Fauna Series No. 4

Fauna of the National Parks — No. 4 Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone

CHAPTER III:
HABITS BEHAVIOR AT CARRION

FAMILY HUNTING GROUND

IN 1937 Gibbon Meadows was apparently the hunting ground of a coyote family. These animals were frequently seen hunting in the meadow and had spent much time resting and playing among the small scattered groves of trees along the edge of the meadow. There were many freshly worn trails in the grass, numerous beds, and several places where coyotes had been digging around the roots of trees. Many droppings occurred in the open as well as among the trees. A total of 162 droppings were found in the place on September 3 and 4. The pups had climbed logs and upturned roots of fallen trees in their play. One of the pups was seen on September 4 at the rendezvous. Grasshoppers occurred here in varying amounts up to 100 percent in 95 of the droppings, which suggests that the pups eat more grasshoppers than the adults.

SOCIABILITY

COYOTES move alone or in small groups. If two or three are together, any one of them is likely to go off on a lone excursion. Often several coyotes are assembled at a carcass or in the same meadow hunting mice, but any one of these may have wandered to the area alone and is likely to depart alone. On meeting, two coyotes may trot toward each other, may even touch noses, and, after hunting about near each other, move apart. In winter small groups of coyotes often travel together; as many as six have been seen in a group. Usually these bands seemed to consist of family parties. On March 25, 1938, I watched six coyotes which were resting together and apparently on friendly terms. Two seemed to be adults, but of course identification was not certain. As will be related under coyote-deer relationships, four of these coyotes had passed close to some deer and after stopping near them for a short time had wandered off out of sight. They reappeared on the slope near the top of the ridge at 11:30 A. M. The group, apparently an adult and three pups, after howling together, lay down on the snow, the pups flat on their sides with necks arched far back, the old one occasionally looking casually to either side. After a while all four looked up the slope on which a large coyote and a pup appeared. The latter came down the slope and stopped on a bench about 60 yards above the others. The big one, an adult, took a position on a flat rock and lay on his stomach, his legs stretched forward and paws hanging over the edge of the rock. He seemed to be watching over the four below him sleeping in the bright sunshine. The pup stretched out on its side in the snow a few yards away. The old one with the three pups walked over to one of them and nosed it. The pup lay quiet except that it pushed its nose toward the old one, who then walked up the slope, passing within 3 or 4 feet of the big coyote on the rock. It approached the single pup, which rolled over on its back with both front legs doubled up. The old one smelled of the pup's stomach, then it too stretched out flat on the snow. Presently the animal on the rock faced the old one and the pup, and lay on its side. All six coyotes were now lying flat; none were watching. After 45 minutes had elapsed all but one of the pups trotted away; this one slept 15 minutes longer. It was aroused by some deer a short distance from it, which jumped away when they saw me approaching the coyote in my stalk for a picture. The coyote looked toward me, where I crouched in plain sight on the open snow slope, but did not rise until it heard the click of the camera. Then it jumped up and trotted toward me, veering to one side so that it passed me at a distance of 35 yards. It circled behind me at this distance until it got my scent, then, cautious and not very much alarmed, trotted off in the direction the others had taken.

An observation, related by Almer Nelson, in charge of the Federal Elk Refuge on the outskirts of Jackson, Wyo., illustrates well, it seems to me, the spirit of comradeship in the coyote. At daybreak, in the middle of the winter, Nelson looked out of his window and saw six coyotes scattered over the fields hunting for mice. While he watched, the coyotes in their hunting gradually moved toward a center until they were all assembled. Here they sat in an irregular circle and howled in chorus. The clamor soon came to an end and the coyotes dispersed over the fields, each going on its way, to return again in the evening.

PLAY

COYOTES are playful like dogs. Along the Yellowstone River below Crevice Creek, tracks showed that coyotes were wont to play on an open bench. Several times I passed the area after a fresh snow, and each time it appeared that coyotes had been dashing about on it. In the trails I occasionally saw sticks which the coyotes had been chewing. Once I saw a coyote coming toward me along the trail carrying a sprig of sagebrush. At intervals he tossed the branch into the air and caught it.

SWIMMING

Coyotes were occasionally seen crossing small streams, such as the Lamar and Gardiner Rivers. In midwinter Ranger Gammill saw an undisturbed coyote swim the Yellowstone River above the mouth of Blacktail Deer Creek. Upon emerging from the water a coyote will generally shake itself and frisk around to remove the water from its coat and get warm. Apparently on occasion coyotes do not hesitate to enter water and even cross deep, swift-flowing rivers.

Continued >>>

Last Modified: Thurs, Dec 20 2001 10:00:00 pm PDT
http://www.cr.nps.gov/history/online_books/fauna4/fauna3c.htm