WildCare’s 2017 Photo Contest winners. If you are looking for a place to donate, consider WildCare in San Rafael.
A Coyote’s Story, by AWARE
08 Dec 2017 1 Comment
in AWARE, Injuries, rehabilitation, Uncategorized Tags: coyote rehabilitated by AWARE
What follows is the story of a terribly injured coyote rescued and rehabilitated by AWARE. If you want to make more stories like this possible, please give what you can to their year-end campaign. And come back on December 17 for a video showing footage from his recovery!
Early this September, a coyote pup was making his way through a quiet pine forest in rural Fayette County when he came upon a long-forgotten rusty fence. While he was either exploring it or trying to get past it, his front legs become trapped, and he found he could not get away.
The coyote shortly after intake, scared and hiding under a towel.
We’re not sure how long he stayed there, stuck in the fence without food or water, but we do know that a rescuer found him on a stormy Wednesday morning and brought him to AWARE. When he arrived, AWARE Wildlife Care Supervisors Marielle Kromis and Julia Sparks brought him to our exam room to perform an intake exam. They found that he was very dehydrated and had severe injuries to both front legs. It was clear that he had been struggling to pull the legs free, as the damage was on both sides of each leg. They were both extremely swollen and the wounds were so deep that both the radius and ulna on each leg was exposed. The wounds were seriously infected as well. Continue reading at https://www.awarewildlife.org/coyote/
The coyote after several weeks of progress and therapy.
Brush Rabbits in San Francisco?
31 Aug 2017 7 Comments
Yes, I’ve run into a number of bunnies recently in our San Francisco parks — in the same parks where coyotes also live! Because of this, I decided to brush-up on them. :))
The western brush rabbit, also called riparian brush rabbit is a species of small cottontail which lives in the western coastal areas of the US, including San Francisco. Apparently it is endangered. Ten years ago I had incredible difficulty finding brush rabbits here in the city: I was told that they were a rare sight except at Fort Funston, though I did find a couple on Twin Peaks. That was right before they totally disappeared from Twin Peaks as it was converted to a high-maintenance “native” plant museum landscape of grasslands and chaparral. :((
Now, I’m seeing these bunnies again in a number of our parks — not in the restored “native” chaparral areas or grasslands of the city, but rather on the edges of dense brush, willow groves, blackberry thickets and dead wood piles, where they can quickly scurry to safety. They eat grasses, shoots and especially green clover and berries.
We all know that rabbits dig holes because of Alice who fell down one into Wonderland. However, cottontails, unlike other rabbits, don’t dig “rabbit holes” or burrows as do other rabbits, but rather use the burrows of other animals, or just hide in the dense brush areas through which they create extensive runways. All other rabbits live underground in burrows or warrens.
They are crepuscular, mostly active at dawn and dusk, as well as nocturnally active. Their main predators here in the city are coyotes, foxes, raccoons, snakes, hawks, and owls, . . . and misguided human activity also hurts them. The protection they use to escape predators lies in their ability to remain absolutely still in bushy areas, or to hop in a fast zig-zag pattern in open fields. They can also deliver powerful kicks with their hind legs and their strong teeth allow them to bite in order to escape a struggle.
Rabbits don’t have pads on their feet — they are furry all over! They are distinguished from rodent species by their two sets of incisors, one in back of the other, whereas rodents only have one set. Male rabbits are called bucks, females are does, youngsters are called kits or kittens, and a group of rabbits is called a colony or nest. The brush rabbits are only about a foot long and weigh between one and one-and-a-half pounds.
Brush rabbits produce two to five litters a year — the average being three — and a litter size is usually about 3 kits. That doesn’t seem like so many to me, and I wondered where the phrase “multiplying like rabbits” really came from, but with a short gestation period of only 22 days, they actually can reproduce quickly. It turns out that it is *domestic* rabbits who really can overpopulate: they potentially can have 1-14 kits per litter and potentially 12 litters a year. Yikes! [See: http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/scary.html]
Wikipedia says that, “It is estimated the home range of the Brush Rabbit averages just under 1-acre for males and just under .5 acre for females. The shape of these home ranges are usually circular but depending on the vegetation can be different in size and shape. Range use probably is not circular in shape or uniform, but rather consists of a series of runways that directly connect high use areas within brush habitat.”
Several rabbits have been observed to feed in the same area simultaneously, but they maintained distances from each other of one to 24 feet before aggressive chases occurred. Females tend to not overlap in their ranges, while males do, which may indicate that females are territorial. Groups of brush rabbits may serve social purposes, such as predator detection.
Cottontail rabbits are almost completely mute animals. They communicate with each other by thumping with their back feet against the ground, and probably visually. Even so, they can scream and screech quite loudly if caught by a predator.
Yes, as I mentioned above, *humans*, in their quest to be helpful, are actually harmful to them. Please let’s leave their habitat alone — they need the dense brush they live in for natural protection! Also, please don’t try to “save” these critters by trapping them and taking them home. They are meant to be wild and they are happiest in their natural environment, living their lives without human interference. The rule of nature is “eat or/and be eaten”: it’s a harsh one, but I think they, as all animals, would choose a short natural and free life over a long life in captivity: Life quality over longevity. I would.
History is Made: A Bald Eagle Lands in San Francisco!!
04 Aug 2017 4 Comments
Occasionally I post things not related to coyotes, and this post is one of them. It was Thursday, August 3rd at 8:30 am when I and several friends, including John, Paul, Juan, Anna, Ruth, Debby and Lori watched this huge bird fly in from the north, heading right for Bernal Hill, which is a grassy *island*, so to speak, that rises above, and stands out from, the sprawling city below.
We have a number of these *islands* in the city, some of them are grassy and golden, and some are treed and green. Bernal Hill is of the golden variety during the summer months and emerald during the rainy season. After landing on the ground, the bird flew up to a perfect perch — a dead branch. There it remained for two full hours before continuing its flight west and out of sight. During those two hours, the bird looked around, preened, shook itself, scratched itself and pooped!
I contacted Dominik Mosur, San Francisco’s pre-eminent bird expert, and the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever met about birds. He says, “Based on my experience, and documented data available to me, both Bald and Golden Eagles are occasionally seen in San Francisco City and County airspace. There was a Bald Eagle sighted perched at Lake Merced many years ago, but aside from that one, there have been no additional historical records of either eagle species actually landing here since we converted the Franciscan ecosystem into city/suburbs.”
“This bird is young, likely just out of a nest. You encountered it as it was probably leaving its parent’s territory for the first time.”
“Bald eagles started nesting close to San Francisco in the last decade (Crystal Springs Watershed to the south, a few years longer up in Marin in the Mt. Tam watershed) and consequently sightings of them flying OVER the city have increased. However, as I mentioned, it’s one of just a couple of records of Bald Eagles perching in SF in modern times — probably going back to the pre-Gold Rush days!” Sightings of this bird in San Francisco are indeed extremely rare, which makes this sighting a truly special event.
Click on any of these smaller images to enlarge & see as a slide-show.
Pupping Season: What Behaviors to Expect If You Have A Dog, and What You Can Do
18 Apr 2017 Leave a comment
Reposted from two years ago by popular demand!
Another Howling-at-Sirens — A Surprise!
11 Jan 2017 Leave a comment
Coyotes often howl at sirens. So, I listened for howling after hearing a siren, and indeed I DID hear howling. It was an incredibly *little* sound, without quite the force and reach of a coyote’s howl, but, nevertheless, it was a true howl. Enjoy!
Another unusual thing about this adorable little dog: this dog is a total vegetarian! I thought dogs had to have meat, but the owner said they could be vegetarians just like we can. That was brand new news to me!
Seasons Greetings, 2016!
25 Dec 2016 2 Comments
This little yoga-posing coyote — she looks like she’s sitting cross-legged in a lotus position — became a first place winner in WildCare’s 2016 photo contest. For other contest winners, and to donate to this wildlife organization, please visit: http://www.wildcarebayarea.org/support-us/2016-living-wildlife-photography-contest-winners/
Tyto Alba — Another Non-Coyote Wildlife Adventure
20 Jul 2016 Leave a comment
in Uncategorized Tags: barn owl behavior, barn owl photos, barn owl recording, barn owl territoriality, barn owls, barn owls in san francisco
Tyto Alba or Barn Owl (click on the individual photos to enlarge them)
It was dusk, and all was peacefully quieting down in the park until, “Clonk, clonk!” It sounded as though a clumsy big horse was having trouble getting back into its stall, knocking things over along the way. . . . except that there are no horses or horse stables in San Francisco and haven’t been for decades, by law. This un-“natural” sound probably sounded all the more disparate because I was out in nature. Instead it was a young Barn Owl (Tyto Alba) waking up after a long days nap — banging against the sides of its own “barn” — a man-made owl box.
A few minutes later I heard loud wing battings. How could this be? Aren’t owls supposed to be silent flyers so as not to be heard by their prey? And then I heard what sounded like the complaints/warning cries of alarm of a bird such as a Stellar Jay — maybe a little different — and I figured some bird was warning-off these predator owls from encroachment. Wrong again. THAT was the sound of the Barn Owl itself! Barn owls don’t who, who, whoot, they screech in a bunch of different ways!
AUDIO: Notice there are a couple of distant coyote barks at the 34-39 second marker, and the owls get really intense at the 2:54 marker. The recording lasts 3:24 minutes.
As I sat there listening to their amazing shrieks, screeches, peeps, hissing and squawks, I saw one, and then THREE others — a total of four — fly off to a nearby tree — wow, there were that many here?! This was indeed a surprising night.
For years I’d seen one at a time at dawn and dusk, gliding and swooping in its silveriness, ever so silently through the dark. You could only see them as you do the bats — against the lighter night sky before total darkness set in. Once, I lay down on the ground and was able to capture, in a photo, an owl as it “mothed” right above me, from what seemed like five feet away, examining me out of curiosity — no, it was not courting me! It was only because that owl was against the lighter sky that the camera was able to capture its image — it was actually dark outside.
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- Barn Owl “moths” over me
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- Barn owl fluttering/mothing over me
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- “Mothing” over me
Why hadn’t I seen them here before? There were actually several signs that the owls were there, including the box itself. The old owl box has been empty for many years, or inhabited by squirrels, so there had been no reason for me to suspect that the box was rightfully occupied now, but there were other signs staring me in the face. Owl guano droppings had hardened along the length of a nearby tree trunk, and below another tree there were owl pellets and what looked like white splashes of paint — more guano, or owl poop which had been expelled away from the tree trunk and lay in individual blotches.
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- An owl pellet is about the size and shape of a small flat egg
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- Discarded mouse at the base of an owl tree
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- Guano dripping down the tree’s side
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- splashes of guano on the ground
There was even a dead mouse which had been rejected. I pulled out my camera and took a few shots in the obscure nighttime lighting. I got home and processed the photos — nice photos except they were rather grainy due to the lack of light at 9:00pm. I decided that I would come back tomorrow and take photos with the aid of a flashlight, the way I had the raccoons years ago in Golden Gate Park.
The next evening, a little bit earlier than before — I didn’t want to miss anything — I arrived and plopped myself some distance away and waited. Soon a little face appeared in the hole of the box and I got a couple of shots. Then the face disappeared. The scenario repeated itself, only this time there was squawking from around me as the little feathery fella revealed himself. It was the adult owls — I thought they were chattering away. Several of the owls appeared on the branches in neighboring trees to gawk at me — like I suppose I was gawking at them.
I then focused the camera over on the owls in the branches and took some more pictures. The little fella in the box re-appeared in the opening. Suddenly the urgency in their shrieks intensified. And it is then that the tone of those intense squawks gained meaning: they were warning the little fella in the box: “keep down, keep down, danger, danger!!” All critters protect their nests and youngsters. Now a couple of the owls appeared on a nearby board/platform and right on the box itself, as those around continued their warning cries. They were distressed. And the youngster, too, looked worried, and cringed, and looked in the direction of the adults knowing that all the commotion signified danger.
Now I knew that the loud batting wings I had heard the day before also had been warning messages. I did not feel good about the distress. I had the choice of returning the next day or lingering a moment longer to get a few more photos now. I decided on the latter course of action — it would be less disruptive than returning again. I grabbed a couple more shots and then left. I went home and processed the photos, looked up some tidbits of information which I’ve added below, and wrote up the encounter. I was totally distraught and upset that my presence had upset the owls which were in their nesting phase, and I vowed to never go back, and neither would I be the catalyst for others to disrupt these birds.
By extension, this situation is true for all wild animals anywhere, including coyotes in our parks: they just want to be left alone and not be noticed, but if they are intruded upon or threatened — even if it is just in their own perceptions — they will come forth with display messages and screeches — and more — if they feel a need to defend themselves, their territories, and especially their young.
I would write it up, but I would not reveal the nest location: the owls would not have wanted that. They are nocturnal, so if you want to see them you should begin your walk in the dark — and keep your eyes on the sky above the tree-line: you may see one floating silently by before returning to its roost at dawn, or as it begins its “day” hunting at dusk. Or, you could see them as a shimmer against the darker trees during those twilight hours. This experience of mine was so totally different from that with the famous Great Horned Owls in the Eucalyptus trees which many folks have observed, where the adult owls took the gawking of their owlets in stride.
Fortunately, this little green box is in a remote part of the park, actually in someone’s yard. One of the neighbors recently told me that “those birds” were keeping him up throughout the night. It is because he told me this that I stopped to investigate that “clonk” sound. Below, I’ve written up some tidbits of information I collected over the internet.
Territoriality. Barn Owls defend the area around their nests, but they don’t defend the area where they hunt from others of their same species — they share. In other words, more than one pair of Barn Owls may hunt on the same fields.
Contrast this with the Great Horned Owls who live in the same parks as the Barn Owls but who are very territorial: only one mated pair and their offspring live in the area. Their territoriality actually places a limit on the number of breeding pairs in any given area. Great Horned Owls who haven’t been able to establish territories are known as “floaters” — they live along boundaries of established territories. In fact, it may be that just the male Great Horned Owls defend the territories. They are known to kill each other in territorial conflicts, and sometimes resort to cannibalism.
In the summer, the Barn Owls’ home hunting ranges are a little over a square mile; in the winter they can be many times larger. If food is extremely scarce, both of these owl species might move out of their established territories, but there is no annual migration and they maintain their territories for life.
Nesting. I found out that most Barn Owls mate for life — they are monogamous, as are Great Horned Owls — though there have been reports that some males have had several female mates at the same time. And Barn Owls tend to use the same nest site year after year. One of their courting displays is hovering in front of the female in a “moth-like fashion” — Oh, I’ve experienced this several years ago! Chicks usually start flying at 9-10 weeks and begin leaving the nest for good at about 11-12 weeks. All will probably be gone by 14 wks.
If there is nesting in July, as was the case with this find of mine, it’s usually a second clutch for the mated pair. About 10% of barn owls reproduce two times a year — and some even produce three clutches in a year! And, although the breeding season is considered from March to August — having expanded due to climate change from an original breeding season which was almost always in May — they, in fact, can produce youngsters at any time of the year.
They lay as many as 6 eggs, but more often than not, only about 4 of them hatch. The eggs are laid asynchronously, every 2-3 days and they hatch in the order in which they were laid (sounds like a business telephone answering service, doesn’t it?!). So chicks from the same clutch can actually vary up to about 21 days in their ages. The little guy in the box must have been the last in his clutch. Incubation is about 31 days. They don’t “build” nests, but find places to lay their eggs which they line with their pellets.
Poop. Pellets are actually excrement regurgitated through the mouth. Owls swallow their prey whole or tear larger prey into pieces to get it down their throats, but they don’t digest the bones and fur. The parts of the prey that actually pass through the digestive tract and out of their rumps are excreted as a softish, whitish “guano” — like that of all birds. Guano can often be found dripping down the tree trunks which they inhabit. However, in owls the larger, indigestible parts of the prey, including bones and fur, are kept in their gizzard for a couple of hours as a pellet which then travels back up into the Proventriculus (the first part of the stomach) where it remains for ten hours before being regurgitated. This stored pellet actually blocks the owl’s digestive system so that new prey cannot be swallowed until the pellet is ejected. Twice a day these are spat-up, or regurgitated out of their mouths, as “pellets”. These pellets basically look like the poop of other animals except that they are oval-shaped and not long. [see Digestion in Owls]
Hunting. All owls’ eyesight is pretty superb — they hunt at night [see “Coyote Night Vision”]. But, the ability of Barn Owls to capture prey by sound is the best of any animal that has ever been tested. Their satellite-dish shaped faces helps with this. They eat mostly small mammals such as rats, mice, voles, gophers. Also bats. They don’t eat squirrels so much because they are less active at night. They also eat some song birds. 91% of barn owls, post-mortem, are found to contain rat poison. The most long-lived Barn Owl ever recorded was 15 years old.
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- Great Horned Owl, for comparison
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- Great Horned Owlet regurgitates a pellet
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- squirrels inhabit owl boxes
Poisons: Everyone, please don’t use poisons to eradicate rats, and please ask your neighbors to do the same. Rat poison is a horrible and slow death for rats, causing them to bleed from the inside out, and causing them to become disoriented and slow. This is why owls catch them. But worse, the poison actually travels up the food chain to these owls. Several years ago I sent in two dead barn owls for toxicity tests: they were found to have huge amounts of rat poisons laced throughout their bodies. We’ve also had a number of our Great Horned Owls killed by rat poisoning: One, this year, we guessed, was the mother of owlets who then never made it to adulthood.
Coyote As Totem of America, A New Yorker piece by Ottessa Moshfegh
08 Jul 2016 2 Comments
For the week of July 4th, The New Yorker “asked writers to describe a person, object, or experience that they think captures a distinctly American spirit.” I’ve reprinted several paragraphs here, of this New Yorker article, with a link to the original for continued reading. Illustration (by Oliver Munday) and text (by Ottessa Moshfegh)©The New Yorker, July 6, 2016. Enjoy!
“The other day, I watched a wounded coyote jaunt down my street in East Hollywood. It limped suavely along the sidewalk at a confident clip, its mouth open in happy wonder or obscene hilarity—I couldn’t get a good read on him. Or maybe what I thought I saw in his eyes was just a projection of my own state of wonder at this gorgeous creature gliding coolly across my world of concrete and palm trees, elevating my humdrum hunt for a parking spot to a moment of amazement. I followed the coyote for a while in my car, then stopped to watch it step into busy Virgil Avenue, where it dodged cars so calmly, so expertly, that it almost appeared to be controlling the flow of traffic with its mind.
Los Angeles coyotes live in the hills, in parks, in landfills, under highway overpasses. We hear them howl at night. They are indelible players in the theatre of the city, and frequent sightings remind us that this land itself is still a volatile and largely untamable frontier. A strange and dangerous paradise, L.A., and we stubborn fools insist on staying put despite earthquakes, drought, forest fires, the dwindling shoreline. I like living here because the illusory nature of reality is perversely obvious. Around every corner there’s another movie scene; a fictional shimmer rises up off the city through the smog. As a writer, my imagination feels freer here than in my native New England.
There were coyotes back East, of course, but I like the peculiar grittiness and verve of L.A. coyotes. Their daytime presence in the city has increased with the drought. They come out in search of food and water. They don’t seem afraid of humans. Many humans, however, are afraid of them. In the suburbs especially, the fear is apparent: people arm themselves when they walk around at night. If a coyote comes onto your property, they say, shoot it on sight. Don’t leave your doors open.
Coyotes very rarely attack humans, by the way”. . . . [to continue reading please visit: http://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/coyotes-the-ultimate-american-tricksters?mbid=social_twitter]
Please Help Support This Environmental Documentary Film by Courtney Quirin
12 May 2016 Leave a comment
click photo: http://kck.st/1Tm0tF4
Courtney launched her Kickstarter for her new environmental documentary about the Guardians of the Great Bear Rainforest.
The film is about the erosion of science in Canada, told through the eyes of Guardians of the Great Bear Rainforest.
Guardians live on boats in the depths of the wilderness. full time, in order to monitor wildlife. Their lives are epic: the oldest Guardian has been living on his boat for 39 years, and every day he moves his boat to a new location, drops anchor, and then wades through streams (while dodging grizzlies!) to count salmon. But alas, Canada’s last prime minister, Stephen Harper, changed a bunch of environmental legislation, closed science libraries, shuttered science offices, and silenced scientists, so now there’s not much monitoring of the environment going on. AND, all of this is happening at a time when liquefied natural gas terminals are planned for the coast.
Courtney lived on boats in the wilderness for 2 months to shoot this film!
Please help spread the word and share the link with anyone who you think would be interested.
THANKS, EVERYONE!
“Beyond Words: What animals think and feel”
22 Apr 2016 Leave a comment
I am in total agreement with the author of this review: “Carl Safina has written an excellent book that we recommend to our readers without reservation. We guarantee that it will warm your heart to read about animal communities that share both the positive and the negative aspects of human societies. We hope it will make you reflect, as it did us, about the ways in which the activities of humans intrude on the lives of animals. Thank you, Mr. Safina, for giving us this opportunity to learn more about our animal friends.”
Mange Arrested: Amazing Results At AWARE
30 Jan 2015 Leave a comment
The first photo of this coyote, taken when he arrived at AWARE in November, is difficult to look at, but just look how good this pup looks today! Treated for a life-threatening case of mange, he is now preparing for a spring release. It’s nice to know that there are people out there who will trap a coyote to get help for it rather than to harm it!
Please think about donating to the Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort: http://www.awarewildlife.org/
[reposted with permission from Atlanta Wild Animal Rescue Effort]
Please Sign Petition To Stop the Coyote Killing Contest in Grayson County, VA
25 Oct 2014 1 Comment
Please read and sign (and let your friends know about) our new petition at coyotecoexistence.com to stop the coyote killing contest in Grayson County, Virginia: “We’re dealing with a county of farmers that believe the coyotes are ripping their horses and livestock limb from limb in vicious packs — and also I’m being told that, quote “people ’round here need the money’ from the contest.”
Here is the awful announcement:
News: Coyote contest opens Wednesday
Posted: 10/14/2014 12:17 PM
INDEPENDENCE — Grayson County is announcing an official contest exclusively for Grayson County citizens as an added incentive to hunt and kill nuisance coyotes. The contest will begin this Wednesday, Oct. 15 and continue through May 15, 2015. According to a county news release, the winner will be judged by only one measure — how many dead coyotes he or she turns into the county.
The only prerequisites to participate in the contest are that you must be a citizen of Grayson County, be in good standing with the county and kill at minimum seven coyotes within the contest period. Citizens will not need to register to participate, they simply need to turn in their coyotes to the county per the Coyote Bounty Ordinance and be the hunter to claim the most coyotes within the contest period and win the honor of Top Coyote Hunter and a $500 cash prize. In the case of a tie, the prize money will be divided equally.
The prize money will be in addition to the $40 bounty per coyote the county has been paying since county supervisors enacted the coyote bounty program in March. According to language in the ordinance creating the program, coyotes threaten the county’s livestock and agricultural interests and reduce the number of deer available to hunters.
“This is a fun and creative way to engage more of our hunters in helping to remove this nuisance animal from the county landscape,” Glen “Eddie” Rosenbaum, the supervisor representing Grayson’s Wilson District, said. “Whoever kills the most coyotes in this seven month span will be deemed the Top Coyote Hunter in the county and will take home an extra $500 for their service.”
Help ‘Empty Cages LA’ fight against further coyote killings at Seal Beach
13 Oct 2014 Leave a comment
Please let’s help “Empty Cages LA” fight against killing any more coyotes in Seal Beach!! Anyone who can, please attend the Seal Beach City Council Meeting TODAY, October 13, COLUMBUS DAY, at 6:30pm.
Location: City Hall, 211 8th Street, Seal Beach, CA
If given the opportunity to speak, here are some talking points for those who can attend:
- killing coyotes is short-sighted as attested to by studies showing that if you kill coyotes, they will more than make up for it in population growth
- vacancies left by killed coyotes are quickly filled by interlopers and transient coyotes who quickly set up house
- more new coyotes without the wiser older local coyotes around to teach them, means the newcomers and youngsters will have to learn the ropes of coexistence the hard way: through negative encounters with humans and dogs.
- older local coyotes help stabilize the population (only the older alphas breed in any territory)
- simple guidelines for coexistence work in urban areas such as San Francisco and Vancouver: keep small pets from roaming free, leash dogs in a coyote area, don’t leave food out, never feed a coyote, know how to shoo off a coyote
- it’s an environmental issue: The driving ethos these days is “environmentally friendly” and “sustainability”. This means not destroying what nature has given us — it means developing guidelines which inflict minimal or no harm on the environment: coyotes are part of our natural environment. The idea of sustainability resulted from concerns about how humans and our needs” were altering healthy and balanced ecosystems, which was coming back to haunt all of us.
- many more pets are killed by cars than ever have been killed by coyotes — maybe we should eliminate cars first?
