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<\/p>\nCoyote populations on Antelope Island have declined dramatically over the last few years and recent disturbing events had some of us wondering if Utah State Parks was practicing predator control on the island. Yesterday afternoon I was on a mission to find out.<\/p>\n
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As a bird and wildlife photographer I’ve been visiting Antelope Island 2-3 times per week for over 10 years now and I pay very close attention to the flora and fauna I encounter. Until a few years ago coyotes on the island were almost ubiquitous. It was rare to not see at least a few coyotes on each visit and sometimes I’d see over a dozen, like this handsome fellow seeming to smile for the camera.<\/p>\n
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I was aware of the locations of several dens, including one near Buffalo Point that produced this cute little guy. Who wouldn’t love that face and those long, gangly legs?<\/p>\n
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My visits to the island are always at or near dawn so the sounds of howling coyotes echoing off the hills were a significant and welcome part of my world. This one even gave me a personal and up-close demonstration, a loud and almost haunting performance.<\/p>\n
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Coyotes on the island were common enough that over time I was able to document many aspects of their lives including their pair bonds, family relationships, reproduction, foraging techniques and hunting strategies. I watched this younger coyote as it stalked juvenile chukars in the grass and then nearly caught one of them when it flushed beneath his feet. In this instance all the coyote succeeded in capturing was a couple of tail feathers but he came very close to enjoying a meal of young chukar. That was one lucky bird!<\/p>\n
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Coyotes are perhaps the classic example of opportunistic feeders – they’ll eat just about anything they can catch and they’re also scavengers but in my experience with them on the island voles are the most important component of their diet. I’ve documented coyotes hunting\/eating ducks, grebes, pheasants, eggs, rabbits, and carcasses of deer, pronghorn and bison and they often scavenge Peregrine and Prairie Falcon kills along the causeway to the island.<\/p>\n But based on my observations the vast majority of their prey\/food items on the island is voles.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n They’re highly skilled at hunting those little rodents and they do it…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n no matter the season.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n But that’s how it used to be. In recent years it’s unusual, even rare, to see a coyote on the island and I’ve often wondered why. Eventually I became suspicious that managers on the island might be practicing coyote control so over a period of roughly three years I asked three different park rangers if that was the case. Their answer was always an emphatic and unequivocal “no” and I accepted that response as fact. Until yesterday.<\/p>\n In yesterday’s blog post about low-flying aircraft<\/a> I documented a yellow Piper Cub that I’d twice photographed flying low and slow over the island. That plane turned out to be registered to USDA-APHIS-WS, an agency of the federal government. My first assumption was that it was on some legitimate business on the island, perhaps doing wildlife or plant surveys<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/coyote-5646-ron-dudley1.jpg\" "\\"coyote-5646-ron-dudley\\"")
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