Coyote Patterning

[Posiedon]

Has anybody looked into patterning coyote movement? My hunting pard. was looking at his trailcam pics, and noticed a pattern in all of the coyote shots. Every pic of a coyote was taken between 12PM-1:30PM and 12AM-1:30AM Exactly 12 hours apart and he said at least one coyote was the same. These pics were of all of last fall and winter, not just a single day or week, but months. Anybody else seen or noticed this?

[FinsnFur]

I've never run trail cams but I'm Rrrrrrrreal interested to see the responses here. Especially Higgins.

[Jimmie in Ky]

RR, Do you remember the biologist we had on the board in it's early days, Steve Allen, I think was his name.At any rate his line of study for the state of S.D. was furbearers, particularly coyotes. His studies showed that they covered their entire territory in a 24 hour period. These same tracking studies also showed them that litter size was based on the females age and not so much food supply or mortality rate.Might still be able to research some of his old post in the biology forum there if they didn't can them all.

I did go in PM and find an article that would answer some of your questions. Page 16 predator biology forum. Thread coyote cycles posted by Trapnman. Steve talks about movement and distribution.

In the early days of expansion here I noticed they would bed in one part of the territory for a time then move to another part for a short time. This cycle was about two weeks. This was where I started noticing the connection of howling in the afternoon to bedding areas. Territories were larger then than they are now, about 25 square miles. The howling habit is still the same now, if you can get them to howl near sunset. Today though, territories are about 18 square miles and they regularly use a central bedding area. This bedding area will change with the seasons and conditions at the time.

I locate most of them using a topo map and a howler. Just select the a road and drive it around the sunset hour. I howl about every two miles. I mark all answers down on my topo. After doing this I can then go to airial photos and find the mostly likely cover and travel lanes in and out of there. This way I don't have to ask every farmer in a territory for permission. If I can get five or six of the right farms,Walk them for sign and choose setups, I am good to go when frost comes. Jimmie

[keekee]

Here the coyotes seem to run threw there territory about every 24 hrs. All this will change depending on the seasons. During denning season they tend to just run the core area and not the hole territory. Breading season changes things to. They also change areas regularly with the food and season changes, and weather will change the travels as well.

Food seems to be the one I see change there patterns the most.

When I trapped all the time and was running 100 plus traps a day. I could tell by the days and times I cough coyotes. It seemed I could make a set, and sometimes  nail one the first night sometimes it would take 24 hrs or more to get one. Other times I would do a re-set and it maybe 24hrs before I cough another one in that set. And I had areas that it didn't seem to matter one way or the other, I cough coyotes on odd hrs, sometimes going 2-3 days between trapped coyotes. Other times just a few Hrs. I think allot of it depended on what kind of set I was running and what area of there territory the set was in.

Maybe the same with the trail cam pic's. The cam maybe in a core area or real close to the bedding area?


Brent

[Greenside]

I locate most of them using a topo map and a howler. Just select the a road and drive it around the sunset hour. I howl about every two miles. I mark all answers down on my topo. After doing this I can then go to airial photos and find the mostly likely cover and travel lanes in and out of there. This way I don't have to ask every farmer in a territory for permission. If I can get five or six of the right farms,Walk them for sign and choose setups, I am good to go when frost comes. Jimmie

Jimmie,  since you already know where they spend their days and start their nights , why are you concerned about travel lanes?

Every pic of a coyote was taken between 12PM-1:30PM and 12AM-1:30AM Exactly 12 hours apart and he said at least one coyote was the same.

Were they coming or going?

[Posiedon]

some were coming and some were going but I know what you were getting at.  I wondered it to.

[Rich Higgins]

Posiedon, ..."varied and adaptable"... the two words that are almost always used to describe coyote behavior. No one outside of your area can tell you why the coyotes in your area behave as they do. They can only give you some" possibles and best guesses". Coyotes behavior, their patterns and schedules, or lack of, are determined by those individual coyotes experiences and their reactions to them. Pressure on those coyotes and the resultant mortality rate is the greatest influencing factor.
The unexploited populations that many scientists study are a very stable population and the alphas are usually older animals, as much as 8 to 12 years old, and these are the animals that establish  large territories and spend much of their time mauntaining and defending them.
Heavily exploited populations have a high turn over due to hunting pressure and they may not even bother establishing defended territories with the exception of the defended core area around the den and/or rendezvous areas.
For example. in Crabtree's  studies of unexploited populations in Yellowstone, the ALE in Washington. and the DCR in California, the coyotes all established the classic territory and social structure that most people associate with the coyote. 
However Chesness and Berg conducted a five year study of exploited coyotes in
Northern Miinnesota that was every bit as complex as Crabtree's in which they trapped and tagged and radio collared 107 coyotes. They discovered that the males only established overlapping home ranges and did not participate in territorial defense. Only the females established and defended territories. However they only excluded other females and not males. The males home ranges averaged 26 square miles and the females averaged 6 square miles.
In southern Arizona, N.M. and the mesquite country of Texas there is no such thing as a hungry coyote. They eat mesquite beans all year long. Even when they have to kick rabbits out of the way their scat will often be green mounds of mesquite beans. Because resources are unlimited they have no need to establish territory in order to defend limited resources. They usually only defend denning areas. They often encounter and associate with other coyotes in their overlapping home ranges. Coyotes are normally very social animals.
D. A. Danner did a 2 year study of resident coyotes at the Santa Rita Reserve in southern Arizona. It is remarkable because the FICO feedlot with 30,000 head of cattle was on it's western border. As many as 30 cattle a month would die and be dragged onto the Santa Rita east of the feedlot.
The coyotes that were trapped and collared behaved according to their individual needs in that area. None defended any territory except den sites. The mature males moved within their home ranges that were elliptical in shape, the largest was 2 miles wide by 9 miles long, females were less than half that, they all pivoted on the feedlot. Yearling coyotes and pups never ventured more than 3/4 of a mile from the feedlot deadpile.
My point is that all coyotes in all areas behave differently according to existing conditions and pressure.  An unpleasant experience will alter their routines. If your coyotes are travelling the same route at the same time for extended periods, my best guess is that they are very secure and comfortable in those areas either because thay are not pressured and/or because they are moving in extremely thick cover where they are not threatened, especially if they have a daytrime travel routine.
Of course the four social seasons will influence travel areas and times but studies of the seasonal influence on behavior usually end with the disclaimer that there is as much variation within seasons as there is between them.
"Varied and Adaptable." And subject to change at any time.

[Bob D]

Rich,
Very interesting information .Thanks for sharing!
Bob

[Posiedon]

My point is that all coyotes in all areas behave differently according to existing conditions and pressure.  An unpleasant experience will alter their routines. If your coyotes are travelling the same route at the same time for extended periods, my best guess is that they are very secure and comfortable in those areas either because thay are not pressured and/or because they are moving in extremely thick cover where they are not threatened, especially if they have a daytrime travel routine.

To me, that implys they can be patterned. Any routine can be patterned, how long that routine lasts is another story.  For some reason last year these coyotes were traveling from point a to point b along this trail at the above mentioned times.  Why, we may never know.  It may be the same times this year or it may not be, we can only wait and see. Yes these coyotes do have some thick cover and are only pressured on this property by us.  But that is how most eastern coyotes are.  Almost all property hunted is private and any woods are thick. 

[Rich Higgins]

Posiedon, you are absolutely correct. Coyotes will often develope habits and routines that can be patterned. I took a female once that used the same trail under the same fence so often that she shaved the hair off her back from the base of her ears to the base of her tail. She had a perfect buzz cut about three inches wide.
Some territorial coyotes will patrol and mark their borders on a more or less routine schedule. Four coyotes would pass through my neighbors property at about 7:00 Am every morning for months.
My point again. No one else can tell you why they follow a routine in your area or how long they will follow it.. Just best guesses.

[Rick223]

Thanks Rich that was good reading.

[Posiedon]

 :roflmao: That is funny a coyote with a buzz cut...... One question, do you think she was butch?

[Rich Higgins]

Would you believe me if I told you that she came in to a "female solicitation howl"?

[Rick223]

What a hussy (OOPS) :roflmao:

[Jimmie in Ky]

All I have done with my method is to cut down the size of the search area. Dropped it from 18 or 20 square miles down to just 2 or 3 square miles. Instead of asking 300 or 400 hundred landowners for permission, I just need a dozen or so.I eliminate a lot of empty ground.

Our best chances for calling them are along the travel lanes. Not every coyote in the group will bed in the same wood lot. They will be scattered around this area we have found. Most of the animals I call in farm country are singles . one bedded in this lot and another bedded in another lot or thicket. If I call one out of the thicket I am working , there is the chance I can call another that is traveling through. It can increase your odds per setup.

AIrial photos show me where the woodlots and thickets are that I cannot see from the roads. They also show me the travel lanes . Knowing my wind conditions here, I can get a better idea of where to setup, and the better ways to access the areas they are in without alerting them to my presence.

The biggest diference between hunting east and west is the population per square mile. We are working with populations of one animal to each 1 1/2 to 2 square miles compared to a coyote for every .6 square miles. Finding some method of patterning them that works for you will increase your chances . Jimmie

[Posiedon]

Don't let any Gay Rights Activists know you killed her, you will be jailed for a hate crime.