A coyote in Yellowstone National Park was lucky to escape with its hide intact after it got a little too close to a pack of wolves feasting on a bison carcass, and one wolf chased it right past a tour bus.
“He pushed his luck,” said tour guide Jim Holstein, who took video of the incident on Sunday.
Wolves can regard coyotes as unwelcome competition and will sometimes kill the smaller canines.
Luckily for the coyote that day, the wolf seemed to just want it to go away and wasn’t hell-bent on chasing the coyote down and killing it in front of the tourists.
Keeping A Respectful Distance
In Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, wolves and coyotes have reached a tenuous agreement and live close to one another.
For the most part, coyotes have learned to keep their distance when wolves make a kill or find carrion. Coyotes will watch from a respectful distance, and dart in for a meal only after the wolves finish.
Holstein, who is with Yellowstone Tour Guides, has worked in the park for more than 30 years, and told Cowboy State Daily that he’s rarely seen coyotes pushing boundaries as boldly as the one he took video of — with a wolf right on its heels.
“It’s not an everyday occurrence by any means,” he said.
Holstein is familiar with the park’s wolf packs, and thinks it was the well-known Junction Butte pack that was eating the bison carcass when the coyote decided to tempt fate.
The wolves must have been pretty well-fed at that point and not have taken it too seriously, he said.
Only one wolf peeled off and went after the coyote, rather than the entire pack barreling after the coyote and possibly turning it to mincemeat.
Coyotes Are Tenacious And Daring
Some people who have watched coyotes in Yellowstone and Grand Teton have gained great respect for them, and their ability to make a living among much bigger carnivores, including wolves, mountain lions and grizzly bears.
Yellowstone wildlife technician Kyle Vetter previously told Cowboy State Daily that he watched two coyotes, apparently a mated male and female, use their wits to eke out a hard living in the Hayden Valley.
The coyotes would occasionally snatch a bite from large carcasses but had to watch out for wolves and grizzlies, he said.
They also hunted voles, which kept them from getting crossways with the apex predators, he added.
In Grand Teton in May, wildlife photographer Tammy Neufeld watched and took video of perhaps the bravest, or most foolish, coyote ever.
The wily little canine crept up behind the famous Grizzly 610 and bit the huge bear in the butt.
The coyote was quick, and darted way before Grizzly 610 could whip around and use her claws to turn it into coyote burger.
Neufeld said that bold coyote and some others were irritated that Grizzly 610 had taken over their food cache, likely fish, at Oxbow Bend on the Snake River.
It was to no avail, she said. Even after being nipped on the butt, Grizzly 610 stayed to eat her fill.
Rather than competing with wolves and grizzlies, a famous Yellowstone coyote, Limpy, found perhaps a safer way to get by.
He’s so named, because he exaggerates a leg injury and makes pathetic faces, to sucker tourists out of snacks along the roadside, even though feeding wildlife in Yellowstone is strictly forbidden.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
