Weekly Puzzler Answer #174

The majority of people who guessed last week’s puzzler were correct: the animal pictured at Yellowstone National Park was a coyote.

While I was in Yellowstone I had the thrill of seeing wolves and coyotes, though the wolves were FAR AWAY across the open Lamar Valley. I was lucky enough in that I got to watch an entire pack feeding on a kill for over 30 minutes. Many of the wolves in the pack were black, making them very visible when they stood up among the frosty grass. But they were so far that even through a high-quality scope, they still were super small so no photos for me–or you.

Luckily I did also see numerous coyotes and some of those were right next to the road so I got some decent photos. Here is a graphic from Yellowstone National Park comparing wolves, coyotes and red fox. Notice the size difference, though of course when you are only seeing one animal is is hard to know how big it is.

Here are some shots I got of a coyote “mousing” which means exactly that–the coyote is walking around in the meadow, listening for mice and then when he finds one, he pounces on it. We were lucky enough to get to watch several coyotes doing this, one of which that was very close. He was a very successful hunter, catching something nearly every time he tried.

Here is a coyote that we saw find an apple core and pop it into his mouth like candy. Yum!

And on multiple days, we spotted a coyote trotting along the highway, likely on route to a spot to hunt.

Here is a coyote standing in the meadow near some bison.

I have gotten to observe many coyotes throughout the years. It is always such a thrill for me to see one and to get to watch it for a short time. They are such beautiful animals! I will never understand the hatred some people have towards them.

So check out this next shot, it leads me to my next puzzler…

It was taken in upstate New York, at a place called the Great Swamp, which is a huge wetland in eastern NY and an important bird area. I lived beside it for many years. In the winter the river often froze, opening up the area to me and all of the many animals that lived there. I learned a lot about them by following their tracks in winter, and sometimes, like on this day, watching them. Admittedly it is not a very good photo, but what’s noteworthy is that there are two mammals here. See the coyote on the right side and then notice the smaller animal on the left…. it’s the next puzzler. Read more about that here.

And lastly, have you ever heard coyotes howling, yipping, making all kinds of noise? I published a post a while back featuring fireflies and the moon, but at the end, there was the unmistakable howl of coyotes. If you’d like to hear them, you can check it out here–you have to wait to the very end to hear them!