Ramblings and Such From Hunting Coyote

Find the prey and find the predator. So many factors play into the coyote and other predator numbers. Food, water, weather conditions all are a part of why coyotes live where they do. Coyotes have four paw drive and the only time they are tied to any one area is when they have young pups but even then, they can and do move the pups when they see the need to. That is only one of the reasons that we keep track of what is going on in the world of the predator, we want to know if they have any disease's that are reducing's their numbers, is drought limiting their prays numbers, has bitter cold and deep snow killed large herbivores for them to forage on, for a limited time. We also keep track of the number of pups per litter in the spring which is actually controlled by the health of the females. And that is controlled by food, water, weather, disease, and a lot of other environmental factors. These are all things that we keep track of, we keep in our notes what has been going on around us then in future years we can compare past to present and have a better idea of what, where and why the coyotes are doing what they are. Even if we don't want to kill the pups for control, we still want to know what the average litter size is for the fall hunting. We want to know what our coyote numbers will look like; we want to know where they will be when they will be there most likely. Coyotes don't always answer a siren they might come to it instead, they may have heard it too many times before, they might be too close to it, or it might take them several minutes to get to a place where they feel comfortable answering from.

I was listed as number 18 in the state to have West Nile, before I was diagnosed with it I started seeing some dead Meadow Larks and a few black birds laying around some of the areas that I frequented. I went to my mandatory 3-day training where the state veterinarian said that we would be seeing West Nile virus in the state before the end of the year. At that time, I asked how we would first start noticing the signs it was here. Dead black birds were one of the indicators, meadow larks are included as black birds. I started showing signs latter in the year in August, I got a head ach that felt like a migraine, I had a fever that I couldn't get to come down it hurt to just touch my hair anywhere even on my arms. I visited with some of the ranchers before and mentioned that they might want to vaccinate their horses for it. After I got it and visited with one of them, he decided to vaccinate his horses a day after he did, he was out checking cattle when his horse acted up every time, he turned him with the reins touching his neck. He thought about it had him checked and sure enough he had West Nile he was sensitive to the touch the same as I had been. Another reason that we stay aware of our surroundings. I found a bat clinging to a wall once in January so I knew it was sick, I turned it in but found that it wasn't rabies as I had thought it might be, but it was white nose disease.

We are having some average weather for this time of year now. We got some snow and rain, and it has helped with the firefighting the two major fires in the state are in the eighty percent contained range. I feel better about getting out and checking the area out now that it isn't as much of a chance of catching the dried grass on fire. The ranchers in my area had a good crop of grass so their byproducts of livestock did well. I have been rereading the book that Ed recommended to me. The Colt .45 Automatic A Shop Manual, by Jerry Kuhnhausen. Like all other good reading books, I am finding more useful information. I might have to start gathering more parts for a new project. One of my wife's friends asked her if she would watch her younger kids for a few hours the other day so the two boys and I started some knives for them to give their mom, while the daughter thought she would like to bake some treats for the family and friends, it was kind of like having grandkids over. With our weather and the young of the year being out and still learning to live on their own the coyote hunting and calling is interesting now. It can be nearly as exciting as in the spring denning season with them landing almost on top of you at times, I have to get to that rabbit before the owner of this area does type of thing. Yet you will at times have a group of them running together still and can have multiples respond also, you never know what you might get.

I found this den hole from this year, while at work. It was placed in a perfect spot. South facing slope up on top of a hill in an old dirt pit. There had been a coyote by recently but other than that I would guess nothing ventures by that way

Thanks

Buck

More than 95 percent of the dens that I have seen were south facing and high enough that even a flash flood wouldn't fill them with water. Most of them also had holes that were small reaching to the surface along their length as breather holes for ventilation, with several of the dens having a back entrance. That is a perfect example of a well-placed coyote den. Most of the coyote dens that I have been to were relatively clean not having a lot of animal parts or bones around, while the majority of the red fox dens were not very clean with animal parts, birds and snakes being brought in for the young. They could be smelled from a distance.