Coyote

cbobcat49 · Thu Jul 19, 2007 4:47 pm

That's a pretty interesting website.

The pattern of the tracks was really just here and there. There were only a few muddy areas so it was hard to tell if the animal was intent on getting from point A to B quick or just poking around... like a dog would. So judging by the claws you think it was probably a dog?

Brenda · Thu Jul 19, 2007 5:10 pm

I can't say 100%, but I did contact the guy who created that site (to say that it's a cool site) and I linked him to ours so perhaps, being a track expert, he can say definitively.

Brenda · Thu Sep 13, 2007 5:29 pm

We haven't heard coyotes here since last fall. I attributed it to that fact that the existing family/pack had been wiped out during the hunting season (which is a gray area, if you ask the neighbors). Over the last few weeks however, we've started hearing them again almost nightly. The weird thing is that, it's either a new family unit or the dynamics of the existing family has changed. The new alpha has a voice that makes the hair stand up on the back of my neck; a low, mournful voice, almost wolf-like, unlike the higher pitched "ki-yi" of the last. I never thought about the fact that individual "voices" would vary so much.

WeatherGoddess · Tue Sep 18, 2007 8:04 am

I really don't think they've been wiped out by the hunting season or the gray area of hunting season that you speak of. We've heard the coyotes off & on pretty much the entire summer. In fact, a friend and I were out star gazing during the 4th of July weekend (it could of possibly been Memorial Day weekend--my memory sometimes evades me)and we could hear baby coyotes to the northeast and a pack of adults shortly thereafter to the northwest. Now that was pretty darn cool.

Brenda · Tue Sep 18, 2007 9:29 am

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.

Brenda · Thu Sep 20, 2007 9:54 am

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

Brenda · Mon Jan 07, 2008 12:13 pm

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.

ShanaD · Sun Jan 20, 2008 9:27 am

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.