October 15, 2021
There has been a significant uptick in the coyote activity around us lately, which isn’t a surprise as the pressure from four-legged predators is always at its greatest in the fall. (Two-legged predators definitely prefer spring.)
From chipmunks hoarding nuts, to bears trying to find 20,000 calories a day, our wild neighbors are all trying to pack on the pounds needed to carry them through the winter. By keeping up with the fencing and making sure the coyotes and bears smell me and hear me crashing about on my side of the fence, my boundaries are very clear.
Our trail camera frequently captures the images of two younger coyotes traveling together through the ravine by our house. I presume they are males from this spring’s litter that have been kicked out of their parent’s territory well before breeding season starts. It’ll be another year before they are old enough to breed and settle down (in that order), and until then, they will wander around in search of any territory they can call their own.
Their parents have a den in the swampy area just outside our sheep fence, and we have coexisted for several years amid an uneasy, but “so far so good” truce. They are welcomed to stay as long as they stay on their side of the fence, and I will do my best to keep the fence well-fortified to relieve them of any undue temptation.
Unlike domestic dogs, coyotes are monogamous, and the female depends on her mate to find food and raise their pups. In fact, even though domestic dogs can successfully breed with coyotes, the litter will most often perish as a female coyote is unable to raise them on her own, and our (questionably domesticated) male dogs apparently feel no compunction to stick around and help out.
The two young coyotes, like any unsupervised pack of adolescents, be it canine or human, are going to test the limits, push the boundaries, and hopefully get a good healthy zap on the nose, from our fence, when they do.
Breeding season for coyotes starts in January and their father will likely run them off before then. Though the parents have so far been good neighbors, I look forward to the young males moving on. Go West young pups, Go West.