Part 2

Coyote pups are born 60 to 63 days after breeding. Their eyes open when they are 9 to 14 days old. The average number of young to the litter is normally 7. Although there may be smaller litters when food is scarce, it is not uncommon to find litters of 9 to 12 (fig. 1, A), and some females have been known to have as many as 17 young. The only thing provided in the nature of a nest is an enlarged section of the den, and some dens do not have even this. The pups lie in the dry dust on the floor.

Dens are often found to contain two litters, one consisting of young with eyes not yet open and the other of pups about a month old. One litter may be large and the other small, the latter probably belonging to a young female that, apparently at a loss for a place to den, had taken up quarters with her mother. Young females usually whelp about 10 days to 2 weeks later than the older ones. An occasional den may harbor three litters. At a den where two litters are found there is usually only one male, which would suggest polygamy.

Under normal conditions a pair of coyotes is found with every den unless one parent has been killed. If this happens to be the female and the pups are young, they die. If they are old enough to eat meat, the male parent cares for them, as he does his part in providing food.

Denning Sites and Habits

Coyotes do not select denning sites according to any recognizable rule, but many of them return to the same general locality year after year, even though dens are regularly dug out and the pups killed by den hunters. If the female is killed, the male may bring his new mate to the same den the next season. A dug out den that has not been badly damaged in removing coyotes may remain unoccupied for two or three seasons and then be used again, as was the case with the den in Conejos County, Colo., shown on the title page.

Figure 1.--A, Coyote and a litter of 10 taken from a den in San Luis Valley, Colo., in cooperative predator-control operations; B, coyote den (directly beneath hunter) in a hillside thicket in rugged country, Lance Creek, Wyo.]

Dens may be found in a canyon, wash-out, or coulee, on a bank or hillside (fig. 1, B), in a rock bluff, or even in level ground, as in a wheatfield, stubblefield, or plowed field. They have been discovered under deserted homestead shacks in the desert, under grain bins, in a drainage pipe, under a railroad, in a hollow log, in a thicket, and under a clump of thistles that had blown into a canyon.

As a rule, instead of digging all new dens, coyotes will enlarge abandoned badger or rabbit holes or use deserted porcupine dens in rocky promontories or canyon walls. Usually they start cleaning out the holes several weeks prior to whelping. They generally claw out the dirt in one direction from the mouth of the den, where it piles up into a mound, although some dens have no such mound (fig. 2, A).

The female continues digging and cleaning out den holes, sometimes a dozen or more, until the young are born. Then, if one den is disturbed the family moves to another. Sometimes the animals move only a few hundred yards, apparently just to have a cleaner home, leaving many fleas behind. Occasionally a female that has lost her whelps will clean out several holes before becoming reconciled to her loss. Barren females sometimes clean out holes, but they are not found traveling with a mate. Male coyotes also work at many holes in spring but generally to dig out dead rabbits. The tracks of the male will usually be seen at these freshly dug holes, which have a different appearance from those cleaned out for dens, and dried-up rabbit carcasses will generally be found nearby.

Figure 2.--A, Entrance to a coyote den in a dry creek bank, Morrow County, Oreg.; B, a former Biological Survey predator-control leader at the mouth of the coyote den dug out near Cokeville, Wyo. (Remains of three lambs in foreground, including two skulls out of which the brains had been lapped by coyotes.)]

When entering the den, the coyotes almost always go around, not over, the mound, if one is present. Dens may have one or several entrances in use, and several passages may branch from the main one. After the pups are born, small balls of rolled fur and hair from the mother's belly may be found in the dry dirt in the mouth of the den.

Parent coyotes have no set time for being at home and may be found near the den at any hour. Although they do most of their killing early in the morning, they sometimes visit the den only at night. They are clean about their dens; so there is little refuse or odor.

Methods of Den Hunting

The proper time for hunting coyote dens is from April 5 to June 15. If one starts too early, before some of the coyotes have whelped, the territory will have to be covered again. Where signs indicate a late den, however, it should be sought in a follow-up visit.

The coyote den is usually made in rougher surroundings than are dens of small burrowing rodents and is normally within reach of water. Contrary to general supposition, however, coyotes do not always have their dens near water. In hilly areas they usually do, but on the large deserts of eastern Oregon the dens are often found as far as 6 miles from water. Coyotes do not go to water regularly unless the weather is warm, and pups do not need water until they are several months old.

Den hunting should be systematic and thorough. Where the soil is sandy the movements of coyotes can be readily ascertained by means of tracks and other signs characteristic of the whelping season. The general location of a den may occasionally be learned by hearing the howling of the coyotes, but other means must be employed to actually find it. It may be located by tracking, by watching the movements of old coyotes, or by riding the range looking for holes, but systematic tracking insures the best results.

A good time to hunt dens by tracking is just after a rain. Another good time is the day after a severe windstorm, as storms restrict the activity of the coyotes.

Water holes and springs in the desert are excellent places from which to start in locating dens. It is best to circle the water hole, noting the direction of the tracks and giving special attention to those of pairs and to their relative freshness, for when fresh tracks of a pair are noted they are generally close to the den. When sign is found, it should be back-tracked to a point where there are tracks going both ways; the tracks begin to form a trail within a quarter of a mile from the dens. Near the den, unless the ground is too hard, many tracks will be found going and coming in every direction. Finding the den is then an easy matter. Sometimes, however, tracks lead to a den from only one direction.

Loose hairs and distinctive tracks are often to be found in the mouth of a used coyote den. The coyote track is elongated, and not nearly so rounded as a dog track, and the coyote side-toe track is longer than that of a dog of the same size. The tracks of young coyotes, barren females, and those that have lost their pups can be distinguished from those of denning pairs, as the latter generally travel by a direct route, the tracks of the female usually being smaller and more pointed than those of the male.

When the female leaves the den for water she almost always travels on a direct line, probably not deviating over a hundred yards from it in a distance of several miles. Coyotes do not always water at the same place each time, however, nor return to their den direct from the watering place unless the den is a long distance from water. Sometimes the male will remain near the den while the female is away, but more often the two travel together, the female holding a little more to a true course than the male. The tracks often indicate that they travel side by side for some distance, the male then wandering away several hundred yards but later returning to his mate.

Coyotes with dens have regular hunting grounds to which they usually travel on a nearly straight course, whether near or several miles distant, but they do not travel back to the den on a direct line again until after they have made their kills.

When the den is in danger of being discovered coyotes act in a nervous manner. Some will circle about it at a distance when the hunter is near; the old female may be seen in one direction and, after disappearing, may later be seen peering over a hill in another quarter. When a female with a den first sees a person, she looks first at him for a moment, then almost invariably toward the den, sometimes turning completely around to do so.

A den is usually located within a radius of approximately a mile of freshly cleaned out holes. An experienced hunter can tell by the appearance of a den and by signs nearby whether it is occupied, without dismounting from his horse. When a den is located, if the whelps are roaming a considerable distance away, the searcher should circle it, making plenty of noise to stimulate their return. They should not be rushed, however, as they will then scatter and run into any accessible hole, where extra effort in digging them out will be required.

As a rule, one will not find many living rabbits near a den, so that in a rabbit-infested district a scarcity of rabbits may be a clue to a nearby den.

Activities of Whelps

Inexperienced hunters often dig out dens that contain no young. If the searcher listens at the mouth of the den he can usually hear any whelps inside, especially when they are quite young, as they are then seldom quiet. If a nursing whelp loses hold of a teat, it is rather noisy until it regains its hold.

The whelps emerge when about 3 weeks old, and then their tracks and other sign are easily noted. At this age, they do not whine as young pups do but can be heard moving around when in the den, where, if crowded, they sometimes growl. Curiosity to see what is going on outside will drive some to the entrance. When the burrow is steep they are unable to clamber out at as early an age as when it is nearly level. Little scratches made in their attempt to crawl out will often be noted on the side walls and floor of the den.

When the whelps are about 8 to 10 weeks old the dens are abandoned and the entire family roves about, remaining together until early fall.