Tag Archives: coyotes

Redtail Hawk 1 Rattlesnake 0

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As they say out here in Colorado “The mail needed picking up” and since we occasionally get financial remuneration via snail mail and we haven’t had any interns able to pass the strict bonding requirements we have here at The Institute, it fell to the Director to go and get  the mail.

Our mail box is located down the five mile dirt road that gets you up and down from the mountain top The Institute is located on, to the modern one lane highway below. On the way down the ‘hill’ you run the chance of seeing wild animals being wild, such as turkeys walking around trying not to get eaten by the coyotes, elk in both male and female forms, mule deer of course, bears, just the black ones not the big grizzlies that roam further north, foxes, the red ones, the aforementioned coyotes, Eagles mostly Goldens but once in a while a bald one will fly by, and lots of birds. Everything from songbirds to grouse and now some Chukar. Hawks, falcons, pelicans flying by to get to somewhere where there is enough water, lots of migratory birds and our favorite species the Redtail hawk.

The Redtail is the hands down favorite because it does one really neat thing. It hunts, kills, and eats rattlesnakes. Rattlesnakes are what takes the fun out of running barefoot through the tall grass. Rattlesnakes bite. We had a neighbor near us, who was minding her own business doing absolutely nothing provoking, get bit and besides costing what a small Korean car costs it made her foot swell up to the size of your standard microwave oven. And she said it hurt too. A lot.

Most people in this country don’t like rattlesnakes. I mean, there’s a few that like them but they are not the majority by any means. People who don’t like them, the rattlesnakes not the people who do like them, generally hit them with a shovel until they’re dead. It is said by those folks who do like rattlesnakes that one of the reasons we should take these rattlesnakes close to our bosoms, are of the opinion that they do good by eating rodents, therefore let’s have them hang around doing that. Others say “Nope. Don’t think so. Gonna kill ’em”.  We believe that if they, the rattlesnakes, want to act that way they should do it way, and I mean way far away from where good American taxpaying citizens hang around. So there is a difference of opinion there.

It’s amazing that the Redtail hawk sides with the shovel smacking people and kill every one of those rattlers they see. They also pass this trait on to the young Redtail hawks by bringing home the snake, often still wriggling, for their little ones to eat. We at The Institute believe this is laudable behavior and compliment the Redtail parents on their good sense whenever we chance to speak with them.

The image above, which was taken just across the highway from our mailbox, shows the Redtail parent in the act of taking the rattlesnake it has just that moment caught, to a tall telephone pole where it would begin the process of making it not alive. Then it flew it back to the nest for the young to eat. We cheered and gave it the universal thumbs up gesture of approval before returning to sorting out the bills from the junk mail, then throwing the entire mess in the dumpster. I know, you’re saying if you’re just going to throw it all in the dumpster why bother sorting it out. We sort because every once in a while there is a check in there and then we’d have to go back and do dumpster diving which is not very dignified for a Director of a major Institute like ours to be doing. Which of course brings us to, if you’re looking for nominations for the “Most Useful Bird of the Year” award we heartily recommend Nature’s helper the Redtail hawk. Remember vote now and vote often. These birds need our support.

Favorite Son

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There is no disputing that a mother loves all her children equally. She will feed them, watch over them, defend them to her death. But occasionally there appears a young one that is first among equals. One that creates a special bond that is just outside the perimeter of her all encompassing love for each of the young she has.

This one fits that bill. There are eight siblings in this family of coyotes. The others are back at the den which is about 30′ away, where mom told them to stay while she takes a much needed nap. Coyote pups tend to mind their mothers and although they may test the limits some, they usually do what they’re told. But then there is this one. He has been the one from the very beginning that she frets over the most. He doesn’t do what he’s told. He goes off without the slightest regard for safety or his well being, he takes on the world as if it is his by some right no one else was aware of.

She disciplines him but it doesn’t seem to take. Where the other pups are reluctant to approach mom when she says it’s quiet time. “Leave me alone.” This pup will approach her fearlessly and say “Getup! Play with me. Give me something to eat. I found a dead ground squirrel, come see. Hey, come on!” She may snap and growl and even nip him but he is unfazed, and she loves him for it.

It’s hard to define what this special bond is. But it’s there. It will be there for as long as they’re together. And maybe longer if coyotes have memories. She will never admit it but this is her favorite son.

Following the Storm

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Hutton lake up in Wyoming is one of those places that depending on what time of the day or year you view it will determine how you feel about it. During the day it is fairly plain and nondescript with few distinguishing features other than the wildlife and birds that are there for various reasons. The light levels are harsh during mid-day and the vegetation is sparse and low-lying. The birds that you find here are usually passing through to somewhere else, as this is a stopover for many migratory flocks.

The mammals that frequent this area, such as Antelope, coyotes, and prairie dogs are seen more often when some natural event takes place, such as when the antelope drop their calves in the spring. Coyotes are there because they’re everywhere and being opportunistic, take advantage of the food supply as it changes through the seasons. Nobody knows why the prairie dogs are there, one day one shows up and before long they’re all there. The Redtail hawks don’t mind their squatting however, especially when the young unwary prairie dogs are out and playing too far from their burrows.

The low rolling hills that surround the lake continue on until they bump up against the mountains or continue in the opposite direction eastward until they reach Nebraska or any other of the middle kingdom states that claim they have prairie. The wind blows across the hills and lakes endlessly until you find yourself developing a semi-permanent list to one side depending on which direction you’re walking.

But there are moments of unsurpassing beauty here too. When a storm is imminent the wind will kick up into nearly gale force conditions, then suddenly stop, allowing deep dark clouds to roll in close to the earth. So close you feel like you could reach up and touch them. Then the rains will come. Not often but every once in a while there is no rain just the clouds and you, and the view to the horizon. There may be lightning then, but not always. It gets very dark, even in the middle of the day, and ominous thoughts can crowd into your mind. This isn’t a place for the timid.

These conditions can be found in the early spring when this place is reawakening from its winter imprisonment. It’s as if this storm is it flexing its muscles and stretching after a long troubled sleep. The image above was taken in early April around 6:30 pm and it was one of the rainless storms. The wind had been fearsome through the late afternoon and the clouds rolling in kept getting lower and it appeared that soon there would be no space left between the clouds and the earth for humans. It looked to be time to pack it in. To go someplace warm and maybe have supper. Then suddenly the winds dropped as often happens, and in the stillness of the early evening, the sun finally broke through the clouds to illuminate the lake with a golden reflection of the sunset, and a plain somewhat forbidding place was turned into a golden paradise, if only for a moment.

That’s part of the draw of this country, an everyday occurrence can turn into an adventure at the drop of a hat. All you have to do is stand your ground even when it feels like you should be running away for all your worth. The payoff is often golden.

Jack Rabbit Morning

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If you happen to find yourself caught up in the Black Friday frenzy and need a place to clear your head, I can heartily recommend Monument valley. What really works is to get there about 6 in the morning, a little earlier if you want to watch the sun come up behind the Totem Pole, and just walk out amongst the dunes. Remember to breathe though, a lot of people get so caught up in the beauty they forget to breathe then you’ve got drag marks all over the place as you try to pull them out of the shot.

This is also the time of day when the night shift goes off duty and the day shift is just clocking in. This Jack Rabbit is hightailing it home before the day shift coyotes come in. Coyotes being overachievers tend to punch in a little early just in case there are stragglers hanging around, so it’s best to clear your duty stations as quickly as possible.

Maintainance did an incredible raking job last night to get the dunes looking just right. There’s a couple of old-timers in charge of this particular area and they have the techniques down pat. If they rake everything just right the shadows work the way they’re supposed to, filling in the valleys amongst the rivulets of sand and laying out the various shapes just perfectly. These guys need a raise. They’ve also chosen the clear blue sky motif for today. That works too. Everything’s spiffed up just right.

You can’t see it but if you were here you’d feel the air this early in the morning is crisp, almost cold, bracing is the word I’m looking for. Makes you glad you’re alive. Cold enough that you’re really glad you brought that down coat. But it won’t last. Another couple of hours and it’ll be warm enough that you won’t need to wear it, instead you’ll be using that coat to sit on to keep the still cold chill of the sand off your butt. Sitting, watching the light play across the sand as you drink the last of your tea you begin to realize this is better than fighting the mob down at the mall.

I knew about his place already so I brought an extra thermos of hot tea. I’m just going to sit here for a while longer. Let me know if you got any good deals.

The Beagle Eater

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Warning: This report may not be suitable for all readers. Readers discretion advised.

The desert is a dangerous place. There are mysteries here and stories to send a chill down your spine even on the hottest day. Creatures that haven’t seen the light of day for thousands, if not hundreds of years, suddenly appear out of the darkness to scare the living crap out of you, then slink back into whatever hellish crevice they live in to wait for another opportunity to come forth and get you.

Some are slimy, but not many, this is the desert after all. The slimy ones are usually found way back in caves near a stream and lurk there, pulsating slowly, their tongues flickering out searching the air for the scent of humans. The know that sooner or later some individual who has ignored all the warning signs that say things like “Warning! Slimy monsters in here. Enter at your own Risk”. will come sneaking down the long stone corridors, exploring for the reason the warning signs were there in the first place. They usually find out much to their dismay when the dark slimy creature sends its long mucous covered tongue to wrap around their exposed throat. The only sign that someone was ever there is their muffled screams as they head slowly down the beasts throat.

But since they are so rare, numbering in the mere thousands we will move on to the really dangerous creatures that lurk in plain sight in the noon day sun. We had been exploring John’s canyon which is between Jack’s canyon and Diane’s canyon near Goosenecks state park and not too far from Canyonlands. We discovered what at first appeared to be an innocent pile of rocks when in reality they are actually deadly killers. Looking like any other lizard shaped rock formation they allow you to approach, then with dazzling speed they transform into a lizard-like creature and eat your beagle.

We have captured one of these devious, but cunning devils after it had recently fed and had returned to its dormant state in the photo above. Hearing the pitiful sobbing of a distraught hiker coming down the trail, we noticed that she was dragging a leash behind her, its little empty collar with the name tag “Tuffy” softly glinting in the sun. As she stopped to untangle it from the thorny bush it had snagged on we asked her what had happened.

“It was horrible” she sobbed. We saw this lizard like rock and stopped to take its picture when Tuffy suddenly pulled loose and ran up to it.” She broke down here and it took several bottles of gin to get her speaking again. “It was so horrible. This beast, this demon-spawn, this death-dealing creature from the pits of hell, ( this is where we took the gin away from her) suddenly came alive and snatched Tuffy in its cavernous maw. And ate him. One bite. One little yelp, that’s all I have to remember him. That and this stupid leash that keeps getting tangled up in everything.”

We did our best to console her but she was, like, inconsolable, so we left her there with our last bottle of gin and crept forward to observe this creature. It had already resumed its dormant state and simply lay there full of Beagle and looked like a pile of rocks again. We don’t know if its diet consists primarily of Beagles or it will take other types of canines too. In fact, we don’t know much about it at all, other than the story our hapless but drunken and beagleless victim related to us. We did notice a complete absence of coyotes in the area where they should have been knee-deep, but that doesn’t prove anything. Thinking that this whole episode requires more thinking we intended to think more about that tomorrow. Our plan was we would return in the near future with a malamute, as soon as we can get one from the pound, to see just how varied this creatures’ appetite is.

So the moral of this story is, if indeed it needs a moral, is “Keep a tight grip on your Beagle. Don’t go running up to something that resembles a lizard just because it looks cool. And pay attention to warning signs near abandoned caves. And oh yes, if you must hike in uncharted desert regions with your Beagle make sure he has attended a qualified dog training course and understands the risks of desert hiking. Get one of those bumper stickers that say “My Dog was an honor student at the Biteless Beagle Academy”, or wherever you take him so that others know that you two are qualified to be in the desert. Remember, Be Safe, and if it looks like a Beagle Eating Stone Lizard it probably is.” And also keep in mind, you’re in Utah. A lot of strange stuff happens there.

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Nearly New

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I was driving along near the Yellowstone Picnic area in Yellowstone National Park, which is a notorious hangout for antelope mothers-to-be in the spring when I noticed this antelope doe acting in a furtive, downright sneaky way. Since antelope are normally pretty straight forward animals not given to furtive, sneaky behavior, I figured she was up to something. She gradually moved over the crest of the hill and out of sight. Since I was on the lookout for sneaky mothers I immediately pulled over and climbed the hill to see what was going on. I had no sooner crested the hill and located her when I saw her give birth and the second fawn hit the ground. It happened so fast that I didn’t even have a chance to get my camera up. She had already dropped the first fawn as I was fumbling about trying to get my camera gear together. It seemed like only seconds later she had both of the new twins up on their tiny little hooves ready to move in case there was any danger. If you look closely at the fawn on the left you will see the umbilical cord dangling. These babies are nearly new. I was far enough away from them that I wasn’t alarming them, I know it looks close but that is due to the miracle of the ‘long glass’ of the telephoto lens, but she was antsy because there had been coyotes around and they are able to take down an antelope fawn without any trouble. The average antelope fawn weighs between 5 & 8 lbs.  at birth and the average adult coyote weighs 25 to 45 lbs. so there is little contest if the coyote sees the fawn. However, antelope moms are the tigers of the ungulates when it comes to coyotes. On a previous trip I watched a coyote stalking a fawn when the antelope doe spotted him. She chased him, easily running him down and nearly killed him by trying to step on him with her sharp hooves. At one point she caught him, rolled him over and before he could get back on his feet she had trampled him several more times. I mean she handed him his lunch. He got away but only just. That coyote is now mostly hunting ground squirrels. The moral here is if you are a coyote don’t mess with antelope babies. Mom will clean your clock.

Vigilance

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Wild turkeys live in out here in Northern Colorado and are regularly seen as you travel about in our rural settings. In the spring there will be large flocks with many hens and numerous chicks. It is not unusual to see flocks with as many as three or four dozen birds in them. That’s in the spring, right after the hatch, and before they begin moving around too much. Then nature begins to make adjustments. Coyotes are probably the turkeys biggest threat as they can easily run down the chicks who aren’t able to fly well, if at all. Sometimes the chicks will be taken by hawks or owls but mostly it is coyotes who are the main predators and sometimes unfortunately, by dogs running loose. This picture was taken in mid-August and though the large flocks of spring have by now broken up into smaller groups, there is only one chick left in this brood. If this chick is to make it to an age where she can have chicks of her own, every step she or the rest of the flock takes must be taken with caution and they will have to exercise one of their most important skills, Vigilance.