Many mornings I venture out early and explore who’s been out during the night.
Sunrise
If nothing else, I’m guaranteed to see the elk, deer and moose. Last night there seemed to be quite a party. Plenty of coyotes and the wolves were moving around. Yesterday I saw a bald eagle fly into the valley. There must be a kill around, but I could not find it.
I wish I could figure out the coyote territories in the valley. I have a guess, based on howling and tracks, but its only a guess. I suspect there are at least three different packs within the front valley itself. It appears the pack sizes go up and down and I wonder how much the wolves have an impact on that. Some years there are many more wolves here, other years their numbers are down and the coyote numbers seem to jump up. When the coyotes increase, I see less fox sign. The coyotes have definitely gotten bolder over the years relative to their older brother, the wolf. Look at this example:
This coyote ran right over three wolf tracks
Last winter I spotted a lone coyote several times that had a badly injured left rear foot.
The lame coyote from last winter
The first time I saw him, he was hobbling through a field. Then one early morning he was stealing some left-overs from a wolf kill. No other canines were around. He ‘ran’ with his prize through the field while I watched. Leery of my presence, he made his way up the hillside into the trees to eat in peace. I took some photos of his interesting and sad track.
Last Year: The arrow points the direction he was headed. The ‘dot’ is his injured leg’s imprint. One can see the trouble he is having by his difficult gait.
Last Year: You can see the small imprint of his left hind leg. The back legs are in front because he is running
This morning there were several groups of coyotes in different areas. And one large grouping was around the area where I spotted ‘Limpy’ last year head for the hills with his stolen bone. About 5 coyotes were running together, and one of them had a bad left rear leg!
This winter: Can you Spot the limpy coyote?
This winter: Coyote running. rear feet are in front of front feet. Notice the 2nd print from top. That is the left rear and its noticeably smaller. But compare this photo with the one from last winter. A more normal gait!
The foot is turned inward and the print is smaller meaning he can’t put so much weight on it. Yet given the difference in last year and this year, he is able to put much more weight on it. Last year that coyote was barely putting his foot on the ground. Now he is using it!
Of course, I cannot be sure it’s the same coyote. But given that it’s the same rear left leg, and the coyote was spotted in the same general area, its a good possibility. And if it is ‘Limpy’, now he, or she, is running with a pack instead of alone. Now maybe he has had a happy ending after all!
Filed under: Coyotes | Tagged: coyote tracks, Coyotes, wolf tracks, Wolves | 1 Comment »
Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces 