’s going”. Please just walk away from the coyote and keep going.  Be assured that the coyotes in our parks have never specifically approached humans — it is your dog which the coyote is curious about.

At their core, coyotes have a natural wariness, or even “fear” of humans. Along with the curiosity always will be the fear. Even though most of us move away from what we fear, sometimes we may try getting a little closer to what we fear to “test” it, maybe even to test ourselves. Maybe we should see such a parallel between ourselves and the coyotes. The coyote’s curiosity about the dog may be pulling stronger than the fear repelling it away from the human owner.

Regarding dogs, we all need to know that for the most part, coyotes keep “outsider coyotes” out of their areas and out of their tightly knit family group. Dogs are in this category. Coyotes do not want the dogs interacting with them. I do know that loner coyotes have *appeared* to solicit play from dogs, but it’s not really play, it’s a sort of “testing” behavior: coyotes want to find out how the dog will interact with them. It’s important to pull your dog away and keep walking away from such a coyote.

Dogs are often “monitored” and kept track of in certain parks by the alpha coyotes — these are the parents. I’ve watched as these coyotes moved to a better vantage point to watch until a dog group left the area. The reason dogs are monitored is because they are the coyote’s chief threat in an urban setting: dogs have chased coyotes, and are possibly seen as competition for the available resources in the park. Resident coyotes treat the dogs as they would any other coyote intruder. But also, once a coyote has been chased by a dog — and therefore has seen the dog as an aggressor — the coyote will forever be leery of this particular dog.  Dogs often think such chasing is “play”, whereas for a coyote the chase is much more serious. But dogs also often feel protective of their owners or the group of dogs they are with, so they may chase a coyote for this reason.

Note that a coyote “pack” is always a nuclear family group — not at all like classic “stray dog packs” where unrelated dogs get together for mutual survival needs — these dogs are more on the level of  “gangsters”. A group of coyotes is a nuclear family — and from what I have been able to observe, a very warm, caring and mutually supportive family — and one the coyote parents are going to protect.

There are exceptions to a coyote’s keeping its distance, depending on the coyote AND on the situation and the “history” of a particular coyote’s interaction with particular dogs. The parents in any coyote family will take charge of keeping their family safe and will come to the aid of the other coyotes if they see dogs getting too close to one of their family members.

Few humans are aware of the communication going on between our own dogs and other dogs. Well, the communication also is occurring between coyotes and dogs, through eye contact and body language and activity level. Keeping our dogs next to us and leashed lessens this communication. We humans are too absorbed in our own conversations and activities to catch the subtle messages between our dogs and the coyotes. It is important to minimize interaction, even eye communication, to prevent it from escalating. At the crux of what dogs and coyotes are communicating is their feeling of safety, and safety very often has to do with personal space. Keeping a large distance between a coyote and you and your dog, and keeping the dog leashed will minimize the dog-coyote communication since communication is normally carried on at a closer range, and will lessen the possibility that any communication might be acted upon.

If a coyote has been chased by a dog, s/he may often flee from the dog and then react with intense, high pitched, distressed screaming or barking: the coyote appears to be *complaining* more than anything else. However, if coyotes fee “intruded” upon when a dog comes too close without chasing — and it’s the coyotes who decide when this is the case — the situation could change, with the coyote circling the dog and even engaging in sequences of darting at the dog and retreating, and finally, if the coyote can get away with it, with a nipping at the haunches of the dog to herd it away from itself or the area, cattle-dog fashion. Pull your dog away from that coyote and keep moving away without running.

The problem is that although coyotes tend to go into hiding shortly after dawn, this is not always the case. I have seen coyotes out at all times of the day: 10:00 am, Noon, 2:00 pm, 4:00 pm — these are not the times one would expect to see a coyote, and although the chances are less at these times, the possibility is still there that you might encounter one. So a coyote might be just around the bend on a path or hidden behind a nearby bush where it will surprise you, and you will surprise it. This is another reason why it is important to keep our dogs leashed in coyote areas. Although a young coyote would normally just flee, the mother or father will stand up for themselves and for their pups, even if the pups have reached adult size. This kind of surprise encounter could easily lead to a charge-and-retreat sequence. If your dog is leashed please hurry off, rather than let your dog react.

Another behavior I have seen — it’s in the category of *testing* behavior — is the short “chase-chase” behavior — this seems to occur only between a dog and a coyote which know each other, either through previous visual communication, or because of a chasing episode which they both remember.  In this case 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 one-upmanship” interaction with no other intention than just this — it verges on play. A leashed dog can easily be led away from this to prevent its reacting.

A parent coyote may come to the aid of one of his/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. This coyote behavior can be intimidating because of its intensity.

Pupping season is upon us — April for birthing and May through Fall for raising the young. We all need to know that all of the self-protective and defensive behavior coyotes display throughout the year will be intensified during pupping season. A coyote will be defending a den and a large area around it — at least 1000 feet or 1/4 mile — and they will be more sensitive to rambunctious or intimidating dog activity. Please be especially careful during this time about keeping your dog leashed and calm in coyote areas.  Coyotes will most often leave your dog alone if your dog leaves them alone and gives them the space they need to feel safe. A dog off-leash cannot do this on his own. He needs your help and guidance in coyote areas.

With all of these behaviors, leashing the dog creates a barrier of sorts: it calms down the dog — and this can be seen by the coyote. But it also  keeps the dog right next to the owner which serves to deter the coyote from coming in closer. Coyotes do not want to tangle with humans.

Also, if you are walking in an area where there are several coyotes who are either sitting on the lawn, hunting, or headed in a certain direction, it is best not to intrude upon them, but to leave — why test this situation with your dog. By simply being there, they have claimed the area temporarily.

There are various types of dogs that upset coyotes — that cause them to react. It is mostly the more active dogs that appear to arouse the coyotes. Leashed dogs are calmer and the coyote picks up on this — unless they come too close. There is an exception to this: if a dog owner becomes anxious, he communicates his anxiety, via the leash, to the dog and this causes the dog to become even more actively anxious. If you know you are an anxious type of person, maybe you should walk in a different park.

Small fluffy very active dogs seem to cause an instinctual adrenalin rush in the coyotes: I’ve seen a coyote monitoring when such a dog passed on a path — the dog and owner were unaware of the coyote perched on a ledge above the trail. The coyote stood up, hackles raised and began trotting back and forth on the hilltop. In this case, the dog’s owners moved on quickly, but the little dog was not leashed. Most dogs are calmer when they are leashed. I’ve actually seen a coyote calm down as a dog was leashed. Two different dog owners told me that when their dog sensed that a coyote was around, they actually “asked” to be leashed by hugging against their owners’ legs! Leashing gives a sense of protection to everyone.

Any extremely active dog may arouse a coyote. I’ve seen a calm, resting coyote jolt up to attention when it saw this kind of activity, even from the distance. I think this may be because coyotes themselves are not at all hyperactive unless it is in a predator type of situation. It might be that seeing hyperactivity, such as that engaged in in dog-play may arouse predator and defensive instincts in a coyote.

What do coyotes do when dogs are not around? Life is exquisite for them in our urban parks which are full of small rodents and sources of water! I’ve seen young ones play, I’ve seen them all hunt, I’ve seen them sleep, and mostly, I see them resting on hilltops, basking in the sun, just like the little bull Ferdinand. Ferdinand was discovered by his captors as he sat on a bee: he was taken for being the most ferocious bull in all of Spain, when in fact, he just wanted to sit in a field and smell the flowers. Coyotes, too, are not aggressive, but they will defend themselves from dogs. Dogs are a coyote’s main threat in an urban area. Thanks for reading this.

IN SUM

*coyotes are not aggressive, but may actively attempt to keep their territories safe for themselves and their pups. The biggest threats to urban coyotes come from our dogs. We can help keep both our dogs and the coyotes safe, and feeling safe, by keeping them well apart in our parks.

*keep dogs leashed in a coyote area and always walk AWAY from them. It’s not enough simply to leash.

*avoid active “play” with your dog, such as catching a ball, in an area where you see coyotes frequently — frequent sightings in particular areas indicates they live close by or claim the area.

*always be vigilant: if you even see a coyote, walk on and away from it with your dog leashed — keep your distance.

*if there is a negative encounter with a coyote and your dog, leave the area for both animals to calm down.

*you are unlikely to see a coyote often, but when you do, it is best to know what behaviors it might exhibit.

.

Three Disturbances in One Morning is Too Much

31 Mar 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote howling, coyotes and dogs, dog reactions to coyotes, monitoring Tags:

Most coyotes you might pass in the mornings in the parks are on their way “home”. For the most part, they are shy so they don’t linger where they can be seen for too long — they prefer not being seen at all. However, they might stop out of curiosity: “what are you doing and where are you going?” Soon they will have ducked into the underbrush, and they are gone.

The few bolder coyotes, usually mothers and leaders of their families, don’t mind being seen at a distance on occasion. Until they go “home”, they might sit in a protected spot high up where they can rest in peace, like the little bull Ferdinand in the story book, and where they can keep an eye on things. If these coyotes are disturbed, interfered with or chased, they will complain loudly and openly rather than just run away, and they may turn around to defend themselves. I watched as this type of coyote was interfered with three times today.

I arrived at the park in time to hear the distressed barking that a coyote engages in after it has been chased or disturbed. This intense barking can go on for as long as 20 minutes. I decided to follow the sound and found the coyote still engaged in its complaining. Although I had not arrived in time to see what actually caused the complaining, I assumed that the group of walkers I was hearing had had an encounter with the coyote, and this distressed barking was the result of that. After taking a photo, I left the coyote barking, and continued up a hill on my walk.

Soon afterwards, I found this same coyote, calmed down, in a different part of the park, on a ledge where it had stationed itself. I watched it and took photos for a while. It relaxed most of the time, but stood up now and then when a runner or dog on a nearby path caught its attention. It always went back to its perch after these had passed.

THEN things changed. The coyote bolted up and stared at something on the path below which I could not see. The coyote got flustered and began running away as a woman yelled for her dog which was now chasing the coyote . The dog pursuing the coyote was a very large German Shepherd. The coyote ran towards a more protected part of the park and started, for a second time, 20 minutes of distressed barking. The dog owner must have grabbed her dog because I did not see it again. Meanwhile, the coyote continued its complaining, keeping its eyes on all paths that might lead to where it was. I have seen that these incidents only happen with unleashed dogs. Although everyone knows that coyotes are in the area, not everyone wants to take the precaution or responsibility of leashing a dog they know might disturb the coyote.

The coyote then trotted a little ways in the direction where the dog had come from, where it continued barking for a short time. The barking session then ended with a few little breathy grunts. The coyote, now calmer, walked back over to the ledge where it had been resting before the German Shepherd chase. The dog and owner were gone.

And now, there is an important point I would like to make. These two incidents may have emboldened the coyote somewhat. If they had not occurred, the coyote may not have gone into a defensive mode or set herself up to be ready when a third dog appeared. What I’m seeing is that if several dogs chase a coyote or interfere with it, the coyote’s defenses may build up. If one person lets their dog confront the coyote, it makes it harder for other dog owners to deal with the coyote which now has its ire up and is emboldened and feeling defensive.

The reason I say this is that I then watched a THIRD disturbance for this coyote — the third in one morning. Right after this last incident had subsided, a female runner could be seen jogging with her two Weimeraners. These also were unleashed. The coyote saw them and stationed itself to watch from a place where dogs could actually reach it — wasn’t this a bit provocative? The coyote now seemed prepared for defending itself if it were chased. As the woman ran by, one of her dogs went towards the coyote — maybe out of curiosity — I did not see if it was a full blown chase. The coyote was in no mood to be interfered with again and it did not head away from the dogs. Instead, coyote gave the display you see here and even ran after the lagging dog to herd it on. The woman ran ahead calling her dogs which were some distance in back of her. As this group ran out of sight, the coyote stood and watched them, and then trotted off in the other direction.

My point in writing this is to let everyone know that coyotes don’t want these interactions. They do not want to be interfered with. They want to be left alone. They want to rest calmly. But, if this type of coyote is approached or interfered with, and if its ire has already been awakened so that it is in a defensive mode, it might very well stand up for itself. ALSO, if a dog has had previous interactions of this sort with the coyote, the coyote remembers, and is prepared for this particular dog. The coyote may even make the first approach in an effort to warn the dog off before the dog even thinks of disturbing the coyote: better warn them off before they chase you.

These encounters can be avoided if we keep our dogs away from the coyotes to begin with by leashing them. Please help establish a peaceful coexistence with our coyotes. A coyote only has its self-protective instincts to follow. Dogs also have to deal with their instinctual and “playful” needs, but in this case the owner can call the shots by preventing an encounter. It is the dog owners who have control. They need to prevent all interactions so as to protect both our dogs and the coyotes.

“What Are You Doing & Where Are You Going?” -Following

27 Mar 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, dog reactions to coyotes, following, nosiness Tags: ,

In the morning I saw a small border collie and its owner before I noticed a coyote trotting along a short distance behind them. I called out that a coyote was right there — but this did not phase the owner, who slowly bagged the dog’s droppings before leashing up. This dog and coyote know each other visually, but keep their distance. The owner leashes her dog because she does not want the possibility of an altercation between her dog and the coyote. The result would be a bad reputation for the coyote — so we all guard against this.  In this case, the small dog, about the same size as a coyote, was totally oblivious to the coyote — he had not seen it. Most dogs become aware of any coyote in the immediate vicinity well before their owners do.

The owner continued walking up the hill where she looked back to finally see the coyote herself. The coyote knew it had been sighted, so it jumped into some bushes further back, “just in case” the dog might go after it. The woman and her dog walked on, saying they would be back on their way out of the park. The coyote came out, no longer to follow these two, but to bask on a rock in the sun, even dozing off a little now and then. The coyote might have been waiting for the return of this dog — if it had learned of their walking routine.

After exactly half an hour, the coyote stood up and gazed intently in one area. It kept its eyes glued on a trail which I could not see. It turned out that the coyote was watching this same woman and her dog returning. When I finally did see the owner, we waved at each other and she acknowledged the coyote’s presence, and then she proceeded onto a trail out of the park. The coyote at this point got up, stretched, and follow them to the entrance.

By the time I reached the entrance to the park, the walker was gone, and the coyote was examining something at the end of the trail. I wanted to put this into my blog because it seemed to me that the coyote actually had chosen to follow this particular dog as it entered the park, and then to follow it as it exited the park. There was nothing “threatening” about the following, just a certain “nosiness” on the part of the coyote: “what are you doing and where are you going?” I think the coyote was confirming for itself what she already knew as the pattern: that the dog was just “visiting” the park and then “moving on”.

I have seen lots of instances of coyote “nosiness”. A few mornings ago I was walking with a friend when we noticed a coyote dart by quickly, almost undetectably. Sometimes a coyote might dart by on its way somewhere, and that is the end of that. But sometimes, especially if you, or you and your dog, stop to observe the coyote, it will do the same, even coming back around a bend or a bush fairly close so as to be able to examine you. The coyote wants to know what you are doing and where you are going.  I suppose nosiness elicits nosiness in this case!! Or call it curiosity. The coyotes might engage in this for a few minutes, but inevitably more walkers and dogs appear and the coyotes run off.

Is There A Message in “Pooping”?

12 Mar 2010 19 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote scat, coyotes and dogs Tags: , ,

I noticed a couple of coyotes showing curiosity, at a distance, towards a dog walking along a path with its owner. The owner later told me that the coyotes had actually tried sniffing her dog’s end. This dog is one that is not interested in coyotes — the dog is not oblivious to coyotes, but does ignore them. By the time I had met up with this walker and her dog, the two young coyotes had moved ahead and now appeared on the path some distance in front of us. They had their eyes in our direction — they were watching the dog and they were obviously curious about its not reacting to them. The coyotes stood there, so the dog owner asked her dog to sit, to keep it from getting any closer to the coyotes. The dog did so immediately. So we all watched each other.

The closer coyote was especially curious and even headed our way a few paces. But its bravery waned as we all began to hear voices on the path from where we had come. But before running off, this coyote squatted down and pooped, right there in front of us, on the path, facing us and keeping its eyes on us! I have seen this exact same behavior before, but in this case there had been no dog with me. Was this a message? Coyote scat is often found right in the middle of paths. Was there meaning to this, to either the scat itself or the pooping process, or was it just that “when you have to go, you have to go”? Others have asked this same question.

The Issue of Coyote-Dog Habituation

10 Mar 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in blatant visual message, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, reactions to a human Tags:

Some people have been concerned about the possibility of coyote habituation to humans in our parks. Of course coyotes will become used to humans by the circumstance of us all being together in the parks.  However, with many hours of watching time, I have to say that I have never seen a coyote approach a human — I have only seen coyotes flee as humans get nearer to them. My belief is that unhealthy habituation is caused by an interaction — an exchange. Coyotes are not interested in interacting with humans. The one circumstance which I have read “forces” an interaction between coyotes and humans is humans feeding them. It is against the law to feed wildlife. Feeding coyotes is the one factor which has been implicated in coyotes becoming aggressive towards humans. Please do not feed coyotes.

However, I’m sure everyone has noted that coyotes have become habituated to dogs in our parks — not in the same way they have to humans. With humans, coyotes guard their distance. This is not so with dogs. Coyotes have approached some of the dogs. It is only some dog owners who have had issues with the coyotes in our parks — and these have always been unleashed dogs.  If we keep our dogs leashed, that would help a lot. Nonetheless, we cannot prevent the visual contact and body language that inevitably go on between some dogs and coyotes as they watch each other from a distance over time — this is a communication, it is an “exchange”, it is an interaction. Dogs and coyotes, through regular visual contact with each other, do learn each other’s behaviors and they become “familiar” with one another. We’ve all heard that familiarity breeds contempt — well, maybe a little of this is going on with the coyotes and dogs? I’m trying to make sense of the behaviors I have seen so that we all may know how to deal with them. This is what I am seeing.

So coyotes have approached some of the unleashed dogs in our parks, not viciously, but in an almost “testing” manner — something between “testing”, “taunting”, and “play” — with a kind of “I’m playing, but I mean it” attitude — and this appears to happen with dogs which the coyote has come to know, mostly through visual observation on a regular basis or from a previous interaction of some sort, such as the dog’s having chased the coyote or approached it. There is an aspect of oneupmanship in the coyotes’ and the dogs’ behavior. The coyote actually ignores the human who is with the dog, unless the human sees the coyote soon enough to make an effort to shoo it off. Note, again, that these coyotes have never come towards a human who does not have a dog: the interest is in the dog. If you keep your dog right next to yourself and leashed, a coyote is unlikely to dart in.

The most common coyote behavior towards a dog which I’ve seen involves a short charge-and-retreat sequence which seems to say: “note that I’m here, keep away from me and my kin.” It is not vicious, but there is a display and bluff that can be intense. At its core is probably the issue of territoriality: that this is the coyote’s turf. After all, dogs come and go all day long, whereas a coyote is in the park all the time and depends on the park for its very survival: for food and shelter and raising its family. This behavior is not something that a coyote carries on and on with. Rather, I’ve seen a coyote engage one dog this way and then remove itself from the area. The dog is always one which happens to be in the coyote’s immediate vicinity at the time. This behavior does not happen often, but I have observed it a handful of times. The dog will often respond to the coyote so that the behavior ends up being a  short “chase-chase” sequence back and forth before it is over.

The blatant display described here, as I’ve seen it, is always carried out by a dominant breeding female coyote. A couple of times younger coyotes have tentatively approached a calm, uninterested dog — one which they have observed is unlikely to chase them — it is a friendly approach, purely out of curiosity. These younger coyotes don’t approach dogs in a “testing” sort of way and always back off immediately if shooed away.

Please note that we can prevent this kind of physical interaction by keeping our dogs leashed in the first place, and by loudly and blatantly shooing off a coyote which comes too close for our comfort. You will not be able to prevent the visual communication between the coyotes and dogs which actually sets the groundwork for this behavior — though the communication can be minimized by leashing. This is because dogs very often direct their attention to the extent that their leashes allow them to go, and coyotes have little need to communicate with a calmer dog. If we take our dogs to parks where there are coyotes, this sort of habituation is inevitable. What we can do is be aware of the behavior so that it is not unexpected when it occurs. If we are prepared, maybe even with a shake-can, a possible unhappy incident might be prevented.

If anyone has further insight and observations on this behavior, I would love to hear from you! As I said, these are my own observations of a behavior I’m trying to make sense of.

Encountering More Than One Coyote

05 Mar 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in blatant visual message, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, dog reactions to coyotes Tags: ,

The morning, which ended up in such a leisurely fashion, did not begin this way. I spotted this mother coyote early on as she headed up towards a rock. She stayed up there, moving between several high rocks, and eventually sprawled out on the highest one, but she definitely was keeping her eye on something on the trail below. Then, in a flash, she dashed off. I thought that was the end of my coyote viewing for the day. Within minutes the coyote began her distressed barking — she only does this when she has been chased or interfered with by a dog — it may be one of her ways of keeping dogs at bay, but it also shows that she is upset.

It turns out that she had seen a dog, a dog she has seen often, which got too close to one of her yearling pups — she had come to its aid. The pup was probably in absolutely no danger, but we have to see it from this mother’s point of view: after all, dogs have chased her plenty of times in the past. When she first appeared on the scene, the dog, which should have been leashed, chased her off — this is normal unleashed dog behavior. But she responded by returning and coming in pretty close. This is typical coyote behavior. It can only be prevented by leashing our dogs immediately when a coyote is spotted, and not allowing a “casual” encounter — you cannot predict what will happen with any animal, much less with a wild animal, and in this case there was more than one coyote — the mother and the yearling. Keeping your dog leashed and close to yourself will serve to deter a coyote from coming in closer as you move out of the immediate vicinity.

There is usually an alpha female somewhere around in any coyote group: she is the only one that breeds and she is the one that controls the group and is responsible for their safety. If we allow our dogs to approach or threaten — or even appear to threaten a coyote — the female may come in to help so that you might be dealing with more than one coyote. Coyotes work as a team when there is more than one of them, with one serving to distract while the other goes around to approach from the other side — this usually is more than most dogs can handle — dogs feel overwhelmed by this behavior. But the coyotes are trying to send a message as clearly as they can: “Leave!” and “Don’t mess with us.”  They will continue this behavior, coming back again and maybe again, until dog and owner move on out of the immediate vicinity where the dog had come too close to the yearling.

The dogs, too, may feel they need to defend “their pack”, which includes all dogs or individuals in their party. Each side — dogs and coyotes — want to feel they have “won” by making the other leave. In this incident today, once the coyotes left for the first time, the dogs thought they had “taken care of the matter”, but the coyotes returned to continue vexing the dogs and owner until they left. Only we humans can prevent these interactions from happening by leashing our dogs. It is a canine-canine thing which needs our intervention if we all want to coexist together: humans, dogs, and recently returned wildlife.

The best policy is to leash up and move on. Please read about coyote safety and how you can shoo a coyote off if you encounter one at a close enough range to make you uncomfortable: Coyote Safety published on November 3, 2009.

Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog

08 Feb 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in blatant visual message, communication, coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs Tags: ,

Today I entered one of the parks to see a young fellow with his dog standing on a path. There was a coyote in the distance in the field next to the path. The fellow was tossing stones to keep the coyote at a distance — he had no idea what coyotes were like. He told me he had just moved to the area from Florida — he had not seen a coyote here before. He leashed his dog and we both watched as the coyote sat in the distance watching. Finally the coyote decided to go: it got up and trotted down the trail and out of sight. It was a young coyote born last spring. The owner then unleashed his dog.

I walked with the fellow down the path the coyote had taken and told him a few things about the coyotes, such as that they were not aggressive but will defend themselves, and that it is best to keep dogs leashed and next to us. As we rounded a bend, I looked up to see the mother coyote watching from a rock ledge high above us. The mother is still protective of her offspring and was keeping an eye on the new dog as a precaution, making sure it wasn’t about to chase her or the other coyote. More than likely she had seen the dog staring at the young coyote a few minutes before. Often when a leashed dog sits quietly beside its owner looking at a coyote that is not too far off, the coyote itself will become curious and just sit, trying to figure out what the stillness is about: the dog’s eyes may be communicating one thing, yet the leashed dog is just sitting there.

This dog stayed with us only a moment before rushing off towards the coyote up on the ledge. The dog couldn’t get up to the rock ledge, but it got close and it barked at the coyote. Coyotes do not like to be pursued.

The coyote hunched over with her hackles up: her message is meant to be blatant and clear for those who might not want to take her seriously — she was trying to let the newcomers know that she wanted to be left alone, she did not want to be pursued. The coyote then came down from the rock ledge, towards the dog, which caused the dog to come directly to its owner. The dog clearly got the message. At this point the owner leashed his dog — this calmed the dog and kept it next to us. If the owner had not been able to grab his dog, this could have ended with a firmer statement by the coyote: a nip. But it ended here, and the coyote then climbed up on a rock not too far away.

The display we saw of this mother coyote is pictured above: hackles up, teeth bared and back bent – it is the exact same display a cat gives to warn another animal off. It is meant to look frightening which makes it very effective, and all animals understand it. But it is not aggression, rather it is a strong defensive message.

The younger coyote then appeared and joined its mother on the rock from which they watched us, to make sure the infraction was not repeated. We watched them. Fortunately the fellow was very positive and excited about the coyote. This was a great introduction for him — he knows what to expect from this coyote, and he knows how to keep his dog from chasing the coyote so the coyote won’t come back after his dog. When the fellow and his dog decided to go, the mother coyote followed them. Although the younger one followed its mother’s departure with its gaze, it went in another direction.

I suppose the mother coyote made sure that the newcomers were headed out of the park — she does this sometimes when she has been chased.

Young coyotes will almost always flee from a dog threat. But the mother — the mother is always the alpha leader of a family group — often will turn back to make sure a threat is stopped in its tracks, thus letting the chaser know that she does not want to put up with this. Please take note of the display above: it is a message. It is a very clear message to read, imparted for self protective reasons. Keeping our dogs leashed will keep your dog away from the coyotes and will help us all co-exist peacefully in our parks.

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: oneupmanship verging on play” 2/4/10. “Coyote Safety” of 11/3/2009.

A “short back-and-forth chase”: oneupmanship verging on play

04 Feb 2010 Leave a comment

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

Coyotes invariably shy away from humans. They have no interest in us. The closest I’ve seen a coyote come to a human is when one approached a person’s unleashed dog, either out of curiosity or for a short back-and-forth chase interaction. Coyotes are similar to dogs and have an interest in dogs, but it is best to keep our dogs and coyotes apart.

Keeping our dogs leashed and next to ourselves is always the best insurance for keeping coyotes away. A leashed dog is calmer and less likely to pose either a visual or physical threat to a coyote, or be available for the chase-chase behavior. Also, with a dog leashed and next to you, if a coyote were to approach you, you would have only the coyote to think about, rather than having to think about how to grab your dog. You can shoo a coyote away by making loud noises, flailing your arms, and looking directly and defiantly at the coyote.

The most obvious threat to a coyote is when an unleashed dog chases it. A dog might think this is fun, a game. But a coyote may not. A younger or beta coyote might just run off if chased — most do not want to confront a dog. But an alpha pack leader — these are the breeding females, the mothers — often will defend herself, often coming back after the dog that went after her. She may not only be defending herself physically, but also she may be defending the challenge to her alpha status.

Several individuals have told me that a coyote has “played” with their dog. In 2005 we read about dogs playing with a lone coyote on Bernal Hill in San Francisco. Apparently the coyote chose only certain dogs to play with: they ran together and even wrestled. Everyone seems to be in agreement as to what was going on. I wasn’t there, but I read about it.

On the other hand, someone else told me that their dog, too, has played with a coyote — this was in a totally different area where we know there was a mother and her offspring. The dog owner told me the coyote would weave in and out of hidden tunnels in the brush along a path, “teasing” his dog to get it to “play”.  But this supposed “playing” occurred in March and April, which is pupping season — the dens are prepared and secured against danger and pups are born. Knowing what I do about where this “playing” took place — it is more likely about a female alpha coyote leading the dog away from an area she felt very protective of.

A number of times I have seen short back-and-forth chases between an off-leash dog and a coyote, lasting only a few seconds, only with large dogs which the coyote knows. I’ve come to see that these are not “true chases” but rather a kind of bantering, or maybe taunting, with the intention by each that the other should “go”, “no, you go” — it is an interaction which is not really aggressive and is not meant to harm, even though the coyote has its hackles up and lips pulled back — it is more about messaging. Usually it is the coyote who ends up finally running off because the dog owner is close by. And usually it occurs when the dog and coyote happen upon each other by pure chance — maybe both were headed in the same direction at the same time at dusk, or each rounded a bend to find the other.

In a similar vein, today I followed a coyote around a hill where, up ahead, it saw a lone, large dog with no one around. It was an area in which the coyote had been resting only ten minutes earlier. The dog’s yard is right by a park — the dog was actually in the park itself and not in the dog’s yard. Coyote pups were heard in the area last year, often at night, which may or may not be relevant. The coyote approached the dog with its hackles raised. The dog just stood there. So the coyote then bared its teeth: these are the coyote’s attendant behaviors in the “short back-and-forth chase” interaction — the intent is oneupmanship and messaging. This caused the dog to run off. The coyote then chased after it into its yard which was only a few feet away, and finally waited a few moments to be sure the dog had gone.

I contacted the owner to hear her thoughts about this interaction — I’m trying to understand coyote behavior, so that we may all benefit. She also had seen the event. She told me that her large Afghan dog is a five-year-old female. She saw the Afghan run into the yard and then chase the coyote out. The owner’s opinion was that this “short back-and-forth chase” was a form of interaction verging on play and that it was done for the interaction, that it was totally harmless. There is no real “friendship” between the dog and the coyote, she said, but these two have interacted in the past, loping together in a nearby field, or engaging in this short back-and-forth chasing. It was the owner’s opinion that coyotes sometimes get lonely and seek this kind of non-aggressive interaction akin to play which lasts only a minute, although it might appear to be more “serious” than it really is to someone seeing it for the first time.

Letting one’s dog wander alone in a park where there are coyotes is probably not a good idea. This is especially so if your dog is small and very active. It is the small, hyperactive types of dogs which seem to provoke a stronger instinctual reactive response in coyotes.  A human at the scene can prevent a coyote from approaching the dog in the first place.

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. “Coyote Safety” of 11/3/2009.

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.

A Coyote Surprises Me: Coyote behavior

15 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, monitoring, oneupmanship, reactions to a human Tags: , , ,

It was a foggy morning. The fog was very dense — so much so that I actually turned off at the wrong intersection on my way to the park: none of the familiar landmarks could be seen. This, on top of the dark dawn hours, made the beginning of the day very mysterious. It was a suitable morning for surprises.

When I reached the park where I was headed, I began walking and recording park sounds. I wondered if the dampness in a dense fog might affect the quality of the sound. Sound travels further, but not as crisply, I think: I say this because this is how the foghorns in our area sound. I stopped a couple of times to record water, birds, and voices in the distance, and then I continued down a very open path — one with no bushes for hundreds of feet.

When I was halfway down this path, I turned around — I think I was expecting some walkers to appear — the same ones whose voices I had heard in the distance. But there, on my path, not more than 40 feet behind me, was a coyote hurrying towards me — a coyote which I am familiar with. I have seen coyotes approach dogs and their walkers in this same way, but I had no dog with me — a coyote has never hurried up to me from behind this way before, so I was surprised. When I turned around and faced it, it stopped.

The coyote had been coming towards me rather purposefully. At first I thought that maybe this was part of its monitoring/patrolling behavior, or that I may have entered its “space” without knowing it. But, this particular coyote has always ignored me — allowing me to observe it from the sidelines. Never, until this day, I thought, had any of its behavior acknowledged me or been directed at me. Other coyotes have watched me, but not this one.

Just then, as I was trying to figure out this behavior, a walker and her very large dog appeared from further back on the path, over the crest of a hill, in back of the coyote — and the dog chased the coyote. Ahh, that was it — the coyote had been actually evading this dog, hurrying ahead of it, on the same path I was on. The owner was able to call her dog back, but the coyote wanted it known that it didn’t want to be chased or interfered with, so the coyote returned back after the dog in an antagonistic and defensive posture: crouched, hackles up, and teeth bared. The dog again chased it off and this time the coyote headed away, hurrying into the distance.

At the same time, two other beautifully sleek, young adult coyotes appeared and sat in the distance — these are all part of one family group. I walked in their direction. As I got closer, they walked towards me and stopped — they’ve done this once before, looking at me curiously — maybe assessing me — there was definitely a questioning aspect to their stance. I have photographed these two, not too often, but often enough to feel that my respect for their wildness and their space has led to a returned respect which warranted them not fleeing.  I took a few photos in the fog, and then both coyotes, as the first one, hurried off as they heard more human voices coming down the path.

** IF A COYOTE COMES TOO CLOSE FOR YOUR COMFORT, it is important to know how to ward the coyote off. Flail your arms, make yourself big, and make sharp noises, facing the coyote. The coyote is no match for a human and will most likely flee. Statistically, coyotes are not a danger to humans. However, it is important to remember that they are wild — so, for your own feeling of safety it is important to keep them at a safe distance.

Another Smelly Rub-down: Coyote behavior

03 Jan 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, perfume bath, wallowing Tags: , ,

I watched this coyote for two full hours! First it hunted. Then it watched human activity — specifically the sawing of an old fallen Eucalyptus branch, which was then pulled with ropes to form the edge of a path.  There was some wandering, including on a street. There was keeping hidden from two dogs — the coyote spotted them down the path, but they did not see the coyote at all, and neither did their owner. The coyote evaded detection by quickly climbing up a hill and standing very still behind some sparse ground growth — this worked because the coyote’s coat is a wonderful camouflage, especially when the coyote stands absolutely still. The coyote kept its eyes on the dogs: studying what they were doing, discerning their intent, assessing their energy level: basically evaluating the level of danger to itself. The dogs discovered the coyote scent, maybe because of some scat that had just been deposited, but they kept to the path.

THEN, maybe because the coyote knew it had been flagged by its scent, it was drawn to a place which I later discovered was very smelly. And the coyote lowered itself, shoulders first and gave itself a smelly rub-down with whatever was on the ground. It lay on its back and wiggled around, and slid down the hill. It got up twice during this rub-down session, and repeated the rub-down three times. Then it got up again and walked off.

I went over to find out what the smelly substance was which had been so pleasant to wallow in. There definitely was a very strong smell of poop, but I could not see anything in the immediate rub-down spot. Maybe it was something like urine which I could not see?

See more wallowing postings: on a lizard: A “Perfume Bath”: coyote behavior of October 29, 2009; on a snake: A Snake Is Found: Coyote behavior of March 6, 2010.

Join my pack? Coyote behavior

21 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

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

I’m remembering an incident that occurred way before I began this blog, about two years ago, when I met a coyote for the first time ever. I want to include it here because of the interspecies dynamics involving dog, coyote and human. It involved the first coyote I ever encountered, a coyote which seemed desperately bent on meeting my dog. We always encountered this coyote at the same spot, where it must have expected us — why else would we always encounter it right there? We almost always saw it before daylight. This coyote had performed for us — for me and my dog — several times previously: it had bounced up and down, it had leaped, it had turned and spun in circles — always stopping to see how we were reacting. I always watched these performances, enchanted and approvingly. A couple of times, when we arrived after daylight had broken, this coyote sat in the grass in the distance and watched my dog explore and forage. Yes, mine was a foraging dog. And my dog was not interested in the coyote. This behavior I have just described here occurred several times in the month since I had first encountered it.

On this particular day, we were early. It was pitch black outside. My dog and I were walking along a trail beside the road, separated from the road by a barrier. I saw the coyote ahead, on the trail, so I slowed down. The coyote saw us coming and actually curled up right on the path 50 feet in front of us. I knew that the coyote wanted to watch my dog. I stayed back and took photos — bad photos with my then point-and-shoot camera — but my dog continued on. As my dog approached the coyote, we could hear the sound of a car engine approaching — something unusual for this time of day. The coyote decided to cross over the barrier just as the car with its bright headlights came up the road. The blinding headlights obviously confused the coyote. “Oh no!”  I called out: “We have to get away from the road, come”.

And this is where my interest in coyote behavior really kicked in. My dog followed me, but so did the coyote. It seemingly knew that I was leading it away from danger, it seemingly had submitted to my guidance — as if I were the pack leader — it had copied my dog. I headed towards a grassy area away from the road, and when I looked back: my dog was following me, and behind him, there was the coyote, sauntering along, as if it had joined my pack. The possibility that this is what happened has remained with me ever since that morning. I wanted to write it down. Once we were away from the road, the coyote tried unsuccessfully to engage my dog playfully several times, but then sat and watched. My dog, as usual, ignored the coyote: this was normal behavior for each of them.

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