Coyote

Talk about sightings and get help identifying Plants, Animals, Fish, and Fungi. Share pictures and video.

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Brenda
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I know that they are increasingly abundant in all areas of the state, and there are more and more problems with them as they spread into suburban/urban areas and lose their fear of humans. I was only referring to the family unit whose core area was immediately around our property. We would hear them almost nightly as they set out to hunt and then again as they returned. Then, after last fall, nothing. It's nice to hear them again. We had guests spot one out in the back field at dusk last week. They were thrilled to see their first coyote in the wild.
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Brenda
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I never did much research on vocalizations within a pack, but the howl that I heard last week prompted me to start. Now that I think back, I have heard that same howl once or twice before, and at the time it was as if the coyote was calling out to another coyote or the pack (like you hear in the movies). I just assumed that it was an alpha male or female perhaps calling in the pack. As it turns out, some 33 different vocalizations have been identified. What I heard is a locator call. I just more commonly hear the normal pack communications.

Coyote Vocalizations

1. Alarm call - A shrieking repetitive bark, warning to other coyotes of danger.
2. Distress - Similar to an alarm call that an individual coyote needs help.
3. Greeting - A yip/howl happy vocalization that welcomes others back to the pack.
4. Location howl - A lone long howl where coyotes try to locate other members of the pack
5. Territorial barks - Repetitive barks that act as a warning for others to keep out of their space.
6. Pack communications - A kind of yip/howl "talk" among members.
7. Summon puppies - Very high-pitched barks and whines.
8. Puppy feed-me sounds - High-pitched whimpers and whines.
9. Puppy distress sounds - Howls and cries.
10. Submissive - Yelps and cries as if a member is being killed.
11. Dominance - Growls
12. Pair bonding - Frenetic whining and whimpering.
13. Challenge - Multiple repetitive barks.
14-33. Other - Other combinations of barks, yips, shrieks, whines, whimpers and howls are thought to summon other coyotes, signal others of feeding opportunities, ask for information, and to announce a coming out among a bonding pair.

Southwest Wildlife Rehabilitation and Educational Foundation

http://www.southwestwildlife.org/sounds/coyotevocal.htm
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Brenda
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I was awakened at about 5:00 this morning by the Lodi fire siren and our "resident" pack all going off at once! They sure are a noisy bunch! I was too sleepy to get up and turn on the scanner to find out what was going on.
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ShanaD

On my way to work this week there was an animal in the road that had been hit by a car the night before, it wasn't a gruesome sight, it just looked like he was sleeping. Could it have been a coyote? That was the first thought that went through my mind. It was greyish in color and had a beautiful long bushy tail. It made me sad, by the time I went home from work the body had been removed. For those of you who live in Rochester it was on Elmgrove, right before 104.
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Brenda
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It certainly could have been a coyote or perhaps a gray fox, though they are smaller.
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ShanaD

This one looked like it was about the size of a german shepard, but too gray in color to have been one. I was so sad for the rest of the day. I know that as we grow as a population and there is a need for more housing, but everytime I see more "developments" pop up I think about all the animals that are now displaced. :(
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Brenda
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I agree, and I hate seeing anything dead along the roadside.
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pgflyer1
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Last week out on a delivery I came across a field with three coyotes standing there. I was about 500 to 1000 feet from them. They looked like they froze in their tracks because I stopped to view them! So I took a quick photo of the one closest to me. After downloading photo to my computer and looking at picture I realized why they were there!
FCD0250 sml.JPG
FCD0250 sml.JPG (84.8 KiB) Viewed 8631 times
Zoom in on photo please...
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