Coyote Gallery

Green, Gold, and White

I love photograping environmental portraits of animals when they are set in a background of nearly uniform color, so of course I was happy to photograph a coyote standing in a tall green meadow on a beautiful spring day, a coyote running across a golden meadow on a fine fall day, and a coyote standing on a berm on a foggy winter day.

Coyote standing in a tall meadow at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

A Coyote runs across a golden meadow in Yellowstone National Park

Coyote standing in the fog at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Coyote chewing on Townsend's vole at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Coyote Q&A

Q: Do coyotes chew with their mouths closed?
A: No. No they don’t.

Coyotes are very expressive chewers, they work their prey over with wide open chomps before finally swallowing it. This one is eating a Townsend’s vole at Ridgefield NWR.

Howl

When I pulled up to an observation blind at Ridgefield NWR, I noticed this coyote standing a little farther up the road. It wasn't in a very photogenic location, so I got out of the car and instead of taking pictures, we just watched each other for a while. Eventually it sauntered up the road, occasionally turning back to watch me, before disappearing around the bend.

I didn't expect to see it again and continued the short trail to the blind. When I continued on up the road, I came across the coyote again near the parking lot to the Kiwa Trail. I continued to the far side of the lot to get better lighting for pictures then gently swung the car into place so I could take pictures from the car and not disturb the coyote.

The coyote was comfortable with my presence as it checked out the area while I took pictures. It was a pretty nice moment but about to get even better: the coyote began to howl. It howled a few times, unanswered, then slipped through the gate across the trailhead and disappeared up the trail.

Adaptable

No longer hunted as extensively as they once were, coyote numbers have rebounded across the United States. Coyotes are adaptable creatures — tolerating a varied diet of both plant and animal life, living in climates hot and cold and wet and dry, and even living in close quarters with humans. My wife and I came across this coyote while hiking in Rinconada Canyon in New Mexico’s Petroglpyh National Monument. It was one of a pair that were working their way up into the canyon.

Coyote in fog at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Oh Well, It Was Worth a Shot

I was watching a great blue heron on a foggy and frosty winter’s morning, it was close to the road and quite comfortable with my presence as I photographed it from the car. Suddenly the heron took flight, making an angry call for having been disturbed.

I was taken aback to see this coyote bounding out of the fog, as they don’t normally even try to pursue the cautious birds. The heavy fog gives the coyotes cover they don’t normally have, and I saw another coyote take a Canada goose in the blinding gray. This coyote, though, didn’t seem too disappointed that his prey got away so cleanly, it seemed an attack of opportunity as the coyote chanced across the heron as it crossed the refuge.

Coyote pouncing at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Pounce

Foxes and coyotes will often pounce on their prey, swiftly and silently closing on their target. This coyote was hunting voles early one morning in a large field. It didn’t catch the vole on the pounce but was not easily dissuaded. It kept nosing around in the grass and eventually began to paw into the earth. I saw the coyote catch four voles during the morning, and in each case, once it started digging into the ground, it always captured its prize.

A coyote eats an eastern cottontail bunny at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Some of My Favorite Things

I was watching this coyote late one spring day but couldn't quite figure out what it was doing as it was mostly obscured in the tall grass. At first, I assumed it was hunting for voles, as I've seen other coyotes do in these fields. However, it kept carrying the animals it was catching over to one spot and then coming back for more. No coyote hunts voles that sucessfully, so then I thought perhaps it was ferrying its pups from one spot to another. When I saw it eat one of the animals it was carrying I knew it wasn't carrying pups, and my third guess at what was happening turned out to be the correct one.

The natural world is a harsh one and one of the consequences is that some of my favorite creatures eat some of my favorite creatures. What I came to realize was that this coyote had found a den of rabbits and was catching all of the baby bunnies and storing them in a nearby cache, while eating a couple herself. I watched with mixed fascination and horror as the coyote bounded through the grass and landed on her prey, even as I could hear the surviving bunnies shrieking in alarm.

A coyote carries an eastern cottontail bunny in her mouth at Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge

Cycle of Life

The coyote eventually came out of the tall grasses not far from where I was standing carrying one of the dead bunnies in her mouth. She might have have been taking the little rabbits back to feed her own, one mother's children dying to feed another's.

Coyote sniffing for pine cones in Yellowstone National Park

No Pounce Needed

Lest you think that everything the coyote eats is of the furry variety, this bushy-tailed coyote was scouring the forest floor looking for the same thing a nearby family of black bears was looking for: pine cones. The coyote doesn’t need excellent hearing or a quick pounce for this meal, although it had its own challenges: the bears seemed to have already grabbed all of the easy pickings.

It was shortly after seeing this coyote that I saw my first wolf, and seeing them back-to-back really emphasized how large a wolf is, the coyote being similar in stature to a medium-sized dog.

Coyote hunting in tall grass in Yellowstone National Park

Uh Oh, I Think He Spotted Me

This coyote was hunting in tall grass near the road and looked up at me briefly before returning to the hunt. Taken in the fall, its thick winter coat is coming in nicely.

A coyote stands above its reflection in a pond at Yellowstone National Park

On Reflection

There are benefits and drawbacks to visiting Yellowstone at any given time of the year. There are many things I love about the fall, one of which is the beautiful winter coats that the mammals wear in preparation for the harsh winter. This coyote is a good example of the rich, full coats that the mammals put on as the weather gets colder. Combined with the weight they put on while food is plentiful, the animals are looking their best as the leaves turn golden.

	Adaptable No longer hunted as extensively as they once were, coyote numbers have rebounded across the United States. Coyotes are adaptable creatures — tolerating a varied diet of both plant and animal life, living in climates hot and cold and wet and dry, and even living in close quarters with humans. My wife and I came across this coyote while hiking in Rinconada Canyon in New Mexico’s Petroglpyh National Monument. It was one of a pair that were working their way up into the canyon.
	Oh Well, It Was Worth a Shot I was watching a great blue heron on a foggy and frosty winter’s morning, it was close to the road and quite comfortable with my presence as I photographed it from the car. Suddenly the heron took flight, making an angry call for having been disturbed. I was taken aback to see this coyote bounding out of the fog, as they don’t normally even try to pursue the cautious birds. The heavy fog gives the coyotes cover they don’t normally have, and I saw another coyote take a Canada goose in the blinding gray. This coyote, though, didn’t seem too disappointed that his prey got away so cleanly, it seemed an attack of opportunity as the coyote chanced across the heron as it crossed the refuge.
	Pounce Foxes and coyotes will often pounce on their prey, swiftly and silently closing on their target. This coyote was hunting voles early one morning in a large field. It didn’t catch the vole on the pounce but was not easily dissuaded. It kept nosing around in the grass and eventually began to paw into the earth. I saw the coyote catch four voles during the morning, and in each case, once it started digging into the ground, it always captured its prize.