"CLOSE ENCOUNTERS"

Coyote - 8 Photos

A young coyote wandered into an area where not too far away was a herd of White-Tailed Deer, a mixture of does & youngsters (Photo #1 & Photo #2). 

At first, the deer didn't pay any attention as he/she searched the logs and fallen trees for hidden rodents but as the coyote approached closer, the dominant doe moved towards him/her and all the other herd members took notice.

There was a moment when the doe took a pre-charge stance from a distance but then had a think about it, stood upright & then resumed grazing along with the herd.

The coyote never took a serious look at the deer other than when there was a possibility of being charged and just continued on searching the undergrowth & dead tree material for small prey (Photo #3 through Photo #8). Eventually after at least 20 minutes, the deer had had enough of this close encounter & "shepherded" the youngster further into the wooded meadow.

For all wildlife, calories are similar to gold, particularly in Winter. Calories "in" must always exceed calories "out" and for prey & predator alike, unnecessary expenditure is never good. There are no quick trips to a grocery store to replenish food supplies. For a coyote, a chase with no apparent good outcome is probably not a viable exercise and for prey such as deer, a charge with the potential chasing off a predator when there is no apparent danger, would be a waste of valuable energy.

I do believe this young coyote had absolutely no interest in the deer, either because he/she was somewhat naive as to the food source or perhaps, was wise enough to realize one small coyote, without a family to back up the hunt, was not up to the task. And so much better to spend energy searching for smaller prey (of which this youngster managed to catch at least three while I was watching).  

I nicknamed the coyote "Big Ears" (sorry), but with a few more months of growing, I am certain he/she will grow into those ears (all the better to hear with), together with those long legs.

PHOTO #1

PHOTO #2

PHOTO #3

PHOTO #4

PHOTO #5

PHOTO #6

PHOTO #7

PHOTO #8