I got out for a ride on the motorcycle this morning and found myself about 1/2 between Warren Grove and Recovery Road when two coyote pups crossed in front of me. I turned off the bike and climbed a slight rise on the roadside.
The two puppies were at a safe distance but obviously very curious and watched me with great interest (probably the first time they saw a human). The feeling was mutual to say the least. They were not so far away that I could not see them in detail. This was an area still recovering from the wildfire so there was little cover.
Now this is interesting...They were both puppies, no question, but still large. About the size of fox-not as long but heavier. Very healthy looking. Now get this, one was nearly jet black except for a slight fade toward gray on his tail. The other was nearly fox red, but with some grey. I remember seeing a photo of an eastern coyote that was black, but I did not know they came in red!
A few years back, my wife saw a state trooper along the parkway out of his car looking at, in her words: "a big coyote with red fur, too large to be a fox". I always wondered about that but now I seem to agree that it was a red yote.
Sadly, I forgot my camera. However the zoom on my older "woods" camera does not work well and I doubt the pics would have been very good. It was very exciting. I spent about 5 minutes observing this animals, and them observing me, till they finally moved deeper. No sign of the mother. But I will say that the mother is probably one big bad a$$ judging from the size of these puppies.
BTW I know the difference between a fox and a yote. These were yotes and did not appear to be coy-dogs, aside from the color, they were identical.
Jeff
The two puppies were at a safe distance but obviously very curious and watched me with great interest (probably the first time they saw a human). The feeling was mutual to say the least. They were not so far away that I could not see them in detail. This was an area still recovering from the wildfire so there was little cover.
Now this is interesting...They were both puppies, no question, but still large. About the size of fox-not as long but heavier. Very healthy looking. Now get this, one was nearly jet black except for a slight fade toward gray on his tail. The other was nearly fox red, but with some grey. I remember seeing a photo of an eastern coyote that was black, but I did not know they came in red!
A few years back, my wife saw a state trooper along the parkway out of his car looking at, in her words: "a big coyote with red fur, too large to be a fox". I always wondered about that but now I seem to agree that it was a red yote.
Sadly, I forgot my camera. However the zoom on my older "woods" camera does not work well and I doubt the pics would have been very good. It was very exciting. I spent about 5 minutes observing this animals, and them observing me, till they finally moved deeper. No sign of the mother. But I will say that the mother is probably one big bad a$$ judging from the size of these puppies.
BTW I know the difference between a fox and a yote. These were yotes and did not appear to be coy-dogs, aside from the color, they were identical.
Jeff
