“Mom and Dad”, by Charles Wood

02 Aug 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, reactions to a human Tags:

momdad

Sunday I returned to the field that is home to a female coyote, her mate and 7 pups.  I seldom see the male and female together.  Either I see Mom, Dad or Dad and pups.  Sunday I saw the parents together.  A third coyote was with them.  It may have been a pup, but it hid too quickly to be sure.

I went into their field half an hour before sunset and stood on the west side looking northeast.  The north end of their field is a major street that has a dirt road underpass.  The dirt road allows access to a nature area to the north.  I have wondered if my coyotes hunt there.  I hoped to confirm it by catching Mom in the underpass.  After 20 minutes of waiting I became restless and went instead to stand inside the underpass and look south.

I soon saw Mom heading towards me.  Seeing me, she stopped and stared.  A minute or two later Dad appeared.  He also stopped.  Both then stepped into brush.  They soon appeared again only closer.  Dad began to scrape dirt as Mom resumed her stare.  Neither retreated much, and when they did they soon returned.  Mostly they moved side to side.  Dad made an effort to defecate.  Of course they, as always, wanted me to depart.  I complied, quit the underpass and climbed up the embankment on the north side of the street.  The sun had set and from the street I saw a coyote run east in the nature area and disappear.  I hadn’t actually seen that coyote emerge from the underpass, and it was too dark to identify it.  Was it Mom, Dad or some other coyote?  I waited a bit, saw nothing more and went home.

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

“Mom”, by Charles Wood

01 Aug 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in communication, coyote behavior, coyote living areas, reactions to a human Tags:

I saw the mother of the alpha male’s puppies on July 30 and July 31, 2010.  It was near sunset and at the north end of the field both times.  The north end is a major street with a dirt road underpass.  The dirt road allows transit to a more bountiful undeveloped area.  On Saturday, July 31, 2010, I watched from the western boundary and was rewarded when she appeared.

She trotted south along the dirt road.  She stopped frequently to look behind her.  I did not see any followers.  At one point she went off the road to look behind her, probably for a clearer vantage point.  Then she continued down the road.  When she neared her destination she lifted her rear leg and urinated on the side of the road.  Closer yet to her destination she defecated, scraped, and continued to look back.  Her destination was a brushy area and she marked the spot where she eventually entered the brush.  I suspect it contains her den because she previously had showed herself to me at that same entrance.

On June 5, 2010 I walked along that road as she stealthily trailed me.  When I reached that entrance she came out and made a stand.  After several minutes she withdrew.  I cautiously followed her a few yards into the brush.  I stopped and looked for her.  I didn’t see her.  I went a few more steps and she darted out in front of me from the shadows.  Ordinarily she is timid, unlike her mate.  Although timid, she gets the job done.  I backed out of the brush thinking that something there was too important to allow an intruder.

The bountiful area to the north is certainly home to other coyotes.  I suspect she hunts there, having seen her near the underpass many times over several months.  She was likely chased away and looked back to be sure the chase had stopped.

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

“MORE DAD”, by Charles Wood

28 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, reactions to a human Tags:

Once again the alpha male, Dad, stopped my attempts to find his family.  As my dog Holtz and I walked on a dirt road in his field, Dad stepped out from the brush in front of us onto the road.  Holtz immediately started to chase Dad and I stopped him with his leash.  Dad bounded away from us down the road, but kept his head turned behind him and saw me restrain Holtz.  He stopped and quickly returned to begin his display.

Dad defecated and scraped dirt.  That was followed by an approach, head down with an intense unblinking glare directed towards Holtz.  A dog will similarly approach another dog in play, where tension is created between the two as the distance is closed.  The approached dog sallies and a play fight results.  Instead, with Dad and a restrained dog, the approach stopped, followed by to-and-fro struts.  The strutting was followed by yawns and stretches, a trot away and a return moments later.  It does seem that Dad had expected Holtz to sally and fight.  It does seem that Dad will prevent me from observing his family.

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

“More On A Dominant Male Dad”, by Charles Wood

15 Jul 2010 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior Tags:

“Yesterday while Dad was yowling away at me over on the opposite side of the flood control channel, two young women bicycled by me.  Both looked across at Dad while coasting along.  One asked the other “What’s that!?”  Another cyclist, a homeless man, stopped to admire Dad.   When I said hello to the man he looked at me, flashed me a peace sign and a smile, and then immediately turned to watch more of Dad’s antics.

The day began on the west side of the river, my side.  I’ve never seen him on my side, always the east where the puppies are being raised.  Well, I was minding my own business on the west, and who should I catch sneaking up on me – yep, Dad.  Darn!  I believe my dog met him in the brush a few minutes before I saw him.  My dog, hidden in the brush about a 100 feet away from me, gave one excited bark.  Had it been a rabbit, my dog wouldn’t have stopped with one bark, and had it been a rabbit my dog wouldn’t have come when I called him.  And when he came,  he had an uncharacteristically exaggerated “I’m glad to see you” look.   So I surmise he met Dad in there.  I’m usually in the shoulder high grasses there taking pictures of birds, never worried about Dad.  That has changed now.  Too easy for Dad to hear us, to follow our scent and take advantage of the cover I am always in.

So I got a picture of him still advancing on us.  I ended up going onto his side as he ran south on the west side.  Thought I could get a free look at the puppies.  That was not to be because as soon as I got over on the east side, Dad reappeared on the west and he was now even with me.

He is making it truly difficult for me.

And he could find out where I live.  I biked there and back with my dog on Monday, and our scent leads back home.  Not that he would, just kind of funny knowing that he could.”

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