January 6th, 2011
This morning, as I filled the feeders at Wrigley Corners, I was treated to a delightful serenade by Coyote’s (Canis latrans) living behind Miller Lake.
The winter sun rises late these days, I usually fill my feeders as it drifts aloft, a break in the clouds put a rosy blush on the snow as the Coyote continued it’s falsetto howl.
I find the mournful melody hard to describe, though it is higher pitched and more broken up than that of the wolf. In The Clever Coyote, Stanley P. Young aptly describes the Coyote’s cry as a “prolonged howl which the animal let out and then ran after and bit into small pieces.” It is a sound distinctly wild and sorrowful, but nuanced… more akin to words than wails.
By the time I finished filling the feeders the Coyote had finished its song. The female Coyote will be coming into heat soon, ready to reproduce by the end of January. I know of three dens near Wrigley Corners and will visit them soon to see if any of last years females have returned. Pups will be born in April and by June will be traipsing about, learning to be good Coyote’s.
I suspect that the Coyote calling this morning is the one that recently left tracks in my Butterfly Garden and has a runway (what we call a preferred route) through Wrigley Forest. I have regularly seen Wild Turkey’s near Miller lake and wonder if the Coyote’s have found them too.
I wish the Coyote luck, he’s going to need it. Bounties have been placed on Coyote’s across North America since 1825, only two years after they were formally described by science… basically, as long as we’ve known Coyote’s existed we’ve persecuted them.
If you want to hear the Coyote howl follow the link:
http://www.soundboard.com/sb/Wild_Coyote_sounds.aspx
If you want to learn more about Coyotes in Canada check out Hinterland who’s who: