{"id":31867,"date":"2015-06-08T05:40:50","date_gmt":"2015-06-08T11:40:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=31867"},"modified":"2015-06-08T08:43:01","modified_gmt":"2015-06-08T14:43:01","slug":"coyote-buddies-both-of-them-survivors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2015\/06\/08\/coyote-buddies-both-of-them-survivors\/","title":{"rendered":"Coyote Buddies – Both Of Them Survivors"},"content":{"rendered":"

I love it when critters overcome a stacked deck and beat the odds against their survival.<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 349mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning at the crack of dawn we saw two coyotes coming toward us from the west along the causeway to Antelope Island. Initially they were both on the south side (bad light) of the causeway but this one immediately crossed the road in front of me and into good light and then continued toward the mainland.<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1650, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 350mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

It kept looking back (to our left in this image)\u00a0toward its companion who was lagging far behind and eventually it very deliberately laid down to wait for its buddy.<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 241mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the second coyote approached it\u00a0became\u00a0apparent by its demeanor that it was deferring to the larger, more dominant animal but there was obvious affection between them…<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/1250, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 241mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

as they greeted and sniffed each other (for those wondering, the black specks on the water are brine flies).<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/800, f\/9, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Because of the light, poses and apparent fondness of the coyotes for each other this might be my favorite photo of the two of them. But it also reveals something else. I know that coyote on the left!<\/em> I recognize it because of the curved scar\u00a0on its snout and I refer to that particular animal as “Scarface”.<\/p>\n

A note about how I feel about giving\u00a0“cutesy”\u00a0pet names to wild animals – it’s a\u00a0practice I generally try to avoid because it just doesn’t feel right to me (others have different opinions and that’s ok). That said, there are times when\u00a0it becomes just too convenient for easy identification of individuals to resist and I do occasionally succumb to the temptation. Scarface is an example and there are others – Gimpy, the bison with the broken rear leg, Curlique, the\u00a0pronghorn with the curled and\u00a0deformed horns and\u00a0Minerva, the meadowlark that\u00a0allows me so\u00a0ridiculously close as it sings from the same signpost perch. There have been others…<\/em><\/p>\n

Scarface seems like an old friend of mine.<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/800, f\/9, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 400mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

But guess what? I also recognize the coyote on the\u00a0right because of its\u00a0distinctive “Roman” or aquiline nose. The coyote had been severely injured this past winter and I documented the injury with photos and a blog post. To illustrate that it’s the same animal I’ll post two of\u00a0those images again, below. But be forewarned, the first shot is graphic.<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

These two shots were taken this past February 16th and as you can see the injury was gruesome. It caused a severe swelling or bump on the bridge of its nose…<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon<\/em> EF500mm f\/4L IS II USM +1.4 tc, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

that was hideously obvious even on the other side of its face. And that disfigurement is still apparent almost four months later.<\/p>\n

Ok, on to more pleasant things…<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

I thought some readers might enjoy seeing a couple of photos of one of the coyotes taken at wider angles so that the landscape and setting can be\u00a0better appreciated. This is the causeway edge looking north. At this point the larger\u00a0coyote is still waiting for its companion to approach from the left.<\/p>\n

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\"coyote<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a01\/1600, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D, Canon<\/em> EF100-400mm f\/4.5-5.6L IS II USM @ 100mm, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

An almost full frame vertical composition reveals the extent of one relatively\u00a0small arm of the Great Salt Lake and the Promontory Mountains in the upper\u00a0background.<\/p>\n

Coyotes regularly hunt the causeway and I’ve\u00a0often wondered if the vast expanse of the lake on one side of them gives them a sense of security and potential escape (the water here is only a few inches deep) while they’re prowling the causeway just a few feet from the road and its attendant\u00a0vehicles, bicycles, photographers on foot\u00a0and other human activity. Coyotes have no fear of water and enter it readily in pursuit of prey or for other reasons.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I love it when critters overcome a stacked deck and beat the odds against their survival.<\/p>\n

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