A Scuffle Imprinted on a Path: Coyote behavior

23 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, indirect signs of coyote presence Tags: , , ,

Coyotes have been hard to spot these days: I think it might have to do with the winter weather and short days. Anyway, evidence still can be found of their presence. For instance, today by simply looking at the ground I was able to tell that there had been a scuffle between a coyote and a raccoon. This series of photos was taken along about 25 feet of a path. As I walked, I noticed scratch marks — groups of them. I noticed them casually at first, but they stuck in my mind as being unusual. And then it struck me what they were about, so I went back, and sure enough, found all the pieces of the puzzle.

The first three coyote prints are obvious: the middle two claws on the front paws point inward. The second four photos are obviously raccoon prints: they look somewhat like human hands and feet with lots of padding, but they are much smaller. The rest of the photos include “puncture” holes to the earth, deep claw grooves, and scratch marks at the same location — these tell the tale, they tell me what went on. It had rained the day before, which had prepared the ground for retaining these imprints. You can see parts of human boot imprints.

I did not find a raccoon carcass, nor did I see any blood, so the raccoon probably got away. The raccoon print was a very large one, which means the raccoon was large. This indicates that it was probably an older one with experience. Although the coyote might have been an older one, it is more likely in this area that it was young and inexperienced. At any rate, the coyotes in this area are small. Thus, the raccoon had the advantage. By the way, raccoons can be ferocious and have been known to kill dogs.

Indirect Signs of A Coyote’s Presence: Coyote tracks and scat are indirect visual signs of their presence. In addition, rustling in the bushes is a sign of their presence which can be heard and distinguished if you are in tune with it. And sometimes you might catch a dark darting movement out of the corner of your eye, but when you look again, it is gone. One would never register such a perception without knowing beforehand what it might have been — it was probably not just your imagination playing tricks on you.

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Join my pack? Coyote behavior

21 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

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

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

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

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

Stealthy behavior in the dark: Coyote behavior

20 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

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

Today I was up way before dawn, so I headed out to see what kind of day it would turn into. It was dark and clear when I left home in the car. As I reached the top of a ridge it was both dark and foggy. Not too foggy, but foggy enough to create a glow around the street lights in the distance. The San Francisco area has wonderful diverse microclimates which can all be found at the same point in time within half a mile of each other. On one of the exposed roads it was windy, lower down it was totally windless. In a swampy area it was ten degrees colder than elsewhere.

I reached my intended park where I encountered a fellow walker and his dog — the only other pre-dawn walker I have come across — and we began to talk. We stood still, remaining in the same spot as we conversed. It was still dark. We then moved on, and as we did so, a form materialized out of the shadows about 40 feet away. The coyote was barely discernible at first and not initially easy to identify because of its stance and the way it was moving. After seeing the coyote for a moment, my first thought was that something was wrong, that maybe the coyote was sick or had been injured. The stance is one I’ve seen coyotes assume, but not maintain for any length of time. This coyote maintained it for this entire encounter. It had its hackles up, its back was curved up high while it kept its head down — it was a strong U-shape, and it was walking on tip toes very slowly and deliberately. It approached the dog that was with us within about 15 feet, but never got closer. Occasionally it pulled its lips back to show its teeth in a menacing sort of way: the coyote was messaging the dog, but the dog wasn’t picking up on the message. The dog ignored the coyote and continued walking on the path in front of us. The coyote backed up along the path, keeping its distance, keeping its eyes on the dog, and remaining in its hunched over position. It did not run off, but remained about 40 feet ahead. Then as we kept walking away from the coyote, the coyote disappeared off to the side somewhere after which we did not see it. It did not follow the dog.

This coyote must have been observing us the entire time we had been conversing in the one spot. It obviously did not like the dog lingering there. I actually had a totally different feeling from this coyote encounter than what I have experienced in the past — maybe because of the darkness, but also maybe because of the stealthy nature of the animal. I remained in the park, but the coyote did not approach anyone else — in fact, it is unlikely that anyone else even saw it while I was there. Later on I noticed it in the distance, just for a moment, where it looked perfectly fine and normal. It had been much too dark to take photos. Over the next little while I was able to tell that this was a coyote messaging the dog to get away. It’s so simple to respect the message. When we walk in the parks, we are invading the only place they have to live.

Communication: Coyote behavior

15 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, communication, coyote behavior, dominant vs. submissive, group activity Tags: , , ,

I clicked away at three coyotes I saw this morning — not a usual sight. I really couldn’t see much detail until I got home and blew up the photos. It is the zoomed-in photos that allowed me to see what was going on — but not what it was about. One of the coyotes had a wide gaping mouth in many of the shots — it is almost a smile if you look at the eyes: possibly a need to comply? This one also tended to keep its ears low and out to the sides. Another coyote had its teeth bared and lips pulled back — the others followed this one as it eventually walked up the hill. The third coyote stood back and stayed back further. I would think that a snarl and baring of teeth would either signify displeasure, or it may have been a threat or even a command, but I did not have time to observe long enough to be able to say for sure. There was also body contact as two of them walked side by side. The coyotes followed each other at first, and then slowly, one by one, they slithered or bounded into the brush.

What Does The Yipping Mean?? I wanted to mention another behavior which surprised me. I was at one end of a park photographing a juvenile coyote which was hunting. The coyote caught a muddy gopher and carried to the middle of a hill where the coyote lay down to eat it, right there in an open area of grass, in plain view. When the coyote was finished, it began wandering on the hillside. As it did so, I heard the coyote’s mother begin an intense barking episode on the other side of the park. It flashed through my mind that I might be able to see how coyotes react to “communication”.

But there was NO reaction whatsoever: no hiding, n running towards or away from the barking, no tensing up. There was total unconcern, and absolutely no change in this coyote’s meanderings on the hillside. When I reached the other side of the park, sure enough the mom had been chased by a dog and was letting everyone know that she was upset. She ended up climbing to the top of some high rocks where she continued her barking for 20 minutes or so. So, obviously, the barking was not a communication to other coyotes. It was just a display to the dog who had chased her. Also, could it have been an emotional release?

Then, the very next day, I was in the vicinity of the mom who was basking in the sun in her normal fashion, when coyote yipping began across the canyon. This would have to have been one of her offspring. In this case, the mom did sit up and listen, cocking her ears back and forth, but she remained put, and eventually lay down to bask some more. The yipping went on for about ten minutes. It appeared that the mom could assess the danger of the situation from the yipping she was hearing. I have seen a non-yipping situation where this mom raced down the hill to aid her pup who was being chased by a dog. Hmm, coyotes seem to be able to size up the danger of a situation pretty accurately.

See entry on December 28th: “It’s a Boy!”

Mother/Pup: Affection/Protection

14 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, coexisting with coyotes, communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, coyotes and dogs, coyotes defending themselves, group activity Tags: , , , , ,

I saw lots of coyote affection and protective behavior this morning. I was waiting for the rain clouds to blow by so that I could get a shot of the crescent moon. I like moons. I was sticking the camera back in its bag when I noticed a young coyote only about 30 feet in front of me. It had to have just arrived and sat down. It was too dark for photos except that of the moon. The coyote allowed me to look at it for about a minute before it headed off walking, and then disappeared.

A few minutes later, I heard a walker whistling loudly. He and his dog were coming up a distant trail. The coyote apparently had heard or seen this walker, because I saw it suddenly run away from the walker. It sat down to watch. Neither the walker nor the dog saw the coyote.

At about this time the mother coyote appeared on the scene, right in back of the young one, and sat down. The young coyote was ecstatic to see her: there was jumping up, muzzle contact, licking of the face of the young one by the mother, licking of the mother’s back by the young one, body contact. This affection frenzy lasted about three minutes. My camera settings were out of sync — so the photos are totally blurry, but I posted a couple anyway: they convey what they need to.

Then both coyotes sat, one in front of the other, watching the area where the whistler had stopped to talk to someone. This man soon walked on. Things appeared calm, so the young coyote got up and walked around for about 6 minutes.

This is when the first set of dogs appeared. These were two unleashed dogs which rushed right after the coyotes. The young coyote disappeared into the brush area, but the older, protective mother, after initially fleeing, came back, as is her normal behavior. She assumed her defensive stance: hackles up, pawing the ground, snarly face. One dog returned to its owner. The mother coyote made short charge-and-retreat motions towards the dog that remained to try to get it to leave. The owner of this dog called, hyper-hysterically, and ineffectively, for her dog to return. Eventually, the dog slowly made its way to its owner, whereupon the owner leashed it and departed.

Even before this first incident was over, three more unleashed dogs appeared, all belonging to one owner. They also ran after the coyote — the owner had absolutely no verbal control of her dogs. She seemed resigned to them going after the coyote, even as she ineffectively called them. I tried to let the owner know that this was a mother coyote who was going to defend her pup. The coyote was leading the dogs away from where her pup was in the brush. The owner of the three dogs decided to leave them — they were nowhere in sight. She went back down the hill. Then the mother coyote started barking, which is how I found where she was. The three abandoned dogs were near by, out of breath, and looking for their owner but couldn’t find her. The largest of the three dogs decided to go after the coyote again, causing the coyote to dash off to a hill further off where it continued its barking. The dogs, I assume, were eventually reunited with their owner, because the coyote was no longer being pursued by them.

This entire episode, or I should say two consecutive episodes of two and then three dogs going after the coyote, took about 18 minutes.  On the hill the coyote barked distressingly for another 3 minutes before calming down. With the dogs gone, she moved higher up the hill where she relaxed for about 45 minutes, keeping an eye on the spot where her pup had hidden.

A Monitoring Morning: Coyote behavior

10 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior, coyotes and dogs, dominant vs. submissive, monitoring, what coyotes thinks about Tags: , , ,

Today a coyote was midway up a slope, sitting and watching — intently watching. From its location it could see a number of paths. It kept its attention mostly on dog groups, swiveling its head and ears and following each group. When the last group of noisy dog walkers left the park — which was the same time it started to rain — this coyote stood up, had a huge stretch and yawn, and disappeared calmly into the brush. This coyote comes out to monitor dogs on an ongoing but irregular basis: it assesses which dogs might be a threat or competition to it, and it probably is making sure that no dogs might be trying to set up living quarters in the park. Since there are only a limited number of resources in any given territory, it is for survival purposes that coyotes need to limit who else might want to live in their own territories.

Compare this coyote to the one posted right above this about the fleeing coyote. Coyotes are very individualistic in their behaviors so that generalizations are difficult to make.

Two Young Coyotes Play

10 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, communication, coyote behavior, group activity, playing Tags: , , , ,

For half an hour I watched two young coyotes playing. When I first saw them, they appeared to be “wrestling”, but I was too far away for taking photos when I first sighted them. When I got close enough to take photos — never close enough for really clear photos, but at least you can tell what is going on — the coyotes stopped their activity, sat down and watched me. Soon they were playing again. There was lots of following one another and watching each other. There was lots of body contact and being next to one another and climbing over each other.

There was a “toy” — I could not tell exactly what it was: either a dead vole or a glob of hair or a small piece of wood. This toy was tossed, from a mouth, high up in the air with a flick of the head, and then it was leaped for. Later, one coyote held the toy in its mouth while the other watched, totally absorbed visually with the activity. The coyotes looked at each other often, eye to eye. They touched snouts.  One opened its snout right around the other’s, or reached to touch the other’s from below. There was running towards each other, and leaping through the low growth until one followed the other out of my sight for the day. I noticed that there was a hierarchy: it was always the same coyote that was sitting, or crouched, or below the other.

Playfulness & Performing: Coyote Behavior

08 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in communication, coyote behavior, playing, reactions to a human, what coyotes thinks about Tags: , , ,

Today I spotted a young coyote which I have named Silver. I name some of the coyotes to be able to distinguish them. This one seemed at loose ends when I saw it, and it continued to be at loose ends the entire time I watched it! All of its activities seem to emanate from boredom! Besides entertaining itself, this coyote appeared to be doing so for my benefit. I say this, because, just like a young puppy, it would engage in playful activities, and then look up to make sure I was watching!!

I was able to watch this for about half an hour, at a considerable distance, so the photos are not great. It seemed to be hanging out in the area with nothing to do when it became aware of me. It wandered around for short periods, and then stopped to look at me, very casually. At one point it looked down over a steep ledge — it appeared to have heard something, but did not pursue this. Then it meandered casually over to a rock, looked at me, and then tugged at something in the soil, stopping to look at me sometimes as it did so. Finally it had something in its mouth — one of the photos shows a white thing, almost the shape of a rice-cake. But a rice cake would not have been found here. It was not an animal. Anyway, the coyote chewed on this, then stood up, and then chewed some more at the back of its mouth before swallowing it. Then it meandered on.

A few minutes later it curled up on another rock where I noticed it had pick up some kind of human made wrapper. The coyote held this wrapper for a while before dropping it and getting up again.

Then it wandered over again to the rock where it had eaten the “rice cake”. Here it poked its nose into the ground and then moved the dirt over with a paw, and then it looked at me. Then it began tugging hard on something — it might have been a rooted twig. The coyote put considerable effort into pulling — it looked like a puppy playing tug of war. The item did not give way, so the coyote gave up.

Then the coyote meandered around some more and disappeared. I packed up to go and was walking off, when the coyote again appeared on the hill again, sitting. It was studying my actions. Finally it must have been time for it to go, because with a little more direction in its actions it went off to a steep incline where it bounded down, seemingly joyfully, pouncing and leaping high over the growth there as it went. It was gone for the day.

What Does a Coyote Think About During a Day?

07 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

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

A method of instruction used in art history involves comparing two slides. When there are two things to compare, more actually becomes visible to the viewer: differences and similarities become blatant. So, for comparative and contrasting reasons, I thought I would initially string up a list of what domestic dogs seem to concentrate on during their day, then list what a coyote might think about, and what their awareness might be.

A domestic dog is always under the leadership of a human — a pet dog is a follower, even though there are a few instances when this might not be so. Under human care, a dog does not need to think of the bigger picture. The same as a child, he thinks of more immediate things, such as hunger, play, chasing a ball, ego issues with other dogs, obedience. Some dogs are trained very finely beyond this to be working dogs: they can herd cattle, they can sense human temperature changes, they can get an owner up at a precise time, they can serve as eyes, they can do assigned tasks for a person who is unable to do these things for himself.

A coyote’s thoughts would also include playing, eating, sleeping, family life. But coyotes have a larger view of things in that they need to concentrate on survival issues. They need to concentrate on real life and death issues from day-to-day, and from season to season. Their minds are in a different place from that of dog’s: a dog may think of food, but he seldom has to worry or wonder where it will come from or how to get it. He has an owner to protect him, so seldom does he have to think of real self-defense or escape routes. His territory usually involves only his own home and yard, which are completely off-limits to others. A coyote has to deal with a territory where there are constant intrusions from humans and dogs — there is always a perceived threat here. A dog may feel loyal and protective towards its owner — a coyote would feel this towards its family members.

Further up the scale for a coyote, there would be nurturing and care for the young, teaching the young, protecting the den areas. There would be monitoring of the other coyotes if it is part of a group: knowing where the others are, defending them, monitoring their activity. There would be searching for hunting areas, actual hunting and eating, feeding others, making sure all are taken care of. There would be self-defense: running from dogs, defending themselves from dogs — these are on the level of survival, not the same “play” that dogs engage in. Escape routes would all have been planned out beforehand and kept in mind. There would be assessing potential rivals: assessing dogs, following dogs, testing dogs to see how they might respond. Coyotes have to take care of their own health: lying low when healing, moving between areas to avoid flees, batting flies and mosquitoes away, giving birth, dealing with injuries, dealing with infections and other parasites. And coyotes have to deal with whatever stresses confront them: not enough food, too many dog interactions, difficulties imposed by the weather, family dynamics, dispersing when the time comes. These are some of the things I have thought of. I’m sure there is a lot more, but I wanted to delineate how intricate and full a coyote’s thinking would have to be to survive.

Things that I have seen coyotes do, which required forethought: rolling on a dead lizard to pick up its odor — why, I’m not sure. Dogs do this to disguise their odors — maybe for the fun of it, as if wearing a Halloween costume!  After having captured and killing a gopher, one coyote buried it with its muzzle. I’ve seen a coyote pick up a dead vole in its mouth — carrion — then disgustedly spit it out and then urinate on it — possibly as a warning to other coyotes? Coyotes, the same as dogs, eat grass and then heave it up to clear out their stomachs. I’ve seen coyotes chew on sticks and pick sticks up to play with. They snap at flies buzzing in their faces, they concentrate on birds flying in the sky. There is a lot. These a just a few interesting things here.

Coyote Awareness. How keenly aware of its surroundings is a coyote? We know that their senses are indeed very keen. However, I’ve seen one coyote be surprised by a dog it had not heard come up close. The coyote bolted forward into a “prepared” state from a resting position when it suddenly became aware of the dog close by. The dog apparently had not seen the coyote and therefore did not react to it, so everything calmed down pretty quickly. Yet I’ve seen this same coyote very aware of a dog that approached from far away in the distance. This coyote hurried to higher ground and began a barking session, possibly as a warning to prevent the dog from coming closer, or to announce its presence. Another coyote has walked right by a person with their little dog on a bench — obviously it was a chance encounter, but one wonders why the coyote allowed itself to get this close to someone. This happened again as a coyote trotted along a path where it passed right next to a fellow reading on the path! That was a total surprise for both of them!

I once noticed a coyote, on its regular path, stop dead still, stunned, when it noticed a change. The change was that some boards on a retaining wall had been replaced by a rope netting. The coyote just stopped cold and stared at the retaining wall, obviously cautious and apprehensive about it (might it be a trap?). The coyote could obviously see a change, even though it might not have been able to tell what the change was — then again, maybe it could tell exactly what the change was!

At times I’ve noticed that fascination for coyotes from certain of us humans has engendered the same response from the coyotes — a fascination with us — it seems to be mutual sometimes, with the coyotes staring back as intently as we looked at them!! One coyote seemed to curiously scrutinize the camera I was holding, trying to figure it out, as I clicked away! In a reverse sort of way, another coyote has looked at me, but then turned its head to ignore me — almost as if to let me know it was really not interested, thank you very much!

Coyotes seem to be very discriminating in that they can tell each dog and human apart from the others; and the coyotes treat each of these accordingly. I’ve seen several coyotes allow certain dogs, with their owners, to get much closer to to themselves than it would allow most.

Meanings and Communications: My dog liked me to hug his muzzle under my chin when he was old — he would push his chin there and purr. I think it gave him a puppy-like security to do so, allowing both my dominance and his submission which included a great deal of affection. Could this same type of thing be going on with the coyotes when a senior coyote hugs a young one’s muzzle under its own?

I’m beginning to look at coyote ears. Coyote ears are used to communicate to each other. We humans can distinguish some of the basics: when both ears are forwards and up, the coyote will be listening intently  for one thing, but when the ears are more out to the sides, the coyote will be trying to locate something. When the ears are swiveling, the coyote will be scoping for sounds all around itself. As the coyote looks into a gopher hole its ears will be forwards as it cocks its head in different positions: the coyote is triangulating to hunt. When its ears are level and out to the sides, my observations tell me that it is either in pain or contentedly and neutrally looking around.

Where Do Urban Coyotes Prefer to Hang Out?

06 Dec 2009 4 Comments

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

Where do urban coyotes prefer to hang out? Coyotes can be spotted anywhere in urban settings: streets, parks, yards. But they tend to keep to their preferred areas in large urban parks. Most coyotes stay well hidden during the day in the parks: under brush areas, in thickets, in less frequented areas of the parks. It is very difficult to detect them when they remain still in these denser areas because of their well camouflaged coats — they blend in beautifully with their surroundings most of the time. All coyotes will remain within reach of these denser areas which serve as their safety net. These denser areas are also where various dens are hidden — coyotes, for their own protection, move among various dens when their litters are young.

I have seen individual coyotes hang out in large open fields, areas where they hunt for gophers or voles. They usually will retreat when the first visitors appear in a park, but sometimes they may continue their activity, totally unperturbed! I have seen a couple of coyotes in mid-elevation areas where they appear to be relaxing on a little rise in the ground, fairly distant from where human and dog activity is: here, they’ll stay put and monitor the activity in the distance, getting up only when a dog charges up at them. When a coyote feels intruded upon or threatened by a dog, it will either flee, or it will climb to a higher ground level where it might begin a long barking session. It might also return the favor of a chase.

Coyotes, like the rest of us, do move around in the parks, and can be seen sometimes during daylight hours on the paths. If you see one, it probably has been hunting in the area, or it is on its way somewhere. And if you have a dog, a coyote might follow you at a distance to asses and monitor the dog — this might be for various reasons, including curiosity. But also, coyotes are territorial and are aware of any potential competition for the resources they need to survive on. They may be assessing how much of threat this dog might be to them.

I have heard of a coyote darting in front of the path of a dog which it knew wouldn’t harm it, playfully teasing the dog into a mild chase. And I have heard of a coyote jump-leaping onto a leashed dog next to a runner on a trail. The owner yanked the dog and the coyote missed its target. It should be noted that this happened in April which is prime pupping season — April through September is a timeframe when territorial instincts are very high in coyotes.

Some of the coyotes seem to have favorite spots in some of the parks: one might overlook an area with very little dog/human activity. Another might overlook a trail frequented by dog walkers — keeping an eye on things seems to be one reason coyotes are out in the open.

Coyotes also have been spotted on city streets. They do not “hang out” here, but are usually they are on their way somewhere: pedestrians have seen them, and the traffic has stopped for them!

Purpose, Awareness, Interaction: Coyote behavior

05 Dec 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, group activity, what coyotes thinks about Tags: , , ,

I was on a walk in one of the parks, when two coyotes appeared in my field of vision. They were lying down sphinx-like — this is how I first noticed them where they had not been before. I had heard someone shooing them away, so  they obviously had crossed someone’s path, or they may have appeared with the purpose of checking out an early walker’s dog. The two coyotes were a mother-daughter pair I have been aware of. The younger one got up and walked around, apparently checking out the ground for gopher movements and then headed into some bushes — the dry leaves it was trampling gave away that it was there.

The rustling leaves seemed to concern the mother, who got up quickly and hurried over in that direction, sniffing the ground to know exactly where to go. When she got to where she thought she should be, she stopped. She was totally still, half crouching, and she listened: she was trying to locate the young coyote. The young one soon emerged noisily from the bushes whereupon the two came together touching noses, and then moved off together into the further distance. Because of the movement of the camera, I was not able to tell if the mother had put her chin over the younger one’s nose, but it might have happened — I have seen this several times now: it involves affection, communication and dominance.

As they walked off, both coyotes kept their heads turned towards another brush area adjacent to where they were walking. My thought was that another coyote might be in this brush area — it was not an area from which a dog might emerge, so why else would the coyote’s attention be focused there? The mother stopped and sat down at the edge of this brush area, and then she lay down. The youngster traversed back and forth in this area with a very purposeful gait before trotting to a path and then on the path into the further distance and out of sight. I wondered from the behavior if the youngster had been “instructed” to move on by the mother — it sure seemed like it. The mother coyote remained relaxing by the brush area.

Almost immediately, the relaxing mother became alerted to something it did not like, so it bolted up and began running off. The cause became obvious: two large German Shepherds appeared ahead of the coyote, in the direction where the youngsters had gone — they were right where the coyote needed to cross to get away. The coyote carefully kept hidden behind low lying bushes, maneuvering about so it could tell where the dogs were and if they might be after it. The owner leashed the dogs who had obviously picked up the scent of the coyote, and when there was a clear opening, the coyote hurried off on its escape route. The dog walker kept walking out of sight.

Fifteen minutes later I found this same mother coyote, back where I had just previously seen her, scouting out the area again. She did so for a long ten minutes, then relaxed, intermittently looking over at another distant area I have seen her scrutinize before.

After about an hour, a leashed dog and walker could be seen on the closest path: the coyote was interested, sat up, and then followed them, even though the walker turned to shoo off the coyote several times. This dog walker was amused: “what a stinker” she said about it. The coyote followed them the entire length of a path until the walker forked off away from the area where the younger coyotes had gone — the coyote seemed to be patrolling for security reasons. I left the park at this point.

In summary, during my two hour observations on this day: I had seen a mother’s concern for her youngster. I saw the younger coyote “go home”, and I saw the parent coyote hiding and maneuvering around bushes to avoid dogs. I watched as this coyote surveyed the area and then relaxed, and finally I watched it follow a dog — probably with the intent of making sure the dog left the area.

========

The next day, I was on one of the paths in this same park when suddenly a youthful coyote came out of nowhere and passed me, very close! It veered off the trail when it became aware of me. It did not flee, but rather checked out the surrounding area before moving rather purposefully down the trail. I then noticed that a second young coyote was in the distance, off the path and parallel to it. It seems to have been headed in the same direction as that of the first coyote. This second coyote then sat, its eyes focused in distance, in the direction it was headed  – it was definitely concentrating on something specific, and I think that something might have been its mother, because the mother later emerged from that area. Was there communication between the young coyote and its mother?  It would have had to have been a visual communication. Soon the two young coyotes headed in the direction they had been scrutinizing. My observations of these two lasted only a few minutes.

Then, a short time after that, the mother coyote appeared from the area into which the younger ones had disappeared. This mother watched some dog walkers pass by, then she curled up in an area with a view, getting up only for a moment when another dog passed but lying down again. After about an hour, as on the previous day, her eyes became riveted on something in the distance across the way: she sat up and intently watched for just a moment before dashing off in that direction at a run.

In summary, on this day I noticed coyotes purposefully heading in a certain direction, possible communication over a distance, surveying, relaxing, keeping a lookout for something specific in the distance, and dashing off after seeing that something. There was purpose, awareness, interaction among the coyotes; there was assessing situations, dogs and the territory.

Significance of a Seemingly Unprovoked Challenge: Coyote reactions to Dogs

01 Dec 2009 1 Comment

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

I’ve come to realize that all coyote behavior has significance. Figuring out what the significance is, is the challenging part!  Last week there was a dog/coyote encounter with all sorts of possibilities for interpretation which I will consider here. If the owner had walked away from the coyote instead of towards it, the interaction would not have taken place. The coyote described here is a dominant one — the boss. The coyote instigated the interaction with lots of “challenging display” activity, but it did not attack. The display was a strong communication about territorial ownership and to try to make the dog leave. The dog’s owner could easily have shooed the coyote away, but decided not to because of the dog’s mild reaction — the dog did not feel terribly threatened or in danger. Even though the dog hadn’t felt threatened, the coyote obviously had — that’s why it *messaged* the dog with it’s challenging display: the best solution would have been to create distance between the dog and a coyote by moving away from it.  After this initial four minutes or so, the day became a totally peaceful one for the coyote — I was able to watch it for several hours.

For about 4 minutes: Early, a coyote appeared suddenly on a path in back of a dog walker — I was able to observe this from my position further back on the path. This dog is one who shows no interest in coyotes but has growled when he didn’t like the way a coyote approached — that has been the extent of his reactions, as far as I know. However, subtle communication and challenges are hard for a human to pick up on. The dog is a large intact male Labrador. In the past, this coyote has shown a curious interest in this dog, walking a short distance in the dog’s direction and watching him from off to the side — I don’t know how much of this behavior was provoked/invited/caused by the dog itself in its own subtle ways. Today this coyote did not just curiously observe. The coyote approached the dog, not at all casually. Rather, it went into its “challenging” state with a message which seemed to say “don’t mess with me unless you want to deal with this”. It was scratching the ground, hunched over, lips were pulled back, head lowered, teeth bared, nose wrinkled, and its hackles were up. The dog appeared to remain totally calm, keeping its tail up and slowly wagging, but it did not retreat. And I noticed tongue movements in both dog and coyote during this encounter: the tongue sticking out in various degrees — a little like a snake’s — what might that mean? That the coyote’s behavior was to communicate something was very obvious.

So, the pawing behavior (kicking the dirt) occurred as the coyote approached the dog, and the dog growled with a look in his eye that said “back off”, and the coyote did so. Then the dog proceeded casually, tail still wagging slowly, towards its owner — the owner thought the dog did this either for protection or because he needed approval: the owner keeps his dog under tight verbal control, and he’s been told to stay off the coyotes. As the dog walked in the owner’s direction, the coyote came up again, this time from behind the dog, coming in almost close enough to touch the dog. The dog sensed this — he was facing the other way — and turned around. The coyote again backed off, in a bouncing retreating manner when actually faced by the dog. This same behavior was repeated a second time before the coyote headed off a greater distance not to return. Maybe it sensed that the “message” had been received?  In this challenge display there may have been many messages. In addition, I noticed that the coyote looked towards the brush area several times during pauses in the action of this encounter. I wondered what other coyote family members might have been hidden in this brush area. The message had clearly involved a “warning” — was it a warning that was possibly supposed to protect this coyote’s nearby family?  Other coyotes which we have seen early in the morning have slithered into this or other hiding areas at about this time. Or maybe this coyote’s sideways glances were just for planning an escape route in case the dog got fed up?

A professional dog walker told me that intact males seldom display any more aggression than any other dog. BUT, the problem is with the OTHER neutered male dogs: the other neutered male dogs all pick up on the hormone scent of the intact male and they are the ones that show hostility and aggression. Dog walkers have to be very aware of this. HOWEVER, female dogs, especially older females, tend to get excited and dance with glee around intact male dogs. This was not going on in this particular coyote/dog situation.

This coyote is a dominant one, I have come to see, who controls the family pack and its territory. In this instance, the coyote’s warning might have been telling the dog to move on -– the owner, and I standing next to him, had stopped and were lingering on the path after the coyote’s first approach. It might have been a warning to “not mess with me.” The coyote might have been making sure that it had the power to fend off this dog if it needed to? It might have been a “test” to see if the dog might turn on the coyote — even thought provoked. Could its challenging display actually have been for the benefit of those that might be in the brush area — could it have been a warning to them? Might the coyote be trying to “show” other coyote family members that it doesn’t like them dealing with this dog? This last is a question which comes to mind since two other coyotes from this group have come up in quite a friendly way to this same dog — never too close — it seems out of curiosity and with good will. We have felt that once, when there were two coyotes which approached this dog — one of which circled around so the other could approach from behind — that this was a coyote “training” session. This dominant coyote knows this dog is harmless, so I’ve tried to address the possibilities of why this coyote might have tried to challenge it. The coyote/dog interaction here took place within a span of about four minutes. The day became totally calm after this.

For 2 hours: The coyote then went off to the side of a hill where it lay down, even though the dog was still there on the path. By doing so, was it claiming this patch of ground temporarily? At this point, the dog walker and dog decided to move on, to leave and continue their walk. For the next forty minutes the coyote relaxed, keeping its eye on two thicket areas. After half an hour, the coyote sat up, just for a moment, when another dog walker passed in the distance. After yawning and stretching, the coyote repositioned itself a few feet over, and again lay down, continuing to watch the brush area in-between bouts of dozing, but nothing ever appeared from the thicket: were the other coyotes in the thicket?

For 45 minutes: After about two hours of being curled up in the same spot, the coyote got up and meandered up to a path, sitting down to watch a couple of dogs and four people in the distance coming up the same path — these may have been the reason for the coyote to move. The coyote walked several hundred feet up to an area where I have seen it relaxing before: not hidden, but next to growth where few people would notice it.  Here it lay down and calmly watched the few dogs and walkers that passed, none of which noticed the coyote. The “challenge” behavior earlier in the morning seems to have been an isolated incident, and specifically meant for that particular dog. After about half an hour the coyote got up, moving slowly, lapped up some water in a culvert, urinated and defecated, and then ended up on a sidewalk outside the park for three minutes before returning to a thicket where it was hidden from view.

For 45 minutes: The coyote meandered about in the thicket for a short time. It casually looked around, probably for any sign of gopher movements in the ground. It dug up what appeared to be a grub, carrying it off a few feet in its mouth. I assume it was eaten. The coyote then lay down sphinx-like, watching for activity which I could not see. After half an hour, the coyote moved on again. The coyote’s route included the same stretch of sidewalk as before, before it casually walked down into an open field in the park .

For 15 minutes: The coyote wandered in the open field, casually searching for food for about fifteen minutes, until voices could be heard. At this point the coyote stood fairly still by some bushes, moving its head just enough to take in and assess the sounds: maybe it was assessing where the sounds were coming from and the number of voices involved. As the coyote trotted off, several individuals could be seen on the several paths the coyote could have taken to leave, so the coyote leaped up over some rocks and then vanished for the day. I had been able to watch this coyote for about four hours.

For additional coyote reactions to dogs see three posts: “Dog Reactions to Seeing a Coyote” on 12/07, “Some reactions to dogs” on 11/04, and “ANOTHER reaction to dogs” on 11/17. Also, please see the entry on “Coyote Safety” of 11/3. “Blatant Visual Message for Newcomer Dog” of 2/8/10. “A short back-and-forth chase: oneupmanship verging on play” of 2/4/10.

Purposeful & Planned: Coyote behavior

26 Nov 2009 2 Comments

by yipps:janetkessler in care for the young, communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, group activity Tags: , , ,

I was thinking about how much or how little “in the moment” a coyote is. I’ve noticed that a coyote is much less so than a dog. In fact, I think there is plenty of planning and forethought that goes on in a coyote’s day.

Recently I saw a couple of coyotes ‘way across a park in the distance — they were running down a slope. Within five minutes one of them appeared in my vicinity. This coyote meandered a bit, hunting rather casually, and slowly made its way up to the top of a hill and over to the hill’s eastern edge. It remained there, sitting, checking out the area. Three walkers with calm, leashed dogs, walked by at sporadic intervals, and someone was sitting alone in the far distance, but otherwise there was not much activity in this area — the coyote watched all of this.

For a short part of the time the coyote’s ears were in a low position and out to the sides, pivoting a little but not much. I’ve seen the low-ears-out-to-the-side when a coyote was preparing to defend itself and I saw it once when a coyote was in lots of pain from a leg injury. In this case, even though all the dogs were calm and leashed, I know that one of the dogs had previously chased this coyote. This may explain the low ears, if indeed that is significant.  Up to this point, the coyote’s behavior was very casual. Then, suddenly, it was as if the coyote had something definite to do: its behavior seemed to became more purposeful and directed.

The coyote trotted directly, and quite purposefully, over to another edge of the same hill as a woman and her two children appeared on the path below — now the coyote was facing the area from which it had originally come — an area where earlier I had earlier seen two coyotes: this one and another one. Had this coyote heard something from this direction?

The coyote curled up, ignoring a woman and her two children who had appeared. At first I thought the coyote had moved to this side of the hill to keep an eye on this woman and her children. But I could see that this was not the case. When the coyote re-positioned herself, these people were totally out of the coyote’s visual field. I’ve never seen coyotes interested in people.

I waited, noting that the coyote kept looking in the direction where I had seen it earlier. It relaxed between looking. After about ten minutes, it bolted to an upright sitting position, and had its eyes glued piercingly on something in that location — a considerable distance away. It leaned into the direction of its gaze, eyes riveted, ears high and focused forwards. It remained like this, totally still, for well over a minute. The coyote definitely was looking at or listening for something, or maybe it had already spotted it. I myself could see nothing whatsoever. Whatever the coyote needed to know suddenly clicked, because it then hurried off, at a quick lope, not quite a run, towards the area where I had seen two of them earlier.

This same type of hurried and purposeful departure had occurred before, in almost the exact same manner. A lot was going on here!  There was forethought, planning ahead, assessing. There was casualness, and there was quickness when this was deemed important, there probably had been communication over the distance, there probably had been worry. There was knowledge of locations and of situations. Coyotes have keen senses. At long distances, they can hear incredibly and their eyes can see both ear positions and behavior of other coyotes  – this is how they communicate. I myself can only see this with a zoom lens.

So, the coyote hadn’t aimlessly chosen this spot to sit, and it hadn’t just whimsically decided to depart. The spot was carefully chosen, as part of a plan to keep track of family members: a place where they could be heard and seen. First the place was “scoped” and “assessed”, for what dogs might be around. Dogs are the coyote’s primary concern in our parks. And when the coyote finally departed, dashing off, it was not done whimsically, but as part of a plan. Something didn’t seem right to this coyote, so off it went to be there: maybe it felt that its dominant presence or its help was needed?

Affection, Incipient Leadership, Group Activity

21 Nov 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in affection, care for the young, communication, coyote behavior, coyote reactions to dogs, group activity Tags: , ,

Today I had the rare privilege of seeing a coyote family together. Since most people have never even see one coyote, I feel very lucky.  Previously, I had spotted these coyotes individually, in the distance, only very briefly and only a couple of times at all this fall. I had been able to establish ages and relationships by observing when young ones first appeared. And I have seen a couple coyotes interact. But today I was able to see this entire unit together, not for long, but long enough to witness some interactions.

The day began with a pile-up of affection, literally! As darkness turned into barely distinguishable shadows, the mother coyote materialized on a hill out of the darkness. She was sitting to begin with, but then lay down. I’ve noticed that she places herself in locations where she can take in the entire scene with one glance: after all, she is the mother of the other three and still looks out for them. A few moments after she lay down, her yearling male full-grown pup trotted down from higher on the hill. He curled up in a ball about 30 feet below the mother.

Then, barely discernible, two more coyote pups became visible — at first only the movement of their white parts could be seen in the dark. These would be the two pups born this spring, now full-sized coyotes, but often very puppy-like in their movements and behavior. They shook their heads, and joyfully approached their mother, climbing all over her and nuzzling her in one big happy pile-up: in the twilight it looked like a bundle of wiggling worms!  At this point the yearling got up and approached within about 5 feet of them — the whole family was right there together, but it was too dark to take a photograph — even at 3200 ISO the camera would not function.

The yearling trotted back to his previous spot where he curled up again. He has always been the shyest of the bunch: when humans are around he situates himself far away and close to a brush area into which he could escape, but not today. Today he was curled up out in the open.

By 6:36 the twins born this year began making themselves busy: separately and cautiously they came closer to the dog that was with us — an uninterested dog. But they soon lost interest because of the dog’s lack of response, or maybe because his eyes said to stay away! Coyotes keenly pick up this sort of visual clue. After a few minutes, these twins came together, and together went towards their mother — they began digging, side by side — they seemed to like being in contact with each other. Their mother remained lying down, closing her eyes at times. By  6:50 the brown twin headed off, quite deliberately into the far distance, but then seemed to change its mind and turned back.

Then everything suddenly became totally still, as everyone’s attention became riveted on two dogs and their owner, very far off, but distinguishable.  All coyote eyes turned in this direction, and all activity stopped. Just as suddenly as these potential intruders appeared, they departed, and all of the coyotes relaxed.

Some of the coyotes have allowed me to observe them a couple of times lately . They keep a cautious eye on me. I stay as still as possible. When I move, I move slowly. I have noticed that if anyone else comes up as I watch, the coyotes run off. This time, since the possible intruder was so far off, the coyotes just became very still and watched.

By 7:00 the twins and then the yearling had moved a considerable distance away, so I went down to observe these three, but soon they had slithered into the brush area. Ten minutes later I was back up where the mother was. She got up, stretched and yawned, and moved down the hill where now two of her pups could be seen again: the yearling and the brown twin. And then, something new happened.

At 7:10 the yearling headed, very decidedly, towards his mother who was sitting. He passed right in front of her, apparently walking right under her chin — was this a sign of subservience before taking the lead? Only dominant females become mothers. He continued his quick gait as she watched, and then she, suddenly, took off after him, following, and so did the brown twin, right behind. Was he calling the shots at that moment? I don’t know, but it looked like it — incipient leadership maybe! Maybe he had asked the mother to come see something he had heard? The three arrived on a knoll and sat down together before the mother took over the leading. She proceeded down the hill and out of sight with the male following her this time. The brown twin remained sitting there.

I decided to walk around a grove of bushes to see if I could tell where the two had gone, but I didn’t find them.  When I came back to where I had last seen all of the three coyotes, the brown twin was still there, keeping its eye on an area where, I found out, her brother and mother had gone. Soon this brown twin slithered into the brush, so I went to the place where it had been looking. I was told that two coyotes had just given a casual chase to  a poodle who they encountered in their path. Dog walkers and dogs had cleared the area. I found the mother coyote happily eating grass in a corner of the area — she did this for 6 full minutes. There was no more sign of the male yearling.

After not too long, this mother wandered up into a thicket where she sat down and watched in my direction for about five minutes — I think she was looking past me to the path where there were people noises and dog walkers around. One dog eventually got whiff of her — he was suddenly up in her area looking for her. He found her and chased her. The coyote sped off, and then sped right back: at first appearance the coyote seemed to be chasing back, but looking more closely, I think it is more likely that the coyote wanted to claim the spot where she had been — once she returned to that spot, she ran no further after the dog. The owner then was able to grab his dog —  this coyote seems to understand when a dog is restrained from chasing her, probably because she can read the change in the dog’s behavior: his activity level changes entirely.

As 8:00 approached, the coyote wandered up through the thicket and up a hill where a group of five spectators witnessed a hunting scene for seven minutes: the coyote was cocking her ears, twisting her head, moving her body around at different angles, and finally plunging head first into a hole — with no result. She continued her activity at that spot, digging and stretching her body out over the area before giving up.

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I want to add here the affection I saw the day before this. This involved affection between the twin pups born this year. The silver twin trotted over to the brown one who was on a path and put her neck over the brown one’s neck in a kind of hug, and the brown one nuzzled back. This didn’t last long, not long enough to photograph. Then they stood there together observing us and a dog. The brown one then moved further off — this coyote tends to be shyer. Questions I have: was there a message of dominance between these siblings? Was there a message to move on? These are possibilities I’ll keep in the back of my mind — if and as they recur I’ll be able to decipher the behavior better.

On this same day I watched a coyote chomp down some crackers that had been left out. I’ve seen crackers deposited here before and always cleaned them up. But on this particular day, a coyote was right there chomping away. This coyote tightened up when it saw me, but because I didn’t approach, it continued its feast until the food, all but two crackers, was gone. I photographed what remained to show what kind of food was left out.

On most days, the coyotes can go about their day without ever being seen: they probably keep to the brush areas and to the lesser peopled areas. But on some days people have seen them right out in an open field, either hunting or lying down.

A Few Hours of Morning Rest: Coyote behavior

18 Nov 2009 Leave a comment

by yipps:janetkessler in coyote behavior Tags: , , ,

I am going to describe two and a half hours of one coyote’s mostly-restful morning. The coyote moved four times after I saw it. Its “on the go” times were 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 20 minutes and 10 minutes. It stayed 15 minutes in the first location, an hour in the second location, 4 minutes overlooking the park and then disappeared into the brush. Here are the details:

At 6:30, before my camera would even operate, a coyote appeared suddenly below the path, fairly close. I think it had come in my direction because of a dog — a calm dog who does not chase coyotes. It sat on the slope of the hill, facing downhill, and looked at us over its back. Then, within only a few moments, it ran off into the brush. About five moments later it re-appeared again much further down the hill. We walked around to this area, a 10 minute walk, to find the coyote still sitting where I had last seen it. My walking friend and dog departed and I stuck around for the light to get better as the day progressed — maybe I would get some photos before the coyote slithered into the underbrush. The coyote had been resting here for about 15 minutes.

At 6:49 the coyote suddenly took off up the hill, to a wooded area next to some wooden stairs. I lost the coyote for about 20 minutes. During this time it probably wandered some more, and may have foraged, but I can’t be sure. It re-appeared sitting on the path a ways in front of me. The wooded area above this path is fairly secluded and shaded, not close to the path. Most people and dogs would miss seeing a coyote here, unless they were actually looking for it. After wandering up to this wooded area, the coyote remained here for the next hour:

  • 7:15 eats some grass
  • 7:25-7:30 lies down
  • 7:30-7:43 sits up and is “on the lookout” because a group of walkers and dogs have approached. These are dogs that have chased the coyote in the past. I am asked if the coyote is around and I nod. They see the coyote, then leash up. The coyote hurries up to be closer to an escape route, but remained in view. After the group has left, the coyote returns to its former resting spot.
  • 7:45-8:05 lying down again, eyes closing and head nodding, off-and-on
  • 8:15 again on the lookout as various individual dog walkers pass below — none sees the coyote. At 8:17 the coyote  yawns and at 8:23 it gets up and stretches, and then takes a bite of a twig

At 8:25 the coyote starts to wander, keeping itself interspersedly occupied:

  • 8:27-8:30 hops on a tree stump with all four legs — apparently the coyote likes the tree stump because it remains here a full three minutes, looking around.  Then it continues its walk
  • 8:38-8:42 it stalks a cat, initially staring at it and then moving ever so slowly and quietly towards it — “cat-fashion”, and then suddenly dashes in. Cats are too fast for coyotes to catch unless they are old or ill. The cat easily lost the coyote.
  • 8:45 the coyote urinates and continues on, wandering in an easy manner.
  • 8:46-8:50 the coyote has reached a rock outcropping, which it lithely runs up, and then over to the furthest ledge. Here the coyote remains, scoping out the wide swath of park below
  • 8:50 the coyote suddenly runs down the rocks, then trots briskly through the wooded area and down a hill towards a little rise on the hill below. The coyote sits here for just a few moments observing the lack of activity below, yawns at 8:56 and then disappears into the brush for the day at 9:00

I noted a lot of scratching during this time frame:  at 7:12, 7:33, 7:43 and 8:19.

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