Canis Latrans

Near the dawn of time, the story goes; Coyote saved the creatures of Earth. According to the mythology of Idaho's Nez Perce people, the monster Kamiah had stalked into the region and was gobbling up the animals one by one. The crafty Coyote evaded Kamiah but didn't want to lose his friends, so he let himself be swallowed. From inside the beast, Coyote severed Kamiah's heart and freed his fellow animals. Then he chopped up Kamiah and threw the pieces to the winds, where they gave birth to the peoples of the planet.  

– Nature

Yote - short for coyote, Wile E. Coyote, Canis latrans.   If you were to inquire of a wildlife biologist they would tell you that there are nineteen subspecies of coyote that are exceedingly well-adapted to living in urban, rural and wild America.   

Male coyotes top out at about 44 pounds while females weigh-in slightly less.  For scale When we had hunting dogs our Labs are bulkier than the average coyote.  Coyotes are known for how well they adapt to different habitats.  They are found living in and around large cities, the central plains, farmland, and northern forest, in the desert scrub of the Sonoran Desert, foothills and mountains as well as in populated ring suburbs. 

 

Coyotes dine on large prey and also eat snakes, insects, rodents, fruit and other mast.  As an opportunistic hunter coyotes have been known to prey-upon small pets and livestock.  In an urban setting they will eat garbage and pet food left on a deck or patio.  The coyote is a gregarious animal - socially-inclined - like the wolf.  This is likely a consequence of the need for a family unit or pack of animals combining to bring down large game.  

 

 

Recent genetic studies suggest that coyotes are not native to the eastern United States - having largely evolved on the Great Plains.  As the eastern old growth forests were cleared for settlement and agriculture coyotes adapted to the new environs.   It is thought that coyotes dispersed to our neck of the woods early in the twentieth century.  These canids are presumed to have come from the northern Great Plains and are unique in their genetic origins.  Additional coyotes dispersed from here to New England via the northern Great Lakes region and southern Canada meeting in the 1940s in New York and Pennsylvania. These coyotes have inter-bred  with gray wolf and Eastern wolf populations adding to their own unique genetic diversity and further contributing to their hybrid vigor and ability to adapt to an ever changing environment.  Coyotes here are known as the Northeastern coyote.  

 

More frequently Jill and I hear coyote vocalizations than we see them live and in person.  In rural America coyotes share the same natural aversion to people that other wildlife do.  They are scared-to-death of people.  However, from time to time I do capture a handful of digital photos on a trail camera. 

 

There photos were taken by the same camera one minute apart.  Same animal, same location, infrared and color... 

 

Wiley Coyote

Girl coyote followed by boy coyote.

 

I wonder if they are a mated pair?  

Red Fox

Red fox on the prowl...

  

Snatch and Grab

Red fox have been making themselves more frequently observed on the trail camera trap line.

And this is an interesting video clip. 

When I have time I'll have to learn more about the Microsoft video editing tool on my new laptop.

Meanwhile, I grabbed the progress bar on the bottom of the video to scroll the video manually.

Looks like that predator got itself a small mammal.  I can see short legs, feet and ears.  That's it.  

No positive ID... 

 

Red Fox

Interesting to me is the anecdotal evidence of increasing fox sightings around these parts.....

 

New Winged Predator

It is not uncommon or unusual to capture an image of an owl on a trail camera here.  You can do a search under Owl Biology using the labels feature in the left margin of the blog and you'll find older posts featuring Northern Saw-Whet owls, Great Horned owls, rare Snowy Owls or Eastern Screech owls like this one from last week.

Last month delivered a first - at least photographic evidence anyway with this:

A Barred owl.  

Common throughout the state of Wisconsin this is the first documented appearance here of Strix varia.   A chunky brown and gray bird of prey it sports a large head, disc-like face, barring on the chest and no "ear-tufts".  This bird dines on mice, rabbits, small birds, amphibians, reptiles and fish.  Yes, fish. 

One new owl species added to the life list.

Wiley Coyote

A couple of weeks ago we came across this recently deceased coyote on a trail in the woods.  Inasmuch as this canine is the top predator around these parts I wonder what the back story is.  If a hunter killed it you would naturally conclude he would've tracked it and retrieved it for the pelt.  How this critter met its demise will remain a mystery.  Oh well.

Meanwhile these photos were taken only a couple hundred yards from the house. 

Wile E. Coyote

Perhaps some of this can be explained by retirement affording the opportunity to live here year-round.  Or having sic trail cameras deployed year-round.  And checking them pretty regularly at two week intervals.  Nevertheless, I cannot recall a time when I have been witness to so many coyotes.

Wile E. Coyote sure makes the rounds.....

Wile E. Coyote

And how about a little local coyote action?

Predators Are Cheap

Perhaps some of this can be explained by retirement affording the opportunity to live here year-round.  Or having sic trail cameras deployed year-round.  And checking them pretty regularly at two week intervals.  Nevertheless, I cannot recall a time when I have been witness to so many coyotes.

Wile E. Coyote sure makes the rounds.....

 

And for good measure a fox.  Tall, pointy ears, no white tip on the tail.  Might just be a grey fox.  But that's anybody's guess....

 

 

 

Guess The Critter

I guess you don't have to guess, I got it figured-out finally.

Meet Mustela vision - the American mink.

 

For awhile I figured this to be a long-tailed weasel.  Not so.  A pal of mine who is a retired wildlife biologist tells me he believes this to be a mink.  I'm glad we got that figured-out because I can't keep them straight most of the time.  Mink, weasels, martens and otters all belong to the same family - Mustelidae.  Difficult to determine with a trail camera the mink is slightly larger than a long-tailed weasel.

The American mink is a semi-aquatic species of mustelid native to North America.  I have found this critter's tracks in the snow over the years and trail camera photos more frequently of late.

A strict carnivore, mink feed on mice, voles, rabbits, muskrats, frogs, fish and crayfish.  They also prey-upon birds and their eggs.  As a strong and agile swimmer much of their food is obtained closer to the shoreline habitat.

With the exception of the mating season this is a solitary critter.  Polygamous, both sexes will mate with multiple partners but it is the females that raise the young.  Breeding around here  begins in March.  Litter sizes range from two to eight  (typically four) and the young become independent at six months of age.

Unlike some weasels this critter does not turn white with winter.  The pelt (fur) of this animals is quite valuable; as a consequence, domestic farming of mink provides the majority of the fur that is brought to market. 

This species' conservation status is of least concern.

For the record; From last year this is a long-tailed weasel in it's wintertime livery...

 

Wile E. Coyote

This local apex predator hasn't been shy about showing-up on the trail cameras.

 

Mostly (but not always) after dark.

Thankfully, none of them is carrying dynamite with him..... 

 

Wile E. Coyote

I posted some recent coyote photos and video vignettes a couple of days ago.  Coincidentally, Google Photos nudged me with these from September 18, 2023.

If you examine the photos closely, included in the third image is an adult with a stick in his/her mouth playing with the young'uns......

 

Wile E. Coyote

Never walk your dog around here without a firearm.

Wile E. Coyote

From the trail camera trap line are these.

Sunday, August 31, 6:17 AM.

Count them...

 

Fox Run

Meet Vulpes vulpes – the Red Fox.  It is distinguished from the Gray Fox by a white-tipped tail visible in the photos.  I haven’t seen one of these on a trail camera in years.  I had figured the coyotes pretty-much cleaned them out.  Then, all of a sudden, this spring and summer they've been showing-up on the trail cameras.

They’re omnivores that dine-upon everything from rabbits, small rodents, roadkill, fruits and nuts and insects.  They sometimes make their home in an enlarged woodchuck den, or hollow log, or underneath a log or rock in a stream bank or side of a hill.  A mated pair will defend their turf from other foxes but this canine frequently is prey to the resident coyotes and wolves.   

A female is called a vixen, a male is called a dog fox, newborns are called pups, kits or cubs.  And a group of foxes is called a skulk.  

Red fox going....

And red fox coming....

Along with take-away pheasant on the return trip!

Red Fox

In the last month or so I've suddenly began to collect photos - and now video - of at least one red fox on the property.  And still some coyotes.

Fox and coyotes generally do not peacefully coexist so it is going to be a bit of a citizen science project to see how this develops.

A short IR video clip...

And the burst of three shots (for the second time) of a fox running past the same camera in a month. 

Nocturnal Visitor

Same camera, same location as the foxy redhead post from this morning.

Two days later another handful of money shots.

A bird comes in for a touch and go landing and is gone in a minute.

Based-upon the smaller size and barely visible "ear tufts" my guess is that it is a screech-owl.

No sign of prey - that I can see anyway.

Owl photos have been on the uptick the last few years.

If you go to LABELS in the left margin and click on anything with Owl in it you'll be redirected to additional posts.

Snow Yotes

Wile E. Coyotes

January 16, 17 and 19.....

Snow Yotes

Wile E. Coyotes

January 11 and 18.....