Coyotes are more common than you think in our area, and we're going to learn a little bit about this mammal and a little bit about their denning characteristics and habits with Christine Daniels, who's with the Elkhart County Parks.

And you actually within the Elkhart County parks had a very special pair of coyotes in 2021, right?

We sure did.

Yeah.

Now we'll talk about that in a minute, but you have a beautiful mount here of a coyote.

So first, let's talk about how do you identify him?

Sure, there's a lot of color variation within within coyotes, even around here.

Sometimes they're lighter, sometimes they're darker.

But what you would look for is very large.

Prominent ears, a long muzzle kind of a narrow muzzle looks kind of like a German shepherd in size and shape, maybe just a little smaller than a German shepherd.

But one really, really key point is you look at the position of the tail while they're running.

While they're standing, the tail always lies lower than the back kind of down here.

You'll see a lot of dogs.

Their tail comes up.

Yep, or straight out.

Another key is they do have a really a darker spot at the end of their tail, the tip of their tail.

But those are some really good common features.

How do we tell it apart from a fox?

Because that could be some people would mix it up with right.

They are larger than a fox.

Red Fox would have a really, really dark kind of orange is really dark, reddish orange fur.

We do have gray fox, which would be similar coloration, but you look for size, longer legs.

They do have like, that's something I think of when I see them, like standing in the trilby district.

They have really long legs.

You can look at how they travel to so telling, sometimes telling them from a distance from a dog.

Dogs tend to meander who I want to sniff here.

I want to sniff there.

Coyotes are much more purposeful.

They kind of go in a straight line unless something is chasing them or they get spooked or something, but they are just more purposeful in their movement.

Now, in 2021, you had a very special pair of coyotes in one of the Elkhart County parks.

You actually discovered that some were denning, right?

Absolutely.

How?

How was that discovered?

So we had a regular park patron who walks every morning happened to see them venturing on to the trail, kind of peeking out a little bit, snapped a photo brought that photo to us thinking they were fox, which we regularly have done here in the park and looking at the photo, looking at some of those markings on the animal.

I said, I don't think that's a fox.

I'm pretty sure that's a coyote.

Wow.

So we did a little more exploring then and you actually set up a trail cam, right, and got some great footage, which we're going to take a look at so we can learn more about the coyotes and their habits.

We're actually going to go trek out and see if we can find the den.

It's long past denning season.

Yes.

So we're not going to disturb them.

They have moved on and moved out.

So we'll go see if we can take a look.

OK, sounds great.

Well, we found a secluded spot tucked on kind of the slope, which I think is fairly common.

It sure is canines to make a den, and this is where you got footage of the coyotes.

We did.

We did.

They were digging, lounging about.

But you can see it's definitely been excavated a little bit more and there is an entrance hole right here.

And what amazes me is when you think about the size, it's not the kids so much, but the size of an adult coyote that they can, like, squeeze down in there and it's kind of tucked under the tree.

The roots, probably.

How large does a Coyote Den get under?

So they can be anywhere from like five to 15 feet deep, depending on if they dug it themselves, or if it's just an excavated groundhog burrow or den.

They've been known to just be in hollow trees, too.

So it just they're just trying to find shelter.

Yeah, but that's a good point that often they will dig out an already existing, for example, groundhog den and just make a figure.

So how many how many kids do you think there were?

So our first witness of the kids said there were seven counted, seven that could have been the entire family, though mom, dad and the baby and the kids or the pups.

And but we only had footage of five of them at a time.

five of the pups?

Yeah, it had to think about like cramming in there.

And of course, they do spend most of their time out and about right.

They do, especially like after about ten weeks, is when they're pretty much weaned off of their mother's milk and then mom and dad are bringing food in for them.

And I think that's when we caught them as about two, two and a half months or so, because then they'd be more.

They were.

Yeah, yep.

So we're going to try to make our way back out, and it's kind of interesting, you know, you can kind of see there's like paths, probably we're not traveling.

We're going to try to make our way back out because some of the great footage that you have is kind of in the open, yes , almost prairie like habitat.

And there's some interesting signs up there.

So we'll.

These are way back out.

OK, sounds good.

We're a little ways away now from the den, and it's kind of this beautiful big blue stem open habitat loss of your trail cam footage came from here so they don't hang right at the den after their correct.

Yeah, after about two months, they actually don't even go to the den site anymore.

They're probably too big for it at this point, but they're starting to venture out, explore their surroundings, and that's even playing.

Oh yeah, wrestling.

All that practice, fighting, you know, that kind of thing is just teaching them good skills that they're going to need as an adult.

What do they eat?

So they are omnivores.

The majority of their diet is meat, though, so that things like rodents, they would catch mice, voles, rabbits.

They will also eat berries and seeds and things.

You know, it kind of depends on what's available.

They are also opportunistic, so they will find what they need, and that includes a road kill.

In fact, we have some evidence here of them eating a large animal, probably a deer.

We are pretty close to a road and unfortunately, things, you know, get hit.

But what a great opportunity for them to get some sustenance off of that.

Yeah, see some bones of what you can tell.

It's been broken and sure.

Yeah, OK, but that's from a good sized animal.

So most likely a deer.

Another little bone here.

Here's another one right here.

Yeah, yeah.

So definitely omnivores, but very opportunistic so they can adapt and change their diet to depending on where they're found.

What you know, what the situation is for them, if they're having it in general, are coyotes now in Indiana, Michigan, kind of the Great Lakes area.

How how common are they?

Oh, very common.

There are more of them than we realize.

They are so adaptable.

They can live really in close quarters.

They can live in pretty much any kind of habitat, including cities.

Yeah, right.

Yeah, yeah.

And I think what is confusing is that because they are so secretive, we don't often see them.

So we don't think about them as plentiful as they are.

Sure.

Yeah.

But there are some benefits to having coyotes.

Absolutely.

They are what we call a keystone species.

They're one of our top predators here in this area.

And when a keystone species would be something that helps to control and kind of move and adapt to the habitat around them.

And by that, I mean they because they feed mostly on small rodents, even deer, they eat a lot of the herbivores that are cutting down the plant life.

Sometimes, you know, to a detriment to their habitat.

Yeah, absolutely.

And so having that check and balance here in in our natural systems helps to make it a better system.

It's more biodiverse the ecosystem in itself.

And I was reading that even in an urban setting, you get a lot of like city parks and things that have Canada geese.

Oh, yeah, yeah, I've read that they eat.

They regularly eat the eggs.

Yeah, which I've heard.

They even catch them right.

So I'll come back to them.

Yes, bury them and come back to them later, which is a talk about great population control over geese.

Right?

That can be a nuisance.

Yeah.

Excellent.

Yeah.

If people see a coyote, should they be concerned because sometimes they're right in people's neighborhoods?

Sure, many times they're just passing through.

Going from one point A to point B, not a problem.

And again, they're adaptable.

So they might be finding food in certain places.

They talk about different strategies you can use if you want to keep them away.

one of them is if you do come across one, don't panic.

They're probably panicking because they're really nervous and scared, and they most likely will.

Bolt will run away if they feel a little bit threatened or anything.

You can do what's called hazing.

And that is where you make yourself look big.

You know, maybe make a loud sound so that you're not startling them, but you're letting your presence be known.

You let them know that you see them.

And that's true for pretty much any animal, including dogs, you know, I mean, domesticated dogs, too.

But back away, you know, just say I'm not a threat.

I'm not a threat.

I'm not going to hurt you.

You're not going to hurt me.

We're all good.

And most of the time is absolutely going to go on about their business.

They're usually more startled than you are.

Oh, absolutely.

When when it's so good to remember that they are a part of our ecosystem and an important part, and that we can live side by side with coyotes.

We always have.

That's great.

Thanks so much, Krista.

You're welcome.

Great to learn about coyotes.

Remember, you can find your own outdoor elements when you visit area parks and natural areas.

We'll see you soon.