Are coyotes getting into packs now?

Infidel, what is the source of your data? I would be interested in reading it. Robert Crabtree"s research in Wa. Ca. and Yellowstone centered on unexploited populations and the subjects were identified in his reports as "packs".The primary subject being the Bison Peak pack in the Lamar Valley. Earlier Camanzind. Lehner, Ryden and Bekoff all at different times studied the unexploited populations on the National Elk Reserve and they all identified their subjects as packs. Camanzind studied from 1971 - 1976 what he identifies as the Miller Butte Pack, the the Nowln Creek Pack and the Poverty Flat Pack. He further broke the populations down into four organizations of which 15% were nomads, 24% were resident pairs and 61% were pack members. Allcoyotes do not belong to packs, but to state that the coyote is not a pack animal is fundamentally incorrect.
 
Rich unexploited in the terms that I have read in reguards to Crabtree means unhunted and not pressured by human intervention. Is it possible that our intervention into nature where the coyote is concerned could be possibly altering an otherwise natural occurrance such as the coyotes staying in packs for longer than what they appear to be doing now-a-days?

This is something that I have thought about for a long time. In places where the animals are larger(bison,elk,moose,etc.) they seem to be staying in these larger units..... Just a thought. >>>>>>>James L.

BTW I agree with your post above. They may not be packs such as wolves but there are most certainly larger units than what was once believed.... J.L.
 
A lot of argument going on here about an animal that is changing and adapting as we speak. What I see here in Ky is totally diferent from what someone will see in another area. I refer to them as groups. They are group oriented through family relations. As hunters they are independant yet constantly keep up with each other through howling.The entire group will hunt in a sort of wave through an area covering at most two miles wide. The only time I consider tehm to have or show pack tendancies is when they hunt in packs of three or more animals. I have seen this several times in febuary and march.

Expansion alone proves that the coyote is still evolving into somethign we may not want to deal with in the future as landowners and farmers.Jimmie
 
I may just be verbalizing out my posterior here, but it would seem to me that a coyotes social structure and pack habits would depend primarily on it's needs. If I were Mr. Yote, and I lived in the wonderful desert area we call home here in AZ, I would be more inclined to loneliness with the occasional "professional courtesy" to my fellow canids. The reason, there's plenty for all. There's enough small critters to feed an almost innumerable amount of coyotes, there's plenty of cover for everyone and there's not much above me on the food chain.

In other areas the situation would be different. I might have to get together with some "hunting buddies" in order to bring down larger game because it's the only thing available. I've also got to be concerned about bigger doggies (wolves) coming along to munch on me. As a result, I'd tend to team up to increase the odds of survival. So, as previously stated, I don't think there are any absolutes. I believe that there's some general rules that can be observed in both human and canine behavior, and then there's the numerous exceptions.
 
James, you are correct in your statement about unexploited populations, and that is the very reason researchers choose those areas to conduct their studies. They are able to observe the behavior of the subjects from long distances without influencing that behavior and they have a relatively stable population undisturbed by humans that can be studied long term. Heavily exploited populations are in a constant state of flux and the residents of those territories change often because of that pressure making research difficult at best as D.A. Danner documented in his study of Arizona coyotes in 1976. Wolverine, Jimmie and you are correct in supposing that pack sizes are governed by need. Territories that are large and provide abundant food, whether carrion such as in the parks or close to dairies and feedlots or with large populations of rodents are attractive to all coyotes and must be contantly defended from enterlopers. Pack sizes increase as demand increases. YOY are retained and betas are recruited from the nomadic population to satify that demand. Early explorers of the Great Plains reported coyotes in packs of 20 or 30 chasing deer, antelope and even straggling buffalo. The early settlers reported the coyote in large packs, which where considered a threat to livestock. The systematic extirpation of the large predators changed the behavior of the very adaptable coyote. Missouri, in 1853, was the first state to place a bounty on the coyote and the resultant pressure changed the behavior of those coyotes quickly. They became furtive (read sneaky) primarily nocturnal and much less vocal than they had been. In the majority of the coyotes range, however, they prey on small animals and birds and do not need the help of others, they are hunted heavily and shot at on sight so have learned to maintain a low profile.
 
more info....

Studies of coyotes allow different behavioural patterns to be analyzed as phenotypic adaptations to local conditions (Bekoff & Wells, 1986). In some places coyotes live like typical grey wolves - in resident packs that are essentially closely-knit extended families consisting of overlapping generations of parents, young-of-the-year, and helpers of varying genetic relatedness. In other habitats they live either as resident mated pairs or as transient single individuals showing little or no site attachment. The mated pair seems to be the basic social unit.

The relative frequency with which different social groups are observed can vary from location to location and seems to depend mainly on the nature of food resources (Camenzind, 1978; Bowen, 1981; Bekoff & Wells, 1986; Gese, Rongstad, & Mytton, 1988a; see also Gese, Rongstad, & Mytton, 1988b). Pack members share in territorial defence and some serve as helpers for rearing young and for defending territories outside the breeding season. At least in northern climates, packs typically form when there is sufficient food in late autumn and winter to allow young-of-the-year to form strong social bonds with older pack members; this results in some young-of-the-year remaining with their parents and older siblings.

=-=-=-=-=-==-=-=-=-=-=-=

the rest:
http://www.canids.org/PUBLICAT/CNDNEWS3/coyotes.htm
 
Sorry I was hunting did not mean to make you all waite for a name!!!!!! I thought you might just call ADF&G and ask Mcnay it is a grad program but the point man here in Fairbanks is Mr.Steave Arthar at the main Office in Fairbanks his intrest was in the amount of wild sheep taken Due to the Trout info He recived from the State in his book.

I have to agree with some above what coyotes eat depend on where they live and game they can take and there is no difference between a calf or full growen sheep or a moose calf or a bou calf I am not sure who Mr.Crabtree is but I would say that Dr.Mech had the moast points as far as wolves go again sorry for the hold up have a great weekend>> Coyote Slayer
 
Good information in this thread. Where I go there is not a ton of them, but last month I could hear them howl almost every night I was out to camp. Never seen more then two with a pup close by. When I've seen them cross the feild it's usually when the after burners have kicked in. The hardest part I think about hunting them this time of year will be the fact that the weeds in the feilds have grown waist high. Walked right up on a pair making lunch out of a woodchuck. Got to observe them for about 10 seconds before the spooked and ran off. They were useing their paws to hold the carcass down. I walked up to the spot and it was almost as if they had skinned the animal. Anyhow I belive there is about 1/2 dozen scattered about, but when they howled it sounded like a few dozen. The interesting thing is it is now mid - late October, and the both times i've been to camp I have not heared them. Yet I have spotted scat and tracks. Any inside info or advice would be apriciated. One thought would wait till once snow falls, tracking their movements and spotting them.
 
Back
Top