"THE ONE THAT ALMOST GOT AWAY"

Coyote - 9 Photos

Picking up from the blog of October 30th, 2023, "The Coyote in Winter", here is the narrative & photos of the coyote's "doggedness" in its pursuit of a meal.

First there was a lot of stop, look & listen before this coyote settled on one particular burrow hidden in the snow. Then came a lot of digging, stuffing its head into the hole, retreating and repeating that process again and again and again (Photo #1). 

In fact, that intensity went on for at least 15 minutes and all the while I was thinking, "There is something worth pursuing down there for a coyote to be so determined to spend all that time on one spot". 

And then came success and a large vole appeared in the coyote's mouth which it promptly carried away from the hole (Photo #2 through Photo #4 ). The coyote laid down and dropped its well deserved meal into the snow  (Photo #5), but yikes!

Of course, I couldn't see into the snow but from the coyote's reaction, the prey had been caught but there was still enough life in the vole to try to make a get away. So then it was a matter of quickly re-catching it before our dine became a dine & dash (Photo #6 & Photo #7). 

There was no second mistake and one big vole became a well deserved meal (Photo #8). 

Obviously, I do not know the exact age of this coyote but from its demeanor and hunting habits, although full grown, it was most likely born Spring 2022 and just needs some experience to temper that youthful exuberance. An older coyote would probably not have made that error in judgement. And what a prolific hunter maturity will produce.

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6

PHOTO #7

PHOTO #8

PHOTO #9