“Litter”ally Playing

30 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, playing, video

What fun! A rest stop on a trekking adventure. The little guy is bold and daring to attack the bag — at least he thinks so — you can see his trepidation! Charge and retreat. Might it bite back? Maybe he’s seen a bag behaving erratically by blowing in the wind and wondered if it might do something unexpected?  I had been shooting stills, but when I realized what was happening I quickly switched to video. But that is about when the play stopped, so the video is very short. However, it’s enough to give an idea of this coyote playing.

Oh, No! An Injury!

25 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote health problems, video

When coyotes are injured, they tend to lay low — I wondered why I hadn’t seen this one, and now I know.

Injuries are not uncommon in our wild animals. Although wild critters are pretty resilient, if an injury impairs an animal’s ability to get away from danger, or if it interferes with effective hunting, it could spell the end.

This injury, affecting the left front leg, could be an injury to the elbow, shoulder, wrist or paw. Coyotes can twist their “ankles” like the rest of us, when they hit a hole in the ground going full speed. Of course, normally they are not going full speed — unless they need to get away from a dog which is chasing it, or possibly from a car on the road.

Hopefully it will heal quickly. Three years ago, this same coyote sustained a back-leg injury which caused severe limping for over a month. She was hit by a car. It was June and she was a single mom with two young pups. We knew that nature would take care of her, and we knew that any interference on our part would make matters worse. We watched, and sure enough, she healed, and her pups grew up!

No Stealth When Ravens Are Present

24 Jun 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, harassment by other animals, video

Suddenly there was a commotion from the Ravens. I heard their loud cries of alarm — they often call out when they sense impending danger. I didn’t see anything, but I waited.  Sure enough two coyotes appeared on a hill — I knew it! I knew coyotes were the cause of all the unhappy Raven noise! They appeared to be trekking through — and that often is enough to cause alarm among the Ravens. The coyotes sat down and observed their surroundings. Then, one of them stood up, tensed up and became focused — I decided to aim my camera in that direction. The cawing continued, even though there was no activity that I could see — except the tension in the coyote, and the cawing of the Ravens.  So the three of us were tense: me, coyote, Ravens. And then, in my viewfinder, there appeared the part of the equation that was missing! Foiled by the Ravens?

Mournful Fugue

20 Jun 2012 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, video

The grasses were tall. The wind was blowing gently. There was a siren. The coyote looked up and listened — he looked up and listened twice. And then began the amazing fugue.  I never saw the other coyote — it was in the bushes. Compare this to the last recording: both involve two coyotes, but are very different. This one here has extended mournful howls and squeals from one coyote, while the one you see in the video is actually barking most of the time. I never cease to get exciting when I hear these amazing sounds.

Squeals and Grooming

15 Jun 2012 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, grooming, photography, squealing, video

We heard the sirens — not so loud and long as usual — but we  thought there might be the possibility for a concert, so we waited. We were right! The sirens part was very short — I don’t think I caught any of it on the tape, but the coyotes continued their serenade well after the sirens had passed. And, the show didn’t end there. When they were finished with their yips, squeals and barks, one of them approached the other and began grooming — in this case, taking off ticks one be one — the same as I have shown before.

This particular video is different from my others. The entire first half of it was blurry — the camera mechanism for automatic focus just couldn’t seem to find itself — it kept zooming in and out without ever focusing, so all I had was one big blur for that section of the video. I was so disappointed that I might not be able to use the video clip. A friend of mine offered to help, and look what he came up with!! I think it’s fabulous, really superb!! And you get to hear the vocalizations throughout.

Rottweiler Harasses Coyotes

17 May 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in blatant visual message, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves, dog reactions to coyotes, harassment by other animals, human behavior, territoriality, video

I have seen the kind of activity in this video too often. Our Animal Care and Control Department, ACC, points out that some individuals continue to allow their dogs, “off-leash in active coyote areas despite education, posters, flyers, signs and barriers all warning dog owners to abide by the law and keep their dogs on-leash, or, better yet, avoid the marked areas entirely.”  So a few irresponsible individuals are setting themselves up for unexpected coyote encounters by not following the simple rules. The only method to keep coyotes and dogs apart is to leash the dog in a coyote area. If you and your dog see a coyote, walk in the opposite direction, not towards it.

We are lucky to have an Animal Care and Control Department which is taking a proactive stance to protect both our native coyotes and companion pets. ACC has recently cordoned off areas and instituted temporary park closures — they have been forced into doing this because a few dog owners continue to be irresponsible towards their pets and our wildlife, putting both at risk.

People have asked about “relocating” our coyotes — this is not an option since another coyote would just fill the vacant niche left behind, and relocation is a death sentence for any moved coyote. Coyotes are here to stay and the community needs to learn how to peacefully coexist with them. Ninety-nine percent of everyone I speak to loves having coyotes — a bit of the wild — in our urban parks. It brings back something that they’ve been out of touch with for too long. Note that it is only a few individuals who are irresponsible. Please be a responsible pet guardian: leash your dog in a coyote area or visit parks which do not display coyote warning signs. We only have ten coyotes in the city — it doesn’t take a lot of effort to coexist with them.

Three At Dusk, by Charles Wood

16 Apr 2012 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote howling, group activity, identifying individual coyotes, lactating mother, reactions to a human, reunion, territoriality, video

Here in LA County Sunday I finally saw three of my coyotes just as I got ready to call it quits. A young one came out to wait. It soon hid in the brush. Mom came up just a bit later from the south. She stopped and, with her child hidden nearby, immediately started to howl. She howled unanswered for several long breaths. Then others joined her howling and yipping even though they were a few feet away! It is when the others joined in that I switched on the video. Mom’s voice, though hard to distinguish, is the highest. She has a thin and very high voice. Sunday was the first time I heard it. Most of Mom’s howling was not in my direction. She only turned my way when she was more or less done.

Six seconds into the video a rabbit decides to relocate. Mom heads to her family nearby and the video is cut before she goes into their hiding place camera right. When the video resumes, Dad heads camera left, their child comes out, and Mom pees camera right. It is Mom who pushes her child away from Dad. In that segment it is clear her milk has come in. Note that the child comes back in ten seconds. Mom holds perfectly still for Dad’s inspection of her and the child gives them more space. Dad next seems to feel a choice is required of him: follow Mom and child camera left or deal in some way with me. Maybe trying to decide, he sits and scratches. Dad then pees where Mom had. Unfortunately, the child did not and I don’t know if it is male or female. After more cavorting they head east. They exit where the rabbit was last seen, though they don’t seem interested in finding it.

I should mention that I have had an second dog with me for a few months when I watch for my coyotes. Both Holtz and Lucas, an eighty-five pound German Shepard Dog, watched their wild dog cousins Sunday with interest, standing silently with me on the riverbank.

Mom’s howling was unexpected. I’ve seen them reunite at the same spot several times. Many more times I’ve seen one or more coyotes there waiting patiently for other family members to show up. They arrive and they wait, but I’ve never seen any howl for others. The obvious difference is that Mom recently had her pups. Maybe Mom’s anomalous howling was for being in a hurry for being away from her pups. Maybe not. She may not have been summoning the others with her howl, may have known they were right there. She may have just felt like howling.

Where are this year’s pups? It is the same question I posed last year upon seeing Mom with her milk in, but no pups around. Who was with the pups, or, were there any? My guess is that last year she had a small litter. The young coyote in the video is probably one born in 2011 and it has taken me a year to see it.

This year I’m not sure if the adults in the pack are more than the three in the video. I suppose Mom, who has successfully raised a few litters, is in the habit of leaving newborns behind in their den. I have to assume she knows what she is doing. I think the fact that she is out, apparently taking a break from newborns, means that there are more than three coyotes in the pack this year.

More Singing With The Sirens

04 Apr 2012 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, video

Here is a high-pitched, squeaky sort of a howl accompanying a siren. No matter how often one hears these howls, they always are thrilling. The serenade went on for quite some time, but I’ve just posted the first part because the blowing wind began to produce static on the recording. At one point, you’ll hear a dog barking, and the coyote stops to listen for just a second before continuing its own song.

Habitat Issues: Forest Carbon 101

12 Mar 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in habitat issues, video Tags:

We need to preserve our thickets and forests not only as habitat for our wildlife, but also to offset human carbon production caused by modern urban living, particularly our cars. This video was created by the Nature Conservancy, one of the leading conservation agencies in the US.

In San Francisco, the plan is to cut down 18,500 trees in order to return the landscape to what it was in 1776. We have photos of it back then — the landscape consisted of sand dunes, and sparse dune plants. NAP has created this type of environment on Twin Peaks which, by the way, is sprayed with potent toxic pesticides every four months to keep it this way.

Most of us don’t want our parks turned into another Twin Peaks, nor maintained artificially in this manner. Please visit the San Francisco Forest Alliance which is trying to preserve our San Francisco forests and wildlife habitat: SFForest.Net. Get involved and sign the petition!!

Mom’s Achy Legs, by Charles Wood

09 Mar 2012 1 Comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, video

Here in LA County on Wednesday I made a short video of Mom. She, like her mate, Dad, is showing some signs of age. She walked away from the camera to sit down and watch us. She moves slowly on stiff legs, like an arthritic aging dog. Never mind that! A busy pupping season awaits with her young one’s due in about two months.

“I Like You, Bunches”

01 Mar 2012 4 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, avoiding humans, coyote behavior, greetings, group activity, video

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

This show of affection — almost cuddling — lasted one-and-a-half minutes. These coyotes touched noses over and over, they rubbed heads and rubbed their bodies against each other over and over, one clambored over the other, one held the other’s snout within its own — to confirm social rank, no doubt. There was communication with tip-of-the-tongue movements and display of emotion with ears down or back. There was a paw on the back and head rub along that same back. There was intense eye to eye contact. And I couldn’t  even see what their snouts were precisely doing part of the time because they were facing away from me — all I could tell was that their snouts were together in this affectionate greeting.

It began when I came upon one coyote grazing in an open field. Soon the other appeared in the distance. They became aware of each other but didn’t move towards each other at first. Then, they trotted in towards each other, and this sequence of photos is what resulted. Afterwards they continued to graze. A runner came by close enough to cause one of the coyotes to quickly bolt away several hundred feet towards some bushes. They both watched the runner go by, and then the second coyote kept its eyes on the first, as if to make sure it was okay and calm before proceeding with its grazing. These two watch out for each other. They are best friends.

Pounce, Catch, Toy With

27 Feb 2012 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, hunting, video

Here’s a pounce and a catch, followed by toying with its prey.  Have you ever noticed that coyotes are similar to cats in some of their behaviors? Both coyotes and cats bury prey that they either don’t want or want to save for later. They both arch their backs in the same halloween cat like fashion when threatened. And, as this video shows here, coyotes, as cats, sometimes “toy” with their prey, batting it around or tossing it in the air and then watching it before consuming it.

A Dominance Interaction Between Two Coyotes

13 Feb 2012 1 Comment

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

This looks like a dominant fella lording it over the guy in the water in an intimidating manner. The dominant guy struts and stretches, hackles raised and tail up, and then moves in closer with a snarly expression and more intimidation. Submissive guy stands still with his ears and head down, a non-threatening and submissive pose, and then walks away only when he thinks the coast is clear, tail down and constantly checking in back of himself.

My experience has been that young males are driven away from their birth families — out of their birth packs — by either a more dominant sibling or their father, or sometimes their mother. It looks to me as though this is what is going on in this video.

This video was sent to us by Amy Ries from the Raptor Resource Project. She said the EagleCrest Hawk camera is normally pointed at the tree, but the guy who pans saw the coyotes and filmed them. Thank you, Amy for sharing this!

Suddenly Focused

07 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, curiosity, video

This coyote became suddenly absorbed by something interesting in the distance. Whatever it was, it did not seem to warrant becoming apprehensive over. It must have been something more amusing than threatening or dangerous, because the coyote then sat back and relaxed for a moment, watching a moment longer before continuing its trek. By the time I stopped filming, whatever it was, was gone. Coyotes tend to be very curious about what is happening in their territories — they like to know what is going on and will often investigate if they can’t figure it out from afar.

The coyote was also licking its chops as I filmed. My original posting mistakenly stated that moments before the coyote had found a mole. It turns out that was a totally different incident. So, then why is the coyote licking its chops? Your guess is as good as mine. However, I have noticed tongue activity as a communication device, for instance, a slight licking of the upper lip is a sign of submission and non-confrontation.  Then again, maybe there were residues from a previous meal still sticking to the coyote’s muzzle!

Coyote Returns, by Charlotte Hildebrand

03 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyote living areas, video

You can hear them at night; a pack of 50 or 100, or maybe just 20, down in the canyon yipping and yowling for a good long while after a siren goes off. I’ve never seen a pack, but I have seen a solitary coyote hanging out by the turn in the road, my headlights illuminating its opaque, glass-colored eyes, when I come home from work. I’ve wondered if this isn’t the same lone coyote that visits next door in the middle of the day, looking for a handout from my neighbor Thea.

Thea started feeding a coyote two years ago, when it was a toddler. I told her, pleaded with her, that it was wrong to feed a wild animal and, much to my surprise, she agreed; she promised to stop but then she didn’t. I felt helpless to do anything about it: my neighbor is old and lonely. The coyote was her friend.

I hadn’t seen the coyote for three or four months; I’d missed its absence, for no matter what you say, having a wild animal nearby can send shivers down your spine. It’s thrilling, yet….it’s still wrong. I was sitting down to write, when, out of the corner of my eye I saw a flash, it was the coyote back in Thea’s yard!

Coyote biding his time until I leave

I heard Thea calling to the coyote, “Come, come. Come, come,” in her German accent, as she placed food on the ground. I grabbed my video camera and ran outside. You can see in the video, the coyote looking to the left (Thea), then looking straight ahead (me) and the dilemma he finds himself in. He doesn’t know what to do: here’s a witness to his forsaking his wild coyote ways, and I imagine, he’s a little bit embarrassed. Later, he plops down in the grass in Thea’s lower yard, smelling the flowers (a true Ferdinand, the coyote), passing a peaceable afternoon.

After 45 minutes of taking the breezes and catching bugs, he goes back to dine at Thea’s table.

This posting was reprinted with Charlotte’s permission from her blog, The Rat’s Nest. Please visit her site to see and enjoy more of her fabulous writing!

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