Coyotes

Through all of our travels, we rarely have seen any coyotes. They just seem to be out of sight so much that when we do get to see one, it is not only rare, but very notable. Always very fleeting as well.  This summer has very much been the exception to that norm, however. It seems like every time we have been out almost, we come across a coyote somewhere along the way.

For the most part, they are fleeting encounters - either the coyote is streaking along heading for other parts, or it takes off as soon as we begin to slow down. Consequently, we don't get the chance to photograph many.

Earlier this summer, I posted a notable exception to this rule on my Facebook Photography site. This is a Mearns Coyote (Canis latrans mearnsi)we happened across in Southwestern Colorado at Canyons of the Ancients National Monument. He was behind this "hedge" of sagebrush and we assume he thought he was hidden. He was number six for this summer.

Mearns Coyote

Montezuma County, Colorado, USA, September 3, 2016. Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300 f/4.5-5.6 at 300mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/8 for 1/320 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

On our latest trip the first week of August, we saw #8, #9, #10 and #11 in quick succession over less than 24 hours. It seemed they were everywhere. #8 was little more than eyes shining back at us in the night, but #9 raced to cross the highway in front of us and up a steep cutbank. There was no way to get a photo, but it was fun to watch his muscles ripple as he ran up that steep bank.

We were able to circle back and get a few photos of #10, but he was a long way away by then and kept moving along.

Mountain Coyote

Rio Ariba County, New Mexico, USA, October 5, 2016. Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 at 300mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/8 for 1/800 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

This is how we normally see them.  He wasn't running particularly fast, but pretty steadily. He did not stop as long as he was in sight except for brief glimpses back at us.

#11 was different. He was about 100 yards out into the middle of a large open meadow of tall grass. He could see us and we could see him, but he did not react.  Just kept on hunting rodents. We watched and took long-distance photos for quite a while. He slowly moved along for about 150 yards and we followed along until he left the meadow and entered a large area of brush and trees that came right down to the side of the road. I started bleating like a mule deer, and pretty soon he started to hunt us, eventually getting to within about 25 feet of us. He probably would have come closer, but I was outside the car to get better photos. He winded me and moved off a little, but still never ran.  We got lots of good photos of him.

Mearns Coyote

Rio Ariba County, New Mexico, USA, October 5, 2016. Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 at 300mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/9 for 1/200 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.

Western Rattlesnake

Western Rattlesnake

For the past 38 years we have made dozens of trips to the desert Southwest spending hundreds of days and some nights traipsing around in all kinds of places. This is only the second rattlesnake I have seen in all that time!

To be fair, they are not the only rattlesnakes I have seen in the wild. Growing up in Oregon and spending so much time on the breaks of the Deschutes River in Central Oregon, I encountered many during those years. I also encountered many during a summer I worked as a soil technician on an earthfill dam in Southern Utah during my University days. But from 1978 until now this the second rattlesnake I have seen in the wild!

This one was hiding under a ledge along side the trail to Step House in Mesa Verde National Park. He was trying to stay hidden and out of the sun and was not in a threatening mode at all, even though he is coiled ready to strike. He never rattled or made any sort of a move and kept his head down against the rock the entire time I was there. However, every time someone walked by, his head followed them and then came back to a neutral location!

Western Rattlesnake (Crotalus viridis), Step House, Wetherill Mesa, Mesa Verde National Park, Montezuma County, Colorado, USA, July 18, 2016. Nikon D90, AF-S Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 at 55mm, Manual Exposure mode, f/8 for 1/125 second, ISO 200, processed in Lightroom CC and Photoshop CC.