A Coyote Pack

Yesterday, on a visit to the minnow pond we discovered a pack of coyote tracks. From what I saw, I would estimate four to five in the group, all out hunting together. We rarely catch sight of them as they are more active at night.

It is not unusual to hear them howling on a dark winter evening, as they make their rounds. The den is under an old barn that collapsed, about a mile south of our place. I have visited a number of times in the winter and the tracks make it plain that the den is under the main floor of the barn. Because the walls have given way, the floor of the loft now lies on top of the main floor. Most of the roof is still intact but it is dangerous to enter.

The pups are born in the den and then when they are old enough, they spend their time playing in the loft area. They are protected from the weather and prying eyes. As they get older they venture out of the barn and onto the snow drifts that surround the barn. The tracks in the snow show where they play.

When they are old enough to hunt with the parents, they travel further and further from the safety of the old barn. This particular den has produced coyotes for more than twenty years.

We have always had two to three Elkhounds at our place and as many as five at one time. Our dogs are vocal and howl back and forth with the Coyotes so that they are well aware of each other, and keep to their own territory. Howling establishes territorial boundaries.

On the nightly hunts the Coyotes bypass our property by sneaking by to the East or to the West. On the West they have a well traveled trail on the West side of our woods. To the East they move on the frozen creek ice that is sheltered by trees on each side. It is an unwritten rule that each other’s territory is off limits. For years I have seen the tracks that established their den and trails.

On a few occasions the coyotes have bent the rules, but only after the Elkhounds have carried off deer remains that the coyotes considered theirs. The details of one of those occasion follows