{"id":107379,"date":"2022-02-10T06:37:50","date_gmt":"2022-02-10T13:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=107379"},"modified":"2022-02-10T07:04:02","modified_gmt":"2022-02-10T14:04:02","slug":"a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/","title":{"rendered":"A Coyote Hunting Strategy For Long Term Survival"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>After many years of observing coyotes on Antelope Island I may have finally put two and two together. I’ll present the evidence and viewers can make up their own minds.<\/p>\n<p>Three days ago on the Antelope Island causeway and very soon after sunrise the coyote duck hunting action began almost immediately after I got my pickup stopped. The north side of the causeway was still in the shade of the raised road so the conditions for photography were far from ideal.. Photographing moving targets in very low light is a recipe for soft shots and I got more than my share. So many of the photos below are soft but they’re good enough to document the behavior I witnessed.<\/p>\n<p>For years I’ve known that late winer and early spring is one of the best times to photograph scavenging predators along the causeway. Not long after the many thousands of ducks that winter along the causeway have migrated north, Coyotes, Common Ravens, Northern Harriers and other scavenging species regularly haunt the causeway for what I’ve always called “coyote leftovers”. I’ve always assumed that those leftovers were just scraps – bits and pieces of ducks killed by coyotes that were relatively undesirable when duck prey was plentiful.<\/p>\n<p>But maybe it’s more complicated than that. And more interesting. I’ll present the evidence and readers can see what they think about it.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107380\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222018","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.001","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1874 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107380 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1874-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1874-ron-dudley-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Almost as soon as I got my pickup stopped along the causeway I spotted this Coyote approaching from the west. I’m pretty sure this is the male of a mated pair that were hunting together, even though I didn’t see the smaller female until later. He was limping badly from an obvious and serious injury to the hock of his left rear leg. The area of the injury is very dark on this side of his leg but as you’ll see later the injury is more raw on the other side. I’m quite certain the leg is broken.<\/p>\n<p>He was just sauntering along within about 10 feet of the shore that was lined with thousands of ducks – a mix of Northern Shovelers, Green-winged Teals and a few Northern Pintails. He didn’t seem to pay any attention to the ducks and they mostly ignored him too – they didn’t even move further away from shore as he approached. I wondered if they somehow knew he was injured and figured he wasn’t a threat. The ducks may have seen him make that walk many times before.<\/p>\n<p>But suddenly all hell broke loose.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107381\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222036","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.000625","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1880 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107381 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1880-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1880-ron-dudley-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>The Coyote lunged at the ducks and caught a female shoveler so easily it made my jaw drop.<\/p>\n<p>It happened so quickly I barely got the scene in my viewfinder and the only thing I was focused on was the water in the middle of the frame so that’s all that is sharp\u00a0 Here the coyote has already turned around with the shoveler in his jaws and the other ducks are still scurrying away in what I thought at first was an out of control panic..<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107382\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley-2\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,600\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222036","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0008","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1883 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107382 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1883-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1883-ron-dudley-150x100.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>But if it was panic it was over in an instant. As we can see in this next photo the ducks didn’t fly off and they didn’t swim far. Here they’re already settling down in the water when some of them were only a few feet away from the shore and the coyote. Talk about being nonchalant with a predator so close…<\/p>\n<p>The coyote isn’t eating the already dead duck. He’s only rearranging her in his mouth before…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107383\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222039","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.000625","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1897 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107383 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1897-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1897-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>carrying her away from the shore.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107384\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222041","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0008","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1906 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107384 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1906-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1906-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>This is the last photo I got where I could see him clearly through all the rabbitbrush in front of me. But I could see him well enough to tell that he carried her up to the boulders below the nearby bridge and only seconds later he returned to the shore without her. He had obviously left her up there amongst the boulders because he sure as heck didn’t have time to eat her. Or any part of her.<\/p>\n<p>He returned to the shore crowded with ducks and…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107385\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222072","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.000625","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1919 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107385 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1919-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1919-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>immediately caught another female shoveler with no trouble at all.<\/p>\n<p>This is not the same duck as in the previous photo. Notice that his grip on her is different than it was with the first duck. Believe it or not the time stamp on this photo is slightly less than one minute later than the time stamp on the previous photo.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107386\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222094","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1928 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107386 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1928-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Once again he carried the duck up into the boulders near the bridge but this time I had a clear view of him. In an instant and with almost surgical precision he lopped off her head and began to swallow it whole.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107387\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222094","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1937 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107387 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1937-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1937-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>He had a tough time of it but eventually…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107388\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222104","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1955 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107388 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1955-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1955-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>after much grimacing and and eyeball rolling he got it down. Here he’s holding the rest of her down with his right foot.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107389\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,571\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222114","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.00125","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1963 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley-300x190.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107389 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1963-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"571\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley-768x487.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1963-ron-dudley-150x95.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Then, still licking his chops, he walked back to shore but this time…<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107390\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222246","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0005","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 1987 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107390 size-full\" title=\"coyote-1987-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1987-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>he turned west toward the island and soon he was too far away to photograph.<\/p>\n<p>I’m including this blurry photo because it provides the best look I got of the injury to his left rear leg.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107391\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,643\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222555","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0008","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 2018 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107391 size-full\" title=\"coyote-2018-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"643\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley-300x214.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley-768x549.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2018-ron-dudley-150x107.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Finally I spotted his<span style=\"font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif;\"> mate who had been hidden by rabbitbrush earlier. She’s noticeably smaller than he is and she has distinctive markings on her back and hackles. And her left rear leg obviously isn’t injured.<\/span><\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107396\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"761,900\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222570","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0008","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 2023 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley-254x300.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107396 size-full\" title=\"coyote-2023-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"761\" height=\"900\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley.jpg 761w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley-254x300.jpg 254w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2023-ron-dudley-127x150.jpg 127w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 761px) 100vw, 761px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>She approached me very closely to investigate another dead duck that was frozen and covered with frost.<\/p>\n<p>It was at this point that I began to wonder just how many dead ducks there were in the rockpile so I started to look for them and within seconds I spotted three others. There was probably many more that I couldn’t see from the road.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"107392\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"900,720\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{"aperture":"5.6","credit":"RON DUDLEY","camera":"Canon EOS 7D Mark II","caption":"","created_timestamp":"1644222581","copyright":"","focal_length":"700","iso":"800","shutter_speed":"0.0008","title":"","orientation":"1"}\" data-image-title=\"coyote 2041 ron dudley\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley-300x240.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley.jpg\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-107392 size-full\" title=\"coyote-2041-ron-dudley\" src=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"900\" height=\"720\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley-300x240.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley-768x614.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley-150x120.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-2041-ron-dudley-350x280.jpg 350w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>While investigating the frozen duck she got a feather stuck to her nose but she made absolutely no attempt to eat the duck. Then she turned around and followed her mate toward the island.<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n<p>Like I said, in the past I’d always assumed that the duck carcasses scavengers find along the causeway after the rest of the ducks have gone north in late winter and early spring were only scraps left behind by coyotes who were gorging themselves on the earlier abundance of ducks. They ate the “best” parts and left the scraps behind.<\/p>\n<p>But now I’m thinking that many of those “scraps” were actually entire ducks that had been deliberately hunted and then cached by coyotes in a time of abundance for coming hard times. And the motivation of the coyotes in these photos to hunt wasn’t the immediate gratification of an easy meal. Instead their primary motivation to hunt ducks was to cache food for later. In late winter and earl spring typical temps are still cold enough to keep the carcasses in reasonably good shape for later use.<\/p>\n<p>That’s my theory anyway. Maybe some of my readers who are more coyote savvy than I am have other thoughts.<\/p>\n<p>Ron<\/p>\n<p> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After many years of observing coyotes on Antelope Island I may have finally put two and two together. I’ll present the evidence and viewers can make up their own minds. (14 photos)<\/p>\n<p> <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2022\/02\/10\/a-coyote-hunting-strategy-for-long-term-survival\/\"><span>Continue reading<\/span><i class=\"crycon-right-dir\"><\/i><\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":107386,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,334,374,8,392],"tags":[31,1853,2827,401,98,1665,6173,6172],"class_list":["post-107379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-antelope-island","category-birds","category-coyotes","category-ecology-and-environment","category-feeding-bird-behaviors","tag-antelope-island-2","tag-broken-leg","tag-caching-food","tag-canis-latrans","tag-coyote","tag-hunting-strategy","tag-mated-pair-of-coyotes","tag-motivation-for-hunting"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/coyote-1928-ron-dudley.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1zzJh-rVV","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107379"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107379\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":107431,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107379\/revisions\/107431"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}