CARNIVORES: Coyote Stories - Part VII

Yellowstone is similar in ways to Banff and Jasper National Parks in Canada but with 100 times the people. Often the animals will simply continue on about their business without much regard to tourists --- and their cameras.  Other than humans, the Gray Wolf  is really the  only predator of coyotes. This is not normally a problem except where their ranges overlap. Since the introduction of Gray Wolves into Yellowstone National Park in the mid-nineties, the local coyote population went through a dramatic restructuring. Until the wolves returned, Yellowstone had one of the densest and most stable coyote populations in America (because of the lack of human "predation"). Two years after the wolf reintroductions, the pre-wolf population of coyotes had been reduced 50%. As a result, Yellowstone coyotes have had to shift their territories, moving from open meadows to steep terrain. Carcasses in the open no longer attract coyotes; when a coyote is chased on flat terrain, it is often killed. They feel more secure on steep terrain where they will often lead a pursuing wolf downhill. As the wolf comes after it, the coyote will turn around and run uphill. Wolves, being heavier, cannot stop and the coyote gains a large lead. Though physical confrontations between the two species are usually dominated by the larger wolves, coyotes have been known to attack wolves if they outnumber them. Both species will kill each other's pups given the opportunity. Coyotes have an instinctive fear of Mountain Lions and will not enter territories occupied by the Lions. Bears rarely attack Coyotes either. 

In the first photo I was simply driving along the road from the Norris Geyser Basin to Canyon Village when I saw this Coyote in a field walking toward the road. I stopped the Jeep, got out, and took several photos before he crossed the road and into the woods on the other side. 

In this case I was on my way Lamar Valley, looking for Wolves, when I came across two Coyotes walking side by side in a grassy field. 

After a bit, they split and one started walking toward the road in front of me. I, of course, was out along the road with camera/tripod taking many photos. In this one, he took one last look at where his "partner" was before heading up and over the road.

On another occasion, I was out in Lamar Valley (again looking for Wolves) when this Coyote ran across the road and up the side of the mountain. He was wet from being in the Soda Butte Creek.