Nov. 19/99
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Contact UsRealities in the Life of a Coyoteby Lloyd B. Jones
In
the evening or night of late summer, a coyote family residing on the
hill behind the cottage would occasionally break the silence with some
barks, yelps and chilling howls. Some of our neighbours frequently
spotted the mother and four pups hunting in the fields during the day.
Here a range of food - mice, insects and wild fruit - kept all of them
fed and gave her an opportunity to train the young on how to live off
the land. The coyotes were grey in colour, larger than a fox, with
long, sometimes shaggy fur. Their snouts were long and narrow, and
almost delicate in appearance. Near the end of
September, a lone, stray coyote pup was frequently sighted ambling
lethargically along a mile long stretch of road not far from its summer
home. The pup appeared to be starving to death as it searched for road
kill. Perhaps, it was too untrained to even locate water to drink. When
approached, it slowly detoured a few feet off the road to crouch in the
grass. It was almost indifferent to the interest shown it by watchers.
Apparently, the mother coyote had abandoned this offspring. She must
have instinctively recognized that the pup would not become independent
enough before winter to survive. Perhaps it simply could not keep up
with the others, or it depended far too much on her for food and had
become such a drain on her energies that the rest of the pups were at
risk. Eventually the young coyote died.
A few days later in the same area, one of its siblings was encountered
by a walker. By contrast, this young coyote bounded away and quickly
found cover. Did its mother's decision make the difference? One wonders
how often a mother coyote resorts to abandoning when a very large issue
of a dozen or more pups must be prepared to face winter.
