Strange Coyote Behavior

[paul105]

Day before yesterday, I was out woods bumming the high country looking for elk.  On the way back, I saw movement on the side of the road -- it turned out to be a coyote.  I stopped the truck about 20 yds from the coyote, amazed that I had gotten that close and fully expecting it to run off.  It didn’t seem at all bothered by my presence.  The S&W M329 was on my hip as it always is when bow hunting.  Unfortunately (fortunate for the coyote) there was a campsite on one side of the road, and mine construction right behind the coyote, so shooting at it with the .44 wasn’t an option.  The bow was locked in the back of the truck and I was a little leery about trying to retrieve it with the coyote so close and behaving the way it was.  It looked healthy but you never know.  We don’t typically have a rabies problem up here, but it isn’t unheard of.  Still puzzled over this yote’s behavior – usually they see you first and quickly head for parts unknown.  Maybe the campers or construction workers were feeding it and no longer feared humans. It will get educated real quick when the rifle season opens in 3 weeks.   

[Cottonwood]

I always have my bows in the cab of the truck, as I take the recurve and compound bows along for the hunts.

[Range Rider]

I don't know why but they can be very strange at times.  Many years ago my son and were camped in the Red Desert here in Wyoming.  We returned to camp to find a coyote pup lookin for grub in the camp. We fed the little guy.  He stayed around our camp for several days just out of reach of course.  He sat watched us drive away on the last day. At the same time calling them in to shoot they can be very weary critters.  It things like this that keeps outdoor folks going back to the land.

RR

[Mikey]

Just read a article published in a local newspaper about the eastern coyote being part gray Canadian wolf (having some of the same dna) and beign larger than his western cousin as a result of inbreeding or cross breeding between the two canine species but he also mentioned that the eastern coyote seems constrained in his travels as he doesn't like to cross roadways - what, is the guy nuts or something (probably just a 'expert'); near every large yote I have seen likes crossing the roads to get to the neighbor's cats or small dogs.  Yotes are quite opportunistic and do not favor the hollywood style of going after the largest and most difficult of prey - they like it easy, for sure and cats and small dogs are easy. 

In this neck of the woods we have found that over the past 20 yrs or so the burgeoning whitetail population has provided great fodder for coyotes who now favor 80% big game in their diet and 20% small game versus the opposite of 20 yrs ago, yet the whitetail, even though sustaining incredible fawn loss to the yote, continue to multiply exponentially but so do the yotes.  It is estimated that nys hosts between 20-30,000 coyotes - and someone even wants to reintroduce the wolf to ny - hey, introduce it to nyc and live and let live. 

[Double D]

Apparently Wolf coyote interbreed is occuring in eastern Canada-male wolf to female coyote. 

Wolves don't tend to breed with coyotes out here, unless they do it just before they tear the coyote to shreds...Wolves out here don't tolerate other canines or just about any other predator in their territory...

I have to wonder if those small Red wolves of the Carolina's and the  Mexican Red wolves are really Coyote-wolf hybrids.

Here's a story on a cougar they killed. http://voices.idahostatesman.com/2009/03/03/rockybarker/wolves_kill_cougar_near_sun_valley'

Here is another with out all the wolf lover blather. http://alphawolfsabrina.webs.com/wolfecology.htm