Information and stories about San Francisco coyotes: behavior & personality, coexistence & outreach, by Janet Kessler: Unveiling first-hand just how savvy, social, sentient and singular coyotes really are!
Above: two-month old pups in early June playing together when left alone; and playing with Dad when he’s there.Photos taken shortly after their move.
I was able to observe this coyote family move their pups when they were two months old — moving the pups at this age is not uncommon: they’ve been fully weaned by this time. This was very exciting for me because I was able to see Mom carry each youngster, one by one, in her mouth over 1/4th mile away. Half of the pups were moved at night, one right after the next, and the other half a full week later during the daytime — in fact, at noon! Essentially, for that week in-between, her pups were divided between two den locations about 1/4th mile apart. After the second *batch* of pups was moved, all pups again were all together in one location — for a while. At least that is what I thought.
But the *divided litter* story didn’t end there because one pup it turns out had remained at, or returned immediately to, the original den site. He was there alone for several weeks without any of his siblings, albeit with both parents coming and going regularly to be with him. At two months of age, I wondered: had he/she traveled there with a parent again, or had he/she remained there in the first place?
The initial move, when the pups were just two months old, of course was a decision made entirely by the mother coyote: she carried each pup. But after the initial moving, I’ve wondered if it was the pups’ or Mom’s decision as to where they stayed? Several weeks after that, and over the course of the next six weeks, some pups would turn up at the old home where they joined the one who seems to have never left, and some remained at the new home. In other words, the litter was now permanently divided between two locations, with pups seemingly having access to both, but fairly consistently remaining at one of the locations. When they travelled between the two locations, youngsters did so inevitably before dawn and after dusk.
Two-month-old pups explore the periphery of their den area and stick their heads out. Over the next month, some of them begin venturing beyond, initially only with their parents
Three month old pups in July being babysat by Dad
In mid-August, three 4-month-old siblings wait, then one squeezes under the cyclone fence. Almost all of the pups are now wandering beyond the 2 den areas (1/4th mile apart) to within over 1/2 a mile from “home”: they are reaching out further and further, exploring every inch of their territories including the neighborhoods.
After the Mom’s initially moving the pups, the choice of where to hang out during daylight hours was apparently influenced by immediate circumstances. For example, sometimes I would see a pup attempt to leave a location but then become thwarted by the appearance of a person or a dog, so that youngster simply turned around and remained wherever s/he was for the duration of the daylight hours. Pups at both locations were left to themselves for long periods of time during the day. In fact, parents often hung out at totally different locations from where the pups were, even though they were regularly visited by one or both parents. I wonder if the entire family ever gets together anymore as a whole?
During the timeframe between two and four months of age, Dad would regularly come to guard and play with the pups at each location, sometimes for as long as an entire afternoon, whereas Mom spent her daylight resting time at only the more hidden location.
Now, at four months of age, their range of traveling has more than doubled, and this happened rather suddenly, with some pups not returning to either of these earlier two den sites. They’ve been hiding out during daylight hours in out-of-the-way locations over 1/2 mile away and often alone, including in backyards and clumps of trees, to unite with other family members when the protective cover of dusk sets in again. If you see one pup wandering about alone at dawn or dusk, this is probably his/her situation. And here, I’m wondering if this early moving of the pups might encourage early dispersal? I’ve seen families where the den was not moved and noticed dispersal not taking place for sometimes up to two years.
Regarding their yips and howls: With pups distributed between a 1/4th mile or longer area, it’s logical that their howling and vocalizations are a family communication, possibly: “Where are you? How are you? or “We’re ready to get going!”” This makes sense within one territory where youngsters are fairly far apart. But I’ve also documented two territories — two totally different families — which are right across a roadway from each other, the dens themselves being only about 1/4th mile apart. In this case, howling would serve to proclaim their separate ownership there, and would be more of an oppositional type of communication rather than a family chat. More usually, dens on separate territories are over a mile apart: at this distance, I think howling can be heard only if conditions are right: if the evening is still, if the wind is traveling towards the listeners, if there are no sound barriers such as hills in the way. Coyotes’ huge ears of course can pick up what we can’t even fathom — but I wonder how much that is? And if one mile is within their range of hearing?
Four-month-old pups, above; and playing together below
[This has been written for distribution to several neighborhood newspapers and newsletters here in San Francisco. I’m posting here so it will be available to more of the same.]
In the ‘hood.
Hi Neighbors!
This is Janet. I’ve been documenting our coyotes here in San Francisco for the past 16 years: their population, dispersals, family life, and behavior including their encounters with people and pets.
We have about 17 coyote families here in San Francisco, each living in a separate territory about the size of the Presidio (2.4 square miles): ONE family lives on each of these territories and have ever since I started documenting them in 2007. A family consists of the mated alpha pair — i.e., Mom and Dad — and then pups born this year, and possibly some of the yearlings born the year before who haven’t yet dispersed. All of these territories extend beyond the parks and include our neighborhoods. Sightings in neighborhoods is normal.
Territories: Most territories include a substantial sized park, or a number of smaller fragmented parks, but a few territories do not even have this. In other words, a couple of coyote families live in the neighborhoods and retreat for most daylight hours to small patches of green spaces. Their main trekking activity is through the streets where they become visible to human pedestrians and car traffic. Please note, there are no more coyotes now than there have been over the last several years, but some people are seeing them for the first time.
Exploring front door steps along the street
Trekking: *Trekking* behavior involves brisk trotting/walking around a dozen or so city blocks. The coyote — usually one at a time, but two together have also been spotted, and more rarely more together — is either moving to another resting spot within its territory, or he’s patrolling to find out what’s going on in his territory: he’ll do so through sniffing, looking, and poking around. Of interest to him is that no outsider coyotes have been around, what animals have been around, and where food scraps have been tossed. He’ll be on the sidewalks and zigzagging down the streets. He’ll enter driveways and alleyways. He’ll go up people’s front steps, even if those steps are steep and take him three stories up. He’s checking things out. He may take a shoe, a ball, or a newspaper. Sometimes he’ll sit and watch: I’ve seen him sprawled out on some dirt, just chilling for a few minutes.
Stopping to examine the terrain in his territory.
Main hours: His main hours of activity are between sunset and sunrise, so this is when you are most likely to see him — though note that they can be out any time of the day. All you need to do is always walk away from him the minute you see him. He’s not interested in any kind of confrontation with you and he’ll do his best to avoid you by going around and hurrying away. But dogs have always been an issue for coyotes. Dogs and coyotes are notoriously mutually antagonistic and need to be kept far apart. Part of this is for territorial reasons: coyotes keep other coyotes out of their territories in order to preserve the scarce resources there just for themselves: in other words, the territory is owned by the one family that lives there and they exhibit ownership behavior. Because of this territoriality, the population is consistent and stable which is what we all want. If you see them repeatedly, it’s because you are seeing the same coyotes over and over again, not different random coyotes from all over the place. These coyote territorial owners often come to know by sight — always at a distance — the regular walkers and dogs and vice-versa.
Interestingly, few people even know these coyotes exist here, and even fewer actually ever see them. Those folks who have seen the coyote — usually as they walk their dog — have seen a coyote 3 or 4 times during the past year, even though the coyotes are out daily. Unfortunately, several of those people have been spooked recently because the coyote approached or followed them. I’ll explain more about this below.
Dogs: Coyotes avoid and ignore most dogs, but they are suspicious of them all. They have a need to tell dogs that the territory is theirs, especially if the dog gets too close or is in the pathway of the coyote. Sometimes they do this through a sort of one-upmanship eye-to-eye communication most of which we humans are not aware of. But at other times it is more blatant, with the coyote actually approaching or following a dog. The minute you ever see a coyote, you need to always walk away, in the opposite direction, with a shortened leash. Your dog may bark and lunge towards him, so you need to drag your dog if necessary to walk away from the coyote. If your dog is small, he may become frightened, rightfully so, because coyotes have picked up small dogs. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened. It’s a good idea to pick up a very small dog as you walk away from the coyote.
Examining debris, a newspaper and chilling in the neighborhood.
In approaching a dog, the coyote’s main interest is usually simple curiosity — they are sniffing to find out more about the dog: sniffing is how they pick up most of their information –dogs exude so many hormones and other chemical odors full of information about themselves — but also to test the dog’s potential reaction to themself. The coyote may then follow your dog: again, this could be simple curiosity, OR he’s ushering or escorting the dog away and making sure the dog is leaving. Just keep walking away from him. In rare instances, a coyote’s suspicion and even dislike for a particular dog (your dog or a similar dog may have chased him or lunged at him or snarled at him in the past, and of course any coyote would remember this) may cause the coyote to approach the dog from the back (where there are no teeth) and nip the hind side of the dog, cattle-dog fashion, to get that dog to leave. It’s not a frequent occurrence, but it has happened. You are unlikely to encounter any coyote regularly, so when you do, just follow these simple guidelines. IF you feel crowded by the coyote approaching or following your dog, you should face the coyote and angrily heave small stones or pinecones at his feet without hitting the coyote. You may have to do this several times. Making eye contact almost always stops a coyote from approaching any further: he’ll stop, and then you should continue walking away, keeping your eye on him.
It might be a good idea to actually practice this so that you know what to do — then, if the occasion should arise, you’ll know exactly what to do without thinking.
Dens: If there is a den within 1/4th mile of where you walk, you need to know that parent coyotes are very protective of their personal space, their areas, and their young and their suspicion of other dogs is compounded. A parent coyote can be persistent, insistent and intense in his communication to make a dog leave. I’ve been through it: it indeed is scary. The same guidelines should be followed: stay away and walk away when you see a coyote. If you are seeing a coyote regularly on your walk during denning season, you might consider taking a different route for awhile.
I am available in person to be there and help out. Also, if you have questions about *your* neighborhood coyote or coyotes generally, please contact me: janet@coyoteyipps.com
Summaries of easy guidelines
Cats: Cats, should not be allowed to roam free where there are coyotes — cats are at risk if they are accessible. Cats are not equipped to handle coyotes, dogs, or cars, ALL of which kill cats, with cars leading the list — cars kill 5 million cats a year. Dogs — because of their sheer number in our area — are the biggest issue when it comes to coyotes. It’s best to simply keep your pet as far away from a coyote as possible — this is easier to do with a leash.
Relocation: Some people have asked if coyotes can be relocated. They cannot by law. The reason for this is that moving them kills them inhumanely. But even if a coyote could be eliminated in some way — which the city does not do — its niche would soon be refilled by another coyote, and you would have the same dog issues to deal with as with the first coyote. Keeping your dogs leashed gives you control over your dog. Dogs love to chase coyotes, and a leash prevents this. Leashing keeps dogs safe from coyotes, cars, and others dogs. Over 3 million dogs are killed each year by cars; their second greatest killer is other dogs. .
Danger to humans: As for dangers to humans from coyotes, these are almost non-existent. The 17 — yes, only 17 or so — *scratches or bites* to humans from a coyote each year throughout all of North America have almost all been due to separating a dog from a coyote, hand feeding, or to a small child where feeding has gone on. Small children indeed have to be watched as carefully as you would watch your dog — but hopefully you do that anyway! Please compare this figure to 1000 dog bites to humans every single day of the year ending up in emergency rooms.
Feeding: Lastly, please don’t feed coyotes. Not only does it draw them to the area, it can cause them to hang around which increases the potential for pet incidents. Profusely fed coyotes become unnaturally docile and sometimes even get closer to humans in the hopes for a toss out. This is no good for the coyote or us humans or our pets.
Trekking through a neighborhood street in San Francisco
This was a month ago, during the Summer Solstice, when pups were already 2 months old. They had been moved out of this construction site, one by one, carried in Mom’s jaws, to a location about 1/4th mile away. Mom and Dad continued to frequent this old denning location.
Then, suddenly, both Mom and Dad dug this new den at that old location. I didn’t put the camera out until I saw the hole there, which was on the second day the coyotes worked on this dugout den. One youngster was underfoot at the time. Possibly this youngster never left the old area. I would see him as he regularly crossed the path of this camera, but he actually only entered the den a couple of times. Within a month, I saw a few more of the pups crossing in front of the camera, as have the parents, sniffing and looking around, but never entering the den.
It does not seem logical that this den might be a purposeful deception for potential harmful predators — such as dogs or humans. For one, no dogs go into the area, and all humans there have purposefully avoided the coyotes, letting them do their own thing. The pups are almost four months old now and won’t be using dens from now on. Still, one has to wonder why the effort was put into digging this den away from where the pups generally hang out, and when the pups were already 2 months old.
Wired (left) is 6 to 8 years old. Sparks (right) is four years old now and on his 2nd litter. Notice the knot on his left arm — the broken bone he sustained in 2020 healed crooked leaving him with a detectable limp.
You may recall Sparks from my update last year — it’s been a long time since I’ve updated his developing story, so I’ll do that now and recount his past.
He indeed now is the alpha male at the Presidio and has been since last year. He may even have moved into that position the year before when the then-alpha male went missing, though those pups from two years ago were probably sired before this happened. Sparks most definitely could only have moved into the alpha male position there if it had been naturally vacated because with his healing broken leg, he was in no position to fight for it.
Sparks and his now-mate, I’m told, have four pups this year — only three of whom I’ve seen so far. Whereas last year there were a number of yearlings still living with the family and passing through the den area regularly, this year I’ve seen the alpha parents as the only adults around. Not having yearlings around to help puts an extra work burden and stress on parents.
There’s a long history associated with the alpha female who I call *Wired*. Briefly, we don’t know her origins and won’t until our DNA analysis is completed, though I suspect she’s from the North Beach coyote family. She was captured in the Presidio in January 2019 where tags were punched into her ears and a bulky radio-collar was clamped onto her neck. She became famous as her story intertwined with Scout’s — another female whose territory Wired tried taking over. But Wired moved on from this saga. She found a mate and ended up fighting for the Presidio territory where the previous alpha male had somehow succumbed and his older alpha mate was unable to defend her long-time territory alone. That older alpha female was forced out and fled south where she was eventually killed by a car — as per the Presidio ecologist.
Since that time, Wired has lost both of her ear tags — probably they were ripped out by something in the environment — you can see the scars left on her ears — see square image below — but the cumbersome collar remains attached to her, along with the all the grit you can imagine under it. She is unable to scratch or groom herself under it. The collar was supposed to self-release after a year for humane reasons, but it malfunctioned and so she’s stuck with it. It is much too difficult, and probably more damaging to her to try and capture her than simply to leave her alone with the collar on at this point.
Wired: you can see the scars left from the torn off ear tags.
As for Sparks himself — the now alpha dad on his 2.4 square mile territory — you may recall that he fully broke a front leg when he was a year old during his dispersal. It took him more than six weeks to recover to the point where he could at least hobble/limp, albeit badly, on it — there were Good Samaritans who allowed him the safety and calm of their yard during his recovery, where he slept most of that time, and was probably in great pain. He retains a large knot on his front leg, showing the deformity that resulted in the self-healing bone, and he runs with a limp which looks to me like he still feels the injury. This disadvantage has caused him to cultivate a much stronger wariness of people and dogs than he had as a younger coyote. In fact, he tends to appear inordinately stressed when he is alerted to danger, and stands back, whereas his mate takes on the front line.
Sparks turned four this Spring. Briefly, in his Glen Canyon birth family, (see genealogy), he was one of five siblings. He was the daring one out hunting and exploring his surroundings well before the others, and not terribly concerned with people watching him. I mention this because it changed. He developed a close bond with his litter-mate sister: the two of them actually *dispersed* together, but she eventually returned to her birthplace, whereas Sparks’ trajectory took him much further away. I had seen him living on the periphery of the Presidio for a period of time and wondered why the resident coyotes were allowed this. I’m also wondering if he sensed a weakening of the then-alpha male’s condition, and was waiting for the inevitable so that he could move in.
A few months before moving to the Presidio he was harbored by the North Beach family for several weeks: I’ve always wondered if this was because they sensed his injury and his plight and therefore didn’t see him as a threat. I had never seen this before.
I’ve posted some recent photos here taken in late Spring and early Summer of this year. On the first day I returned to hopefully see them, I saw Wired grooming Sparks affectionately — he closed his eyes and soaked in her warmth: it was joyful to watch. The next day I spotted him alone high on a knoll guarding his den from afar: so he is totally ensconced in warm family life right now! See photos.
I took a series of photos of one of the pups at two months of age. A month later, you’ll see three photos of two of the pups at 3 months of age. The bottom darkish photo was taken only a few days ago: in the dark, late dusk, I watched two coyotes hurry off together for their nightly trekking activity. I thought it was the alpha parents who would have tucked-in their offspring beforehand for safety. But when I got home and actually zoomed into the photos, I saw that it was two pups heading out on their own! These youngsters are growing up quickly.
Wired affectionately grooms Sparks
Sparks guardinghis densite from afar(above)
Above: A two-month-old pup explores during the daytimeand uses 8-inch open abandoned pipes to escape into.
Above: This most independent pup from the litter of four — we’ll call her Volt — at two months of age enjoyed her time away from the family: exploring, practicing hunting, sleeping. Each pup has his/her own preferences and personality and this one’s is coming to light early!She seems to be taking after her father. :)
Above:Pup buddies a month later at 3 months of age, slurping up the morning dew and just being with each other. These are the two that headed out alone together, depicted below..
Here it is July 5th and two of the 3-month old youngsters are headed out at late dusk on their own to a known rendezvous spot. They really grow up fast!
ADDENDUM of August 8th: Four pups at four months of age, with the den moved to a new location:
July update on Kinky and her family. She and her mate have moved the litter to this area. From the fence to the hills is the summer rendezvous. And it’s perfect for growing coyote to learn Landspeak.
Landspeak is what anyone who lives or spends long periods of time out here…learn to do. Animals do it automatically. But it’s possible for humans too. If you stay quiet and learn to listen and feel the land..it speaks.
So what did this land tell Kinky???
Well…she knows it. She feels good about it. And it serves her needs and instincts. Everything says..BRING PUPS HERE.
Ironically, it’s not an easy spot. Wolves travel thru here regularly, following the ever moving elk. It has humans that are not friends that pass occasionally. But…its dry hills hold a lot of hiding spots and lots of voles on eastern hillsides. There is a forested hill for the scorching afternoon. And it’s a land of choices. There is heavy cover to hide. Open ground to outrun enemies. There is a river in the ravines below. Riverbank are another wonderful place for pups.
So Landspeak here says this is where pups learn to become the coyote that survives here. This land is a good place to maximize the odds of litter survival. Voles, wild plum tree, berries, open land, deep woods, river and more.
It’s been noted these pups are very large and maybe are ahead developmentally. The dead cow of early spring and several road killed deer likely were part of that. They were literally fat pups. But now it’s vole and ground squirrel and berries. The pups are learning to hunt in earnest for vole.
One small female pup…hunts vole very well. She is serious about her hunt and quickly scoots for bushes etc to eat her meal. She’s def the best hunter thus far.
Landspeak says in this space the litter is poised to spend the fast summer and grow quick. I wish them lots of lessons and good growth.
Lou
Thank you, Lou! It’s too bad we humans — for the most part, though this is changing — stopped listening to the land long ago. Humans have not been so interested in being part of it as much as wanting to conquer and dominate and subjugate it to our own desires. I hope your post opens people’s mind to the fantastic symbiosis (not sure that’s the right word) of a species with its environment, as you describe it, through Landspeak.
Janet
Yes … as individuals, collectively and as a species … humans have literally lost touch with earth. It’s our bane. I’m not without hope. But I think mankind is in for some major shocks from earth in future.
It would not suprise me that coyote survive us and see us humbled by our own behaviors in regards Landspeak.
But in meantime … Kinky isn’t bothered by such thoughts. Too busy surviving and feeding pups. Lol.
The same animal, whether from a ranch or city, learns and adapts to its given situation, each of which is unique. Each coyote reacts to what is presented to him/her. Hearing about different reactions and behaviors in different environmental situations gives us insight into the whole animal. Yes, I like it all up. As Lou says: “It’s great — it really is — how you like it all up. I think it’s important for your followers to realize that coyote live sometimes in polar opposites behaviorally. A Range Roaming Ranch Living Coyote is vastly different than a SF Park or City Coyote. But there are also parallel behaviors…and it’s all applicable and helpful learning to coexist with them. Keep roaming and looking.”
Hi Janet.
I wanted to share with you something I’m experiencing and sorting.
While out on ranch patrol recently the dogs and I experienced a pack of coyote rush in that was very fast and direct. I’ve never quite had that. It was…different. We’ve experienced scores of coyote encounters and as a pack we keep our center and via pack go fwd. The local coyote learn to respect us and more importantly….this time of year coyote pups learn about working dogs.
We are usually known by local coyote. This encounter..felt like new pack. New Coyote. New Behaviors.
I don’t encourage people with pets to do what we do. We are on vast properties where there are horizons to dodge. To learn. To evade and develop avoidance behaviors. My dogs an coyote skirmish quite a bit. But it’s canine name calling. Until recently.
The coyote clash we experienced was fast, intense, direct and bold. And it seemed..real numbers. Instead of a parent pair and yearling or two…it seemed like 5-7 rushing in very hard.
My pack reacted in coordinating our center and moving together fwd. On these ranges, the lesson and coexistence is loosely coyote have horizon or hills. Dogs have center. Converge is costly. The coyote master this lesson and so do my dogs. It’s worked many years.
Except these coyote barely acknowledged my pack and only grudgingly gave way mainly because I stepped fwd loudly..and they had pups to keep in hills.
The next few days of patrols are revealing more.
The Eve before our patrol…the night was full of coyote yips and vocalizations. Hours off and on. To the point the ranchers 3 dogs were very agitated and scented the air growling at distant hills.
The Rancher thought 2 packs of coyote fighting.
Next morning was my pack clash. And later that day a dead cow.
Also seen…1st time here ever…flocks of Ravens.
Trail Cams in wooded sections, 4 different wolves.
There is alot to sort here. But so far…we have found…
Cow down of acute stress related pneumonia. It’s consistent with cattle not at their best moving too much.
The cow died of acute stress related pneumonia. This happens more lately with weaker cattle. There is a connection with wolves moving thru and cattle stress. They don’t hunt the cattle as they seek elk and deer. But…they affect them. They move a lot. And some of the weaker develop pneumonia. They can’t keep up. Become isolated and more stressed and drop.
The trail cams reveal wolf movement weekly. And…another connection.
When wolves nocturnally move thru ranches..the local coyote are extremely agitated. And vocal. Which local ranch dogs hear. And join vocally.
The coyote are locally turning into 1st responders to wolf movement in hills.
Also very likely the coyote and wolves skirmish. Wolves will kill coyote any real chance. Coyote counter terrain allowing. 2 or 3 coyote will chase a wolf or 2. And scatter with a full wolf pack.
So…imagine all this activity going on…also with pups in tow…
And then here I come with my pack in patrol.
The new dynamics of wolf and coyote relationship and skirmishes means we are likely meeting coyote with new behaviors. It’s similar to cattle. Cattle after wolf encounters are way more skittish of ranch dogs. They are more combative of all canine.
It’s a sorting that varies…canine to canine..pack to pack.
But out here it’s very much pack to pack and intense in the dark hours.
Ironically…the rancher now values the coyote as extensions of wolf alert and values them. He realized they never bothered caused fear or stress among his herds.
Wolves ARE NOT hunting cattle here. But they do radically change behaviors in cattle and coyote. And do cause some stress in weakened individuals.
The coyote…as always..are a gauge of land by behaviors.
Ravens too. NEVER had flocks gather here. Until wolves recolonized. It’s just change and nature. And interesting.
Sorry for the ramble. ALOT going on. I’ll need more coffee and cake and thinking time.
Till Next Time
Lou
Our morning office
My dogs are trained to wait and stay out of way while vet does autopsy and professional tracker determines the events. It’s very much like a crime scene but no criminals.
Coyote aren’t culprits. And neither are wolves. But the Landspeak must be understood to realize…what wolves mean for the land. And how they affect..cattle, coyote, dogs, elk, deer, and how coexistence can keep being the goal. It’s a new balance not yet achieved.
But trying.
PS-coyotes seem blameless when wolves roam and rule lol. But wolf packs create a very intense coyote.
Ravens. (Not crows) We have never had flocks of Ravens here utilizing land like this. (Field of voles)
But since wolves returning..so did Ravens. Ravens don’t hang too long with Coyote. Coyote are too fast and opportunist. Tweak a coyote tail…you might be lunch. But they follow wolves and tease them too.
If you slow vehicle the slightest..the raven explode in erratic evasive flight patterns. This tells me they are hunted by humans and very wild.
If one is going to delve into the canine behaviors of your own working dogs, local coyote packs and regional wolves, I do advise the following. A dependable high mileage vehicle and body. Care for both.
A LOT of time in contemplating thus mentioned canines realizing you need more time and patience and coffee and cake.
Endless hours out there in Landspeak and studying hints. Accepting in the end we know very little but can witness a lot and share that while minimizing conflict.
Survival requires putting one’s best foot forward and dealing with a myriad of stressors. Of course, we want some stress — that’s natural — stress is what motivates and drives us to do something when we are hungry, sleepy, lonely, bored. Stressors also include diseases, injuries, territorial disputes, inter-family disputes, dispersal, raising and protecting pups.
Above and beyond these common, even if life-altering, pressures and life hurdles, the presence of humans and dogs, and all sorts of human activity, especially in denning areas, stress coyotes. For the most part, humans tend to be unthinking, unknowledgeable, or uncaring about wildlife situations and therefore add more hurdles to their survival. I’ll use recent events in Amber’s family as an example:
Left:Dog chases coyote in her denning area.Right:Unleashed dogs being approached and driven out. Even leashed dogs are approached by the coyotes: they are demanding dogs leave a sensitive area.For perspective, please remember that coyotes keep OTHER COYOTES out of their areas in the same way.
Last year Amber (alpha female b: 2018) picked a den-site off of a heavily used dog -path in a park. Why she picked this spot when there were many quieter, more isolated, and wilder areas around I can only guess at, and I would be pleased to get insights from other observers. Maybe the den itself already existed. Maybe the nearby pond as a water source was attractive. Maybe the den itself had few access points and could be well protected. Maybe the trashed food in the area was an attractant, or the area had tangled brambles to hide in, or it offered a good vantage point. Or maybe the dogs were slightly more controlled on this path in comparison to the wild and free running dogs in wilder parts of the park.
For whatever reason, this area was chosen as last year’s den site and remained the den site throughout that pupping season, in spite of there being a constant stream of dogs, many unruly, on the nearby paths. Most were leashed, but this doesn’t matter very much to coyotes in denning areas who don’t want ANY dogs anywhere closeby. Of course dogs and coyotes are notorious antagonistic enemies which can only be managed by keeping dogs away from them. Leashing is a tool for controlling the dog more than anything else: it gives you control for pulling your dog away from situations and prevents the dog from chasing them.
Amber to the left; Arrow her mate on the right
Defending their denning space is paramount to coyote parents. But it’s not just during the pupping season because coyotes firmly keep all outsider coyotes out of the area using the same methods: this is what keeps our coyote population in check: only one coyote family per a 2.3 square mile territory. This family of coyotes — parents and several yearlings — became fixated on letting the dogs and their owners know that they were there and didn’t appreciate the presence of dogs: they were protecting the pupping area. They would snarl at or encircle the dogs, and even attempt to butt up against or nip the tail end of a dog. They followed some of the dogs *escorting* them out of the area. Some people came to believe, inaccurately, that all coyotes were like this all the time. I put up denning signs in the area, but these were soon removed by the park department. When I asked that they be left up, they told me they wanted only their own signs up — and that they were working on new signs. Their signs never went up. So I spent my time out there where I docented and educated as many people as I could by talking directly to them, asking everyone to please leash up in the area because it was a den site, to please try walking elsewhere. Many folks listened, but some did not. That was last year.
Three year old Scarf and One year old Dart both serve as babysitters and aids to their parents.
Come Fall of last year, the park department decided to dredge the nearby pond and clear all vegetation in order to landscape it differently. We humans tend to think only in terms of ourselves and not of the many individuals and species who use the area. Bottom line: the coyotes’ territory was taken over by that project, so they now needed to expand their territory further east. But this entailed a chain reaction: the coyote family’s territory to the east was squeezed east, putting stress and pressure on that family, as well as on Amber’s family. Repercussions reverberated throughout.
I think there are six pups total this year.
Hence, the following year — this year — Amber had to find a new den location. She picked a location about half a mile away, on another pond where she had her pups in April of this year. But soon afterwards, although there were many dogs and their walkers in the area, it was two large incessantly intrusive dogs — dogs that deliberately went after the coyotes every time they came, chasing them wildly and for long stretches — that caused Amber to move again to a new location, this time with young pups in tow. Although I didn’t actually see them move, I did document another family’s move: it entailed Mom carrying each pup, one at a time the half-mile distance, over the period of about a week..
This new location, again, was in a dog play area. Every inch of the parks have become dog-play or dog-walking areas. Most regular dog walkers, fortunately were understanding and moved their dog-play group to another field, but some of those dog owners had/have a need to continually *test* the coyotes by walking towards them whenever they see them: they want to show the coyotes that they are the ones in-charge. This situation continues — we’re only into the first few months of the pupping season which lasts through the Fall.
May 14th there was an outdoor rock concert which sprawled to the den site. We have a handful of these loud concerts every year here in our San Francisco Parks and apparently the Mayor has proposed increasing them: please write and oppose the idea. It’s much cheaper for the city to use the parks rather than renting out venues. But it’s “an extractive exploitation of a common space that was intended for quiet outdoor recreation”, as a friend of mine put it.
Disruptions to wildlife(credit in article linked below)
Visitors to SF love the concerts, but many of us who live here are disturbed not only by the loud noise generated, but also by the parks being taken over for these money-making events which last many days. A gardener decided to measure the decibel level during a concert right at the densite: it came in at 90 dB. We don’t have to have these loud outdoor concerts in our parks where our wildlife is. Can’t we use our baseball stadium or the colosseum? Besides the loud noise and crowds of people into the late evening, there are miles of temporary cyclone fencing put up for the event which block many of wildlife’s habitual travel routes.
As I passed one of the den-sites on June 19th, I heard either firecrackers or gunshots — I recorded some of these deafening blasts which came one right after another (above recording). We humans may forget how super-sensitive coyote ears are compared to ours: just look at the size of their ears to know they are catching and processing sounds on a much higher and more intense level than we are. I myself find the concerts deafening; this is compounded many times over for coyotes. I can get away from it when I’ve had enough of it, but the coyotes, birds, owls, raccoons, skunks, squirrels, etc. cannot.
Fireworks will be coming up on the fourth of July: just think of your own dog and how terrified he/she becomes at fireworks noises. It’s compounded for coyotes who don’t understand it and have no way to escape it.
Evening of May 1, 2023, coyotesbeing harassedin the dark of nightby the city
On top of this, our city apparently harasses the animals unnecessarily. I totally applaud our city’s support for coyote coexistence: in addition, they have helpfully cordoned off some trails to dogs during pupping season, and usually put up signs where needed. They’ve been pretty good about leaving the coyotes alone, which is what is needed. However, a month ago, I was stunned as I watched a large white city van, headlights on, roof emergency-light bar flashing, horn blaring as it approached and directed its powerful searchlights on a family of three adults who were gathering for their regular activities at dusk, minding their own business. In this case, two “officers” jumped out of their van and rushed the coyotes with high-powered flashlights, pursuing them. The father coyote circled around to defend the others— they were all in a frenzied state of *scared*. Several bystanders yelled out at the officers to stop harassing the coyotes.
The next day I spoke to these same officers: by harassing the coyotes, all they were doing is teaching the coyotes to hide from their vans, their harassment wasn’t creating general *fear of humans* in the coyotes, if that was their intended goal. They told me that “they wanted folks to see that they were doing something about the coyotes.” They told me the coyotes were *approaching* people. Truth be told, this department relies totally on hearsay rather than actually getting out and looking at and assessing situations. Over ten years ago I pleaded with them to please, please come out and watch, but they preferred the hearsay which is so often sorely mistaken.
These coyotes indeed have approached dogs, even leashed dogs, to drive them away — their *approach* was not towards the owner. Coyotes might hang around areas where they are fed, especially if food is being tossed towards them, but it would need to be happening a lot for any coyote to approach a human, if it’s happening at all: this human activity is what needs to be addressed. The difference between a coyote approaching a dog vs. a person could be one of life or death for the coyote. If there is ever a need to “haze” coyotes, it has to be done properly. To be effective, hazing has to have a very specific purpose and be tied to a very specific place: it is counterproductive if used generally to instill fear of humans. Coyotes get used to it and begin to ignore it, so when a situation then arises where the tool is needed, it becomes useless. There is an expert in Canada who is willing to help train city officials.
In a similar vein, in 2019 I repeatedly watched these same vehicles with blinding searchlights as they followed a terrified coyote through the streets in the dark of night, and even directed that searchlight up a trail into a park where they saw the coyote go — it’s where the coyote lived. Is this supposed to make them wary of people? It doesn’t. It’s simple harassment.
So, this is urban stress. For perspective, in the wild/wild — outside of urban areas — the stresses of life for a coyote are extreme and come from wolves and mountain lions hunting them as prey, and from humans with their dogs or from helicopters hunting them down in farming and ranching areas: coyotes have been and still are the most persecuted animal in America. Coyotes may have moved to cities to escape some of that kind of stress, but they’ve traded it for different stresses caused by indifferent humans. The namesake for our city is St. Francis who is the patron saint of the environment and animals. Maybe we should help bring our city’s name and wildlife policies and treatment into better alignment.
The best “management” tool we have is educating the public about coyote behaviors, and letting the public know that their best option always is to avoid coyotes and walk away from them, especially if they have a dog. Denning areas should be avoided and feeding should stop because it can cause coyotes to hang around. In addition, intense park noises, such as outdoor concerts could be moved to more appropriate venues such as stadiums or colosseums that are meant to handle the noise and crowds, and maybe, with a little more understanding, the city can stop unnecessarily harassing the coyotes.
I posted “The Move” when it was breaking news — you got it right after it happened, fresh off the press. Little did I know that it wasn’t over yet. In fact, I collected my cameras from the construction site three days later — the site had been locked up for the Memorial Weekend — the cameras, in my mind, would no longer be needed — they were there for counting pups.
I perused the memory cards from those cameras and, surprise! Four more pups appeared on the cameras! As seen in the videos from a field camera and my previous posting about this, two had been moved, but there were more. Would the other four be moved, or had she decided to divide up the litter for safety reasons? The situation remained like this for close to a week.
This is from a badly aimed video field camera: there are four youngsters on the 28th
Over the next 2 days, I spent a couple of hours, at the same time of day Mom had moved the first two pups, waiting to see it happen again. It did not happen while I was there.
However, I did spot her on guard in the old area on top of a high dirt mound, keeping her eye on the construction activity AND regularly peeking over to where I imagined any pups would be (they were not in my view).
Mom guarding at the old location.
Then, a full five days after moving those first two pups, this time before dawn, a camera caught another youngster being carried away, this time in a much sloppier fashion: the pup had been grabbed by the nape of the neck and its feet dragged on the ground as his mother carried him. See first part of video below which is in black and white using IR lighting.
One more pup carried to a new location; four others almost *follow* Mom, but end up not doing so.
This same day, another field camera captured an additional four pups at the construction site gate. In the video, it looked like Mom was going to entice them to *walk* with her to the new location. Two followed her out, but eventually they all returned. If you’ll notice, the pups are not small at this age, and I wondered if the burden of carrying such big unwieldy pups was proving to be too taxing.
The next day I watched Mom again at the construction site where the pups had been born. This time she was not guarding the area. Rather, she was purposefully trotting around: she had direction to her pace — she knew exactly what she was doing and where she was going — but of course I did not know what she was up to until after the fact. It turned out she was making sure everything was in place for her next move. Shortly thereafter, I was able to glimpse, just out of the corner of my eye, Mom carrying yet another youngster out of the area — I was unable to catch up with her to record it with my camera. She headed for exactly where I had seen her head earlier. After she disappeared, I went to that spot and found that she had widened a hole under the fence and this is the route she took with the pup in her mouth. When I had seen her earlier, she had been checking to make sure that hole was still there and usable so that she could pass through it quickly.
There is purpose and direction to everything coyotes do! Mom had had a pre-thought-out plan — detailed foresight — and she then carried it out. As I would later find out through the video below, her plan was to carry out the remaining four pups, all the while avoiding as much detection as possible by people and dogs: she had already analyzed most dogs’ routes and planned to go when those dogs who had a history of antagonism or chasing would not be around.
Interestingly, and this, I’m sure was part of her plan, a couple of bystanders saw her head in the opposite direction from where she had taken the other pups. When out of view, she then circled around and back, all the while carrying a pup: she was making sure no one was following her.
The video below shows her carrying each of those remaining four pups within the space of three hours in the middle of the day to the new location which was about 1/4th mile away.
Four more pups carried to their new home within the space of three hours
By the way, based on what I saw, I don’t think coyotes know how to count, at least beyond seven. After all the pups were removed, she went back to see if there were any more, which she would not have done had she known how to count!
I’m not sure the pups are any safer than before in their new location: now there are dogs to contend with, and the fence is right on the street where cars could easily pick them off: these conditions did not exist in the old location. But the family will have to deal with these and other issues as they come up.
I’ve seen both Mom and Dad take turns guarding against the intrusion of dogs at their new location — but they guarded in the old location for other reasons. I’m sure that in their minds whatever the tradeoffs were, they are better off than before.
Guarding at the old location; then guarding at the new location; these are both Dad
I’ve been setting up this month’s property patrols and have cancelled “Kinky’s Place” for the next 2 months as her family is studied by biology students, and her litter is expanding in areas and experience.
Something of note is the students feel Kinky is not only an exceptional mother, but also Leader of her family. Her Mate is a nicked up weary type male. She makes him seem flaccid in family support but perhaps that unfair. It may well be he does alot unseen and is tired.
But the family moves and happenings seem really directed by Kinky.
Her moving to the area of poison oak habitat was really sharp. It’s open in some parts but always has bushes a mere hop away. This has ensured no golden eagle predation on pups and minimizes their visibility in play. Litter size is now 6.
The dozens upon dozens of meat caches she made past weeks still are being utilized by her. The pups are hunting voles and insects now.
Yesterday, a doe died a couple miles from pups. A vehicle hit her and she made it to pass deep in woods. It’s hard to witness. And yet, it’s a prize to Kinky and her family. She was seen on it last night 5 times. It’s hard to relay the sheer work and mileage she puts in at time.
She also is the one who sees off dogs or other coyote near her denning areas.
All in all…summer mode is in gear. For Kinky I only wish her well. My dogs and I are very busy but also rest alot.
I can only wonder at Kinky’s hard work and dedication to her pups. She was hard raised in her youth. And she is a force of nature as a Mom, Hunter, Patroller and Adaptive Scavenger.
PS-She is only half mile from very thick groves of wild plum. I almost guarantee when they are ripe she moves her fam there!
To a meaty and fruity summer!
Lou
This is never easy to see or witness for me. The road is over a mile away. Many deer make deep woods to pass away after being hit.The only positive thing is..it will not be wasted. Kinky was feeding here within hours and off and on all night. By day vultures and ravens will cover it. Foxes, Weasel, Bobcat, Raccoon, and even bear or cougar or wolf may claim it. But Kinky was there 1st. And will utilize as much as she can.
Thx Janet!
Of Leaders all I can say…experiencing them in all forms..is my personal belief is some are made by experience..the best are born…and I feel and have seen the strong female type are the best and most serious.
My male dogs are utility level serious workers and very experienced. And one is a Leader. Yet they have certain traits many males have..that lend to mistakes or easy going styles to degrees.
My females are immensely more focused and serious. If my males are seeing off strange dogs on property..the males will chase but gladly see off.
The females are very earnest. You don’t want to be their focus in certain situations.
That’s just me and my limited experience. I think there are many more female coyote and wolves that are the core of their territory and families. It just hasn’t been as eye catching as larger bolder males.
There are tried and true solutions to the issue that would cost much less, while at the same time benefiting both the environment and the ranching industry. Please read the following and spread this information. Walkaboutlou has SEEN first hand, over a period of more than 40 years of first-hand ranching experience, the detriments of slaughter, and the benefit of working WITH (not AGAINST) the environment with guard dogs.His words:
If they spent A FRACTION of that money on quality LGD dogs and behavioral education for farmers and ranchers to learn how to use such dogs it would make difference. This is all about a lifestyle certain “animal control” folks and certain hunters want.
I know of large remote herds and ranges maintained by LGD that almost never experience such losses or behaviors. Excesseive herd sizes spread out in total isolation and not watched is the issue. Some individuals want to treat entire regions as one massive grazing pasture with no predatory wildlife. That’s what its about.
That is old school manifest destiny ranching. And some still are willing to waste millions of dollars enforcing their beliefs and hobbies.
When we hear individuals using terms such as vicious etc describing natural predators we have to stay calm and also see other side. Lambs and calves are dollar signs to ranchers..but also it really is emotionally upsetting to find them killed or injured graphically. It’s a “A Killing Crisis of Both Sides” since there are livestock being lost as well. The thing is…it’s a preventable Crisis. Yes.
But again the issue is behavioral shaping of wildlife. And lack of protection provided by fencing and LGD packs.
When we rent vast regions of BLM land or own vast regions which herds roam without daily protections these are magnetic to predators. When they find no resistance…its free food.
A 100 dollar bill on sidewalk doesn’t lay long.
Unprotected rarely checked herds in isolation will be checked out.
LGD are part of the answer. And the days are over not checking on herds weekly or even daily.
Also…coyote are viewed with almost extremism for many. They are an excuse to hunt without regulation or rules and some revel in that. Also..they influence other laws allowing other species to be included in “management”. Coyote are very political so to speak and you can easily affect wildlife management of other species allowing anti fervor to flame unabated.
So much to consider. More science and solutions are available more then ever. A pack of well bred well supported LGD truly act as a huge step resolving predator issues.
But many have a culture of resisting such solutions.
I did want to add one more solution that’s not popular in modern circles..but was in older days. And works.
Locally in our region we have ONE (that i know of) 1 Range Rider. A Range Rider travels range and checks on or stays with livestock. The one I know travels daily via a switched team of 2 mules and a mustang. He literally with several dogs rides everywhere checking for wolves, trespassers, calf checks etc. His wide and unpredictable patrols keep wolves very nervous..and they simply pass cattle. They do not tarry. They fear his sounds and prescence. They are literally taught certain areas…are patrolled and enforced.
Zero losses to predation. Range Riders are experts of land management and often have extensive training in animal behaviors as well as ecosystem enrichments. They improve herds, lands and wildlife coexistence.
But they aren’t free lol.
Anyhow. I think my insights are minimal. The PROOFS found in fencing, husbandry, Range Riders and LGD packs are abundant and available.
It just means not allowing people who literally want millions without feasible results to take control and take funds. They need more science then “ravens are vicious”.
(If I took millions before and there is still “predator issue” I either wasn’t thorough, I wasted your money, or I’ve found a way to funnel money for my own agendas.)
Some coyote parents have pups in the same area year after year. Some move for a year — about a mile away, while still maintaining their home-base territory — and then return the next season. Some move far away to an entirely different territory for good — 5 miles away from their original long-term territory and remain here until a territorial battle drives them away. These are some of the situations I’ve documented. Every coyote family is as different as is every human family.
And I’ve seen numerous instances where pups are moved at about two months of age within an urban territory to about 1/4th mile away. That’s what this posting is about.
Two pups in a den under a house on a construction site
Denning locations in the city are chosen mostly for their inaccessibility to dogs. Dogs are intruders that coyotes detest the most. I’ve seen dens built right along the freeway, beyond a fence keeping dogs and pedestrians out. The noise is incredible — the whooshing by of car wheels on the freeway and force of the wind against those vehicles, in addition to all the motor noise, is deafening. But coyotes prefer this over dogs.
Construction site
Human activity, no matter how noisy, as long as it isn’t intrusive, is also preferred over dogs. Multiple enormous tractors with huge clanky digger-arms and noisy motors, along with a lot of activity and movement of this equipment have not stopped coyotes from denning at construction sites. And it is here, in the middle of such a site, under a tiny cement building, Mom had her pups this year. Mom and her mate along with a yearling could be glimpsed coming and going among the hubbub, and it was obvious that Mom was in a lactating state. And then one day, a tiny head popped out into the open from under the building. For several days we thought there was only one pup, but then a second one appeared. When pups are first born, they stay put, but after 6-8 weeks, they need to start moving — and a construction site was not ideal for them at this stage. Mom knew she had to move them.
It’s not uncommon for mothers to move their pups at this stage — six to eight weeks of age. If you are aware of it, maybe that’s all you see. But by focusing in, I could see all the intelligence involved: planning, forethought, knowledge and work.
Mom must have been planning this for some time. Weeks before moving, every night, she would slither under the fence to the new area and work on digging places where her pups could duck into and hide if they needed to. She worked at this in the thick foliage among a tangles of branches which would be difficult for dogs to penetrate. Remember that a coyote is only 30 pounds and with the bendability of a cat, allowing them to slither under and over things. Not so for dogs. I didn’t capture the digging, just the coming and going each night at that new location.
The time had to be right, and that time would be when the pups began following her around — the same as little ducklings follow their mothers. I caught what I thought of as them “practicing” their following skills, or, possibly Mom “testing” to see how well pups would follow. They did!
Practicing following
On the day of the move, Mom led them to the construction site’s fence line. However, she knew they might not follow in the street where there were too many new distractions. For the street part of the journey, she signaled one of the pups to remain quiet and stay put: it’s a signal all pups know. Meanwhile she picked up one of the pups by it’s back, and carried it out the gate and along the sidewalk, crossing a number of streets, and finally slithering under the hole of the fence to the new area. Within ten minutes of depositing that youngster, she headed back to get the other one, and returned with that one within 25 minutes.
Interesting is the time of day she did this. One might have expected her to make the move at night when no one was around. But she did not do that. One of the reasons may be that the fenced construction site could only be exited from the gates. She herself could slither under the gate, but only barely — the tiny opening under the gate probably was not high enough for her carrying a pup. I had actually seen her walk out that gate at around noon a number of times, probably practicing and assessing what the situation was at that time of day. Shortly before noon every day, even I was able to see that almost all dogs had already been walked, so few would be out to go after her, and traffic was at a low at that time of day. So, when Moving Day came, this is the time she chose: 11:45 for one pup and then 12:20 for the other.
One person saw her walk down the street carrying a pup, and a friend relayed this to me — thank you, Beth — I myself missed it, though I knew it was coming. But I had cameras set up at the hole under the fence at the new location, and that is what I have to show you, below.
Interestingly, this mother followed the exact same pattern two years ago, moving her pups on June 1st of 2021. This year it was on May 26th. Also of interest, only Mom moved the youngsters. She was not helped by Dad or her yearling daughter.
So, just imagine the planning and foresight involved: planning for contingencies on the street, planning her route, planning the time of day this would happen, making sure the pups were ready, planning that it would happen at all, preparing the new denning spot. I think you have to be pretty impressed with the capabilities of coyotes generally, but especially with the capabilities of coyote mothers!
Mom brings first pup in under the fence. Ten minutes later you see her patrolling the fence line before heading off to pick up the second pup and returning twenty minutes later with him.
This story has a sequel! See The Move, Part II posted on June 12, 2023
Life is not easy for a coyote. Among their strifes with each other, humans, and dogs, there are injuries and ailments, and environmental hazards, a few of which I’ll address here.
Lifespan in captivity for a coyote is about 14 to 16 years — it’s about the equivalent of what it is for a dog of that size. But in the wild-wild, I’ve been told, the average lifespan is only 3-5 years — much of that is caused by human predation. Here in the city I’ve known a number of coyotes who reached the age of 12 and almost 12, but, in fact, few actually reach that milestone.
Cars are their biggest killers
Of course cars kill and might be considered their chief “predator” in a city: twenty-four dead coyotes were picked up in 2021 in San Francisco from roadways. There were probably more coyotes hit by cars that were able to scramble under some bushes where they perished but were not counted. And then there were those who survived their car hits. The most notable I knew of happened many years ago: a single mother (her mate had been killed by rat poison) with two very young pups. This coyote managed to drag herself along for months, feeding herself and her youngsters all by herself. After two full months she was again using that leg, gingerly, but she was using it. Over time she did recover: but you can imagine how difficult life was for her during her healing time.
Rat poison has kills
Another coyote killer in the City is rat poison: I’ve picked up several dead coyotes showing no body traumas which could indicate poisoning was involved. Only one was necropsied, but that animal’s body was found to be riddled with four different kinds of rat poison. Rat poison works by causing internal bleeding, so before it kills, it weakens the animal tremendously — and probably hurts unbearably. Some survive milder doses, but their reactions are slowed and subjecting them to further injury. Those with heavy doses die pretty horrible deaths.
Dogs chasing him broke his ankle
Leg injuries are pretty common in coyotes: I regularly see them limping. Although dogs aren’t the cause of all their limping, I have seen plenty of coyotes end up limping after having been chased by a dog. In the uneven terrain, and woodsie areas which they run into in order to escape a dog, the sticks and holes are little booby traps for their fine limbs, and they get injured.
I’ve seen an actual broken ankle — so diagnosed by a wildlife vet from a video I sent her — caused by running from a dog. That ankle eventually, over many months, healed, but it came back to haunt him three years later, when I again saw him limping on the same back leg: he had just lost his mate who had been hit by a car and now he needed to defend his territory and pups from takeover, but he could not do so without his mate. The weakened and then re-injured ankle may have resulted from him trying to defend his turf. He was driven out and I have not seen him for a year.
Dogs chase coyotes constantly in San Francisco
This fella’s left front arm was broken and healed crooked.
I saw a broken forearm (either the radius or the ulna) — I have no idea how it came about. That was an 18 month old during his dispersal time. He returned to one of the territories he had passed through earlier and was lucky enough to hide in the yard of some good Samaritans who nursed him along. Today, at four years of age (he was born in 2019), he maintains his limp — not a huge one, but a limp nonetheless. In spite of his condition, he is the alpha male of his own family — so he’s a real survivor.
Skin lesions from allsorts of pathogens & injuries exist.
I have not seen any cases of mange in the city, but I’ve seen plenty of skin lesions. Below is a case that looked like the result of a mite/flea infestation which then was licked and worked over by the coyote, causing more hair loss than anything else. The wound itself could initially be seen as fiery red, so it must have been painful. I again sent photos of this five-year-old lactating mother here to the vet. The vet replied — this is after the furious red had died down — that the coyote was healing well, that she (the coyote) did a good job of cleaning up the wound, that it could have been a puncture or foxtail wound, and that coyotes seem better at healing on their own than dogs. I don’t usually see skin lesions that are that big — most appear substantially smaller than this one and there are usually many such lesions on an animal.
Bulbous ear growths
Worms
Worms and intestinal parasites obviously exist as shown by my regularly seeing diarrhea and seeing “scooting” behavior, which almost always signifies worms, the same as with dogs.
Coyotes are in fact constantly grooming each other to prevent insect infestations. Here are two youngster siblings removing ticks from each other.
Tag caused an ear infection and deformed ear; radio collar did self-release so she’s stuck with it
Scientists wanting to study these animals — besides harassing and terrifying the animals by capturing them — use gadgets that they staple or buckle onto the animals. I’ve seen tagging that resulted in a permanently flopped-over ear, and radio-collars which were supposed to be automatically self-released but malfunctioned so that after five years, these cumbersome objects are still attached to the animals.
Other human injuries are caused by sporting paintguns which can cause internal injuries and even the loss of an eye. We almost never discover the extent of any injury because we hope for minimal human intervention and, besides, nature is one of the best healers.
An injured eye
A lost eye could have been caused by hunting.
Here’s a coyote without an eye. I don’t know what caused this injury. I can just hope it wasn’t caused by a human. This is one of the Golden Gate Park coyote pups born last year who dispersed to Lake Merced before disappearing completely. The coyote was much, much smaller than his siblings, possibly due to his inability to get enough food. Hardship again. And here’s another coyote who only two days earlier was perfectly fine, but now she’s squinting severely with her right eye — again, I hope it wasn’t caused by humans.
These are wounds from a territorial battle. She was driven away from her home, but eventually got it back.
Wounds from territorial battles are not so uncommon. I’ve seen a 4 year old limping home from such a battle. The worst I’ve seen is a five year old father who had part of his lip torn off. And then there was Scout whose flight from her territorial battler I documented extensively on this blog.
Gophers can fight back by biting hard.
But wounds also occur from just simply everyday life. For example, in hunting for gophers, the gopher often, if it can, fights back. This may be one of the reasons a coyote *toys* with its prey: to keep that gopher away from its eyes. I had a friend with a pet python snake who had lost an eye to prey: the owner saw it happen.
Infant mortality is always high in coyotes. Last summer a pup was found dead at the Presidio about ten days after it died — it was too late to perform a necropsy.
And at West Portal last year, one of the four pups was either born with a birth defect or acquired an injury early on to his spine because — he was lame and much smaller than his siblings The vet told me it’s very likely the result of distemper, and the case in the Presidio may be the same: distemper causes neurological compromises that can result in lameness. I saw a cheetah abandon such a pup in the wild — that did not happen here. This fella was not abandoned or ditched. He was allowed to grow up with his siblings who prodded him on. And, miraculously, he improved! He began walking regularly, albeit with a bit of a wobble which over time subsided. At this stage, I don’t know what the effect will be on him as an adult.
You know that there’s an ear problem when they continue to shake their heads. There’s no vet to take care of the infection or remove the foxtail. They learn to cope.
What I have depicted here are the visible injuries and afflictions that I myself could identify. Those diseases that aren’t so readily visible or identifiable, include rabies of which we’ve had no cases in San Francisco, canine distemper — which we can sometimes identify by the injury it causes to an animal, tularemia, canine hepatitis and mange, which is associated with weakened immune systems caused by rat poison.
Scars are their histories — most of the stories we’ll never know, but what we should know is that survival requires some tough beatings. Here are some scars that have stories behind them — and I know only a very few of them. On the left, the scars have healed, but his scars were as disfiguring as these two to the right which were fresh when I took the photos.
So, a coyote’s life is hard and it is short — but it’s harder elsewhere I think, where they are subject to predation mostly by people, whereas wolves used to be their main predator, until we killed them all off. Fortunately, we here in San Francisco have gotten rid of the sinister culture still maintained in many areas: killing them to manage them. One old-timer told me that in the 1950s, San Francisco paid $4.00 bounties for a set of two ears. With all the killing humans have imposed on coyotes — 200K a year — their numbers have not gone down. As a species they are survivors and resilient. As individuals, just like us, they are trying to survive and thrive in a sometimes hostile world. We need to give them a break by simply keeping a distance and walking away from them if you have a dog: that alone will make life more pleasant for them AND for dog owners!
Threesome raising a den of pups: Mom, Dad & lactating Daughter
I have now seen four cases of both an alpha female mother AND one of her remaining daughters — always a two-year-old who has just come of reproductive age — both lactating on the same territory and in the same denning area. These four cases occurred in separate families and territories. The following names won’t mean anything to most people so I’m just putting them here to differentiate them for myself. 1) Tarn (alpha female), Pink (daughter) and Rookie (new alpha male) in 2022; 2) Chert (alpha female), Squirrel (daughter), and Rookie (new alpha male in 2021); 3) Scout (alpha female), Li’lGirl (daughter), and Skipper (new alpha male) in 2023; and 4) Ma’am (alpha female), unnamed daughter, and Blue (long-time alpha male) in 2021.
I have been attributing these “double lactations” to two different pregnancies due to the sudden disappearance of the resident alpha male and the quick appearance of a new male who moved into the vacated alpha position. This made sense to me, based on what I’ve read, that “when the alphas are killed, disorganization leads to more litters and the population increases.” [Bob Crabtree]. Indeed, the long-time alpha males totally disappeared in the case of #1, #2, and #3 above, which fit Crabtree’s conditions, but this was not the case with #4. But then again, I was only seeing the #4 family from a distance, and rarely at that, so I figured I was simply missing something from the situation.
So the obvious explanation for me was some sort of polygamy or harem situation. However, this runs in the face of what I’ve seen before over the last 17 years, and it runs counter to what we’ve been told about coyotes: that coyotes are monogamous. And also, younger females are known to be *behaviorally sterile* unless there is a disruption by killing (or a death) — and there was no disruption of this sort in family #4. So everything wasn’t aligned between what I knew and what I was seeing.
AND THEN, I read about pseudopregnancy in dogs which is apparently common phenomenon in canines. I got my information online from a 2017 paper by Robert A. Foster: Female Reproductive System and Mammae”, published in “ScienceDirect”: https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/pharmacology-toxicology-and-pharmaceutical-science/pseudopregnancy which is about domestic dogs, but I think it’s safe to assume that coyotes might exhibit the same phenomenon. For how the process works you’ll have to click on the article above, but the relevant information is this:
“It has been hypothesized that this condition is an adaptive response to allow non-breeding females to help raise offspring of the breeding female.54 Associated physical and behavioral changes are very broad in scope, ranging from none all the way to the equivalent of pregnancy. Included can be nervousness, guarding an area, making a nest (66.1% of nonpregnant females), abdominal distention, mammary gland development with or without lactation (78.6%)“
Through the 16 years that I’ve been observing, I’ve seen many yearlings help raise the young of their parents, but only within the last several years have I seen this “double lactating”. So, my question is, would these be double-pregnancies (and therefore polygamous situations), or are the yearling daughters just “helping to raise their mother’s new pups” by contributing to the milk supply, among other things?
Coyote reveals her lactating state to me.
My observations are all visual, and I never go close to densites, and so I wouldn’t be able to tell which of these two potential situations exists in these four cases: in all cases, the lactating daughter also swelled up in size — but as you have read above, this is a symptom of pseudopregnancy. However, based on case #4 where the long-term alpha remained and was not replaced, and based on what we know about coyotes being monogamous, I’m now leaning towards the belief that these daughters are simply helping their mothers. By the way, in the cases before 2023, all of the lactating two-year-olds dispersed when the season was over, except one who remained until April of this year before leaving. In addition, all of the alpha mothers were about eight years old..
I’ve asked Dr. Benjamin Sacks at UC Davis if he can provide me with his knowledge of, or references to, these situations. AND, since we have the DNA from scats from some of these situations, we’ll be able to tell definitively what the situation is for that family — these are still being worked on. I’ll be following up with more once I find out more, but I wanted to go ahead and post this today, on Mother’s Day!
I’ll be giving a presentation about coyotes at the Fort Mason Community Garden on Saturday, May 20th at 10 am. If you are interested, it will be a poster talk in lieu of a slides because projected slides would just be washed out in the midday light! There should be plenty of time for questions afterwards. The RSVP seems to be an informal request by the FMCG — so far, I see no place on their website to do so. I was told that most people don’t RSVP.
I wanted to share with you a student’s observations and leanings. Which lead to more questions.
Kinky Tail continues to raise her very active litter. There are 7 now..so either there was a miscount originally or 2 have disappeared. They think 2 pups have disappeared because there is a local golden eagle who for years has been seen with coyote pups, fox kits and feral cats. It seasonally comes to this area during lambing and calving times. It has been seen daily flying over den areas.
That well may have encouraged Kinky to move pups as well as..ticks. Locally we’ve seen plague level numbers of ticks. And Kinkys grooming times with pups seemed very long last week. Her last den area was absolutely infested with 3 species of ticks. Ugh.
Now however, Kinky moved pups to a rendezvous of log piles, poison oak bushes, and grazing cattle.
The student says she doesn’t believe the location was randomly picked.
The abundance of poison oak keeps people out except rarely riders of horse or quads passing thru. Ranch folk.
The grazed range grass is short and doesn’t hold high tick densities compared with long grasses or brush areas.
And finally, having an entire cow to scavenge 2 miles away after move means less animals near pups (scavengers galore) and Kinky doesn’t have to hunt the longer grass fields for voles. Which mean tick pick up. She has the cow or many dozens of caches. Also discovered was she visits an orchard and gleans old fallen Apple’s from last Fall.
This Student feels Kinky’s choice of den was premeditated and thought carefully out. It has minimal tick numbers. Humans rarely come and pass quickly. It’s open with vast vistas and hillsides yet has hiding places for pups. The Longhorns don’t encourage canine visitors. It’s close to dead cow but far enough pups don’t meet scavengers.
She also is study wild turkey brood site selections and says the studies lend to each other. Wild Turkey Hens need to sit on eggs around 28 days. The picked site is obviously paramount. A poorly picked site is disastrous. There are hens that pick poorly or lose patience or dedication and leave eggs too long as well. Then there are hens that cover eggs while minimally foraging for bugs and food and rush back fast. How a Hen Broods means Everything. And not all hens are good moms.
She says it’s same for Coyote. Some mothers are functional but rather minimal. Or make bad choices. Some..seem to be absolutely dedicated mothers. She feels most coyote are very dedicated Moms.
So how much is choice and thought when picking a site to hide and raise your kids? She feels Kinky Tail is neighborhood cognizant.
In her words “No wolf gang signs. No noisy dog parties. No bad nosy people. Riding thru people that she’s known since pup and plenty of longhorns and poison oak seem the latest mood and pic”
Kinky is doing well. She has 7 very active very fat pups. She’s busy busy busy. By day she stays at den. At night it’s cow scavenging, cow caches and long long drinks. And some nights old apples. She grooms her pups even as she comes home bedraggled. Growls briefly but playfully at Mate as he leaves for day shift.
About My Site and Me: This website reflects my almost 20 years of intense, careful, and dedicated field-work — empirical observations — all photo-documented without interfering or changing coyotes’ behaviors. Be welcome here, enjoy, and learn! I am a self-taught naturalist and independent coyote researcher.
Coyotes reappeared in San Francisco in 2002 after many years of absence, and people are still in the dark about them. This site is to help bring light to their behavior and offer simple guidelines for easy coexistence.
My information comes from my own first-hand observations of our very own coyotes here in San Francisco. What I’m presenting to you is the reality of their everyday individual lives. They have not been studied or observed so thoroughly by anyone else. Mine is not generic information, nor second-hand.
Note that none of the coyotes I document and photograph is “anonymous” to me: I know (or knew) each one of them, and can tell you about their personalities, histories, and their family situations. There have been over 100 of them, distributed among over twenty families, all in San Francisco. Images and true stories have the power to raise awareness and change perspective.
