Late last week we encountered two coyotes walking east along the north side of the Antelope Island Causeway. One was a very light-colored adult and the other a slightly darker and smaller youngster. This summer has been a mighty survival struggle for the island’s coyotes – the vole populations crashed and the extreme heat and drought have taken their toll. These two actually seemed forlorn and destitute in both posture and demeanor as they walked the shore of the causeway. But they did show me several interesting behaviors that I was able to photograph.
This is the younger, smaller animal. It was trailing behind the adult at a respectful distance.
Several times I observed it snagging flying insects out of the air. I know that canids often bite at annoying insects but this coyote was eating them and I believe that it was reduced to this level of prey by lack of food. This insect was larger than the ubiquitous brine flies and midges on the island – a close crop of the image made me think it might have been a horse fly or deer fly. Both are present there.
I’ve cropped this image tighter than I normally would to provide slightly more detail on the bug in front of the open mouth. As you can see, it didn’t even break stride as it caught the insect.
We followed the coyotes east for quite a while and eventually they stumbled upon what I believe was the remains of a shorebird that had been previously fed upon. There wasn’t much left but bones and a few feathers.
Here the dominant and lighter colored adult is inspecting the find with the younger coyote in the background watching curiously.
The adult had no interest in the remains as food but, typical of canids, marked it with urine.
Aside: As I watched this play out I couldn’t help but think of the scene in the movie “Never Cry Wolf” (based on Farley Mowat’s autobiography of the same name) where Tyler, the biologist, is having a urine marking contest with the wolves he is studying, particularly the two he has named George and Angeline. That day Tyler “loaded his gun” with 27 cups of tea…
The adult immediately walked away in apparent disdain but the youngster was obviously very curious about the now urine-soaked remains…
which it investigates with apparent trepidation.
At this point I switched over to my other camera with the 500 mm lens attached to get a closer look.
The young coyote mouthed the remains…
and then picked some of them up.
But it walked only a few steps with them before they were rejected. Then the two coyotes continued their forlorn walk to the east and we headed home.
I couldn’t help but have serious empathy for these two. Life is definitely tough “out there” and not just for coyotes.
Earlier that same morning while we were photographing humminbgirds an old friend wandered by – a bull Bison with a broken leg. That leg’s been broken for over a year now but this bison is a survivor. He puts no weight on the right-rear leg and limps mightily but he survives and even seems to thrive.
But what a struggle…
Ron
The coyotes are beautiful. I hope they are able to get a good meal, sooner rather than later.
It is heart-wrenching to see creatures suffering. I hope these coyotes make it. The bison is amazing. I always like seeing real survivors.
A heart-wrenching reminder. Of both how tough life can be, and that there are those that survive (and thrive) against incredible odds.
Thank you.
Great series of photos, Ron. The poor creatures, it’s been a difficult year for all of them.
Thank you, Ron, for sharing such beautiful photos, as sad as the situation may have been. I couldn’t stop studying these images, so I can imagine what it must have been like to be there in person. In spite of their thinness, these are two brave and handsome animals.
These poor coyote looked so hungry and thin. How sad to see any animal or human have to deal with this. I wish I could go out there and drop tons of food for all of them. I sure hope things turn around for them quickly.
I hope things turn around for the better for the coyotes soon too, Debbie. I think what it’ll take is a rebound in the vole population.
These are truly lovely engaging creatures. And I, too, loved Never Cry Wolf. My most memorable passage though is the mouse sandwiches!
I think that’s the scene that most folks remember best, Tana. But I watched the movie so many times (I showed it to my zoology classes every year) that many of those scenes stick in my mind.
It certainly should remind us of what humans had to endure when they first came to NA. Life IS tough!! Our technology has spoiled us! Don’t get me wrong I’m very happy, for the most part, with our technology, but images like this and your thoughts should impress on us that in the wild, life is a huge struggle. We tend to forget that struggle. Everyone should have a picture or two of how humans lived during the Dust Bowl years. Or, look how many in the third world live today, hand to mouth or hand to mouth every third day.
I hope that the Bull Bison was able to pass on his genes to another generation before he broke his leg – what a survivor!!
I can’t help but think of the old saying: Rags to riches back to rags by the third generation – similar to vole, mouse, lemming, rabbit population rise and decline relative to climate and predators.
Thanks for sharing Ron.
I had similar thoughts, Dick. Preparing this post had me thinking about some of the stories my parents told me about the Great Depression and other struggles they and their parents went through. I’ve done extensive research on my family history and some of the incidents I’ve come across make me shudder.
I really appreciate your comment here. Even when we see how difficult life is for people in third world countries (I’ve seen a fair amount of that in my travels), it doesn’t always sink in. For me it sinks in better when I see animal struggles. I, too, hope that bison passed on his genes before his leg accident.