Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond…

~N. Scott Momaday

As you may have noticed in recent months, I have not written as many blogs as in the past. I will try to do better since there is a lot to share. I’m going to start with a quick recent event and then go back to follow up on some great experiences over the past few months including finishing up our trip to South Africa last November, a fantastic trip to Nebraska last month for birding adventures, a wonderful canoe camping trip on the Cashie River in eastern North Carolina, and some of the natural happenings here in our woods.

In all my years here in Chatham County, I have only seen one coyote on this property and that was many years ago, But our trail cameras pick them up frequently, though their appearances often come in spurts with a spate of regular captures and then nothing for weeks at a time. Information presented here on the biology of coyotes is from a summary of coyote management in our state from the NC Wildlife Resources Commission. Coyotes typically mate for life and breed from January to early March. Litters of 4 to 6 are born from March through May. Coyotes tend to be more active in these months.

I have shared several video clips of coyotes in past blogs. Most often, they are seen trotting along with a seeming purpose or destination in mind. Occasionally, we have seen one carrying something, but could not discern what it was, though we assume it was a food item or prey of some sort. Coyotes are omnivores, adapting their diets to local food availability. Diet studies show a range of food choices from deer (mostly fawns or scavenged carcasses), small rodents, rabbits and other mammals, birds, insects and vegetation. The will also take advantage of human-related food sources like pet food left outside, garbage, etc.

Though most video clips captured by the trail cameras show only a few seconds of a coyote(s) trotting through the scene, we occasionally get one that lingers. This recent coyote checks out something in the leaf litter, I can’t tell whether it got a small snack or just a sniff.

–A beautiful coyote pauses near the large white oak on our south slope

Most of the time, we see a single coyote or a pair. A few times we have seen three coyotes on a video clip. The clips are either 30 seconds for daytime videos or 20 seconds for nighttime (that is the maximum length for night recordings with these cameras). So, give the tendency of coyotes to trot through a scene and for them to be strung out in a line, we may miss some if they are traveling together. Coyotes will form packs, but they are usually made up of related individuals. A breeding pair of adults plus one or more juveniles from the previous year that have not dispersed. This past week, one camera caught 4 coyotes walking by, the first time that has been recorded here. Look closely at the first coyote, especially the first few frames of the clip. It is a lactating female…she has pups!

–The first video clip in three years that has shown 4 coyotes together. The first coyote is a lactating female indicating she has pups back at a den.

As I was looking closely at this clip to confirm she was a mother coyote, I noticed she has a deformed or mangled left ear. I have seen that same coyote on several other clips. It is clear to see her distinctive ear in this clip from last month.

–Two coyotes in a rainstorm, one with a deformed left ear.

I remembered seeing this coyote on a clip from May of last year and when I looked closely at that clip, she was lactating back then as well. It is much tougher to see in this clip, but a close examination shows she has teats distending from her belly.

–A clip from May 2023, showing the same coyote (with deformed left ear) was a mother last year as well

Though I see frequent posts on local neighborhood list serves expressing fear and concern over the presence of coyotes, I am happy to have them as neighbors. I only hope they can help control the population of deer that have changed the forest structure here and in so many other locations. Plus, I hope it gives cat owners another reason to keep their cats indoors since outdoor cats are a major threat to bird populations (as well as all sorts of other living creatures). I wish ol’ one ear another successful breeding season.