"THE TELL"

Coyote - 6 Photos

In body language a "tell" can refer to subtle body language or facial expressions that hint at a person's (or in this case wildlife's) true feeling or intentions. And the type of tell can be specific to an individual.

Last year, a young female coyote that I photographed had the "tell" of sitting for some time before continuing on to hunt. I observed her sitting so regularly on her hunting expeditions that I thought, at first, she tired easily being a young coyote. But then, watching her easily cover the ground so effortlessly, I came to the conclusion that her time spent sitting was, in fact, a period of contemplation, thinking about where & how she was going to make her next move.

That combined with her distinctive red colouring, made her much easier to identify from other coyotes.

MC (or Mini Coyote), I believe, also has a recognizable "tell". Her tell is to "stop, look up & listen". And with only human hearing, I can't detect any sound, other than bird song or human noise nor is there any movement in the trees. It can be a little unnerving watching another mammal look up towards the sky, eyes fixed and ears perked forward, obviously aware of something or someone (be it people or wildlife) out there but beyond a human's perception. I'm assuming MC is listening intently for "song" from her family members in order to identify their location.

The following photos were taken over a period of the past two months, the first two being the most recent. The last two photos did appear in a previous blog, "Training Ground", February 23rd, 2025.   

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6