Adjacent to my work site yesterday were some coyote pups! They were coming out of their den to sun themselves and play in the weeds. I do not really know what to say about these, other than that they were cute! I wish I had my 300 mm, but did not bring it, so these are all taken with the 100 mm. I was surprised by how dimorphic they were, with the dark one looking a bit dog-like. It is common for urban coyotes to have some dog admixture in their heritage, so perhaps that explains it.
I had been doing work at this same site in the fall, and would often look up from my ant nests to see an adult coyote watching me from a short distance away. The adult coyote never even tried to steal my lunch, although that would have been easy. It seems these coyotes have learned to coexist with humans relatively well.
Oh my. What does he have there?
Uh oh. Looks vaguely cat-like!
Not super hungry, obviously, the pup was just transferring this morsel to safety (maybe he thought I liked eating cat butt).
After a little while, the tan pup comes out.
Dawww! This one looks much more typical.
Lets go over here!
These pups had lots of debris to play around in.
And a brief patch of sun to lie in.
teh cute.
Taking time to smell the flowers.
The pups grimace as a vehicle approaches.
The dark one scratched a whole lot.
Ahhh. Coyote pups at work! What could be better?
Sweet to have such nice distraction, Sean. When coyotes attack people, there are usually various reasons for their behaviour. I don’t need to list them as I’m quite sure, you know them. I’m guessing because the adults don’t bother you at all, it’s because nobody’s fed them or left food for them.
I have a stray cat I rescued but she stays strictly indoors now. Stray and feral cats as well as some small dogs, rabbits that were released into parks and multiplied, and squirrels make up the majority of coyotes’ diet where I am (outskirts of Mission). I’ve seen coyotes around here, one in my backyard even. And they hop over fences as easily as a deer so there’s few places they can’t get to.
I wonder if the darker pup had more fleas. Of course fleas are choosing their host based on colour but I’ve seen cats living together (not mine I only have one) where certain colours were more plaque by fleas than the other colours. Maybe something subtle in their chemistry due to closely aligned genes related to colour? (I know I’m not expressing myself as clearly as I should .) Like fragrance in flowers are often stronger in white or pale colours in the same species.
Anyway, I enjoyed the pups. At least you had a camera with you. Seems when I’m somewhere that I see something I’d like to shoot, all I’ve got is my phone! Never seem to learn either. ;P
Sorry. Autocorrect. meant to say fleas DON’T choose hosts based on colour.