But she didn’t run far. As I watched, the coyote ran through
the sagebrush, but soon paused and turned. Instead of looking back at me, she
was looking elsewhere. I strained to see what could be so interesting in her
line of sight, and soon saw a red/brown fury erupt through the sage, headed
right at the coyote. The coyote stood quietly, winking both her eyes at the
approaching badger – apparently waiting for her companion.
Once the badger approached the coyote’s side, the pair took
off through the sagebrush, hunting together companionably. At times the coyote
would surge forward after some small prey, but would often stop and look back
over her shoulder, allowing the smaller predator to catch up.
I had the distinct pleasure of watching badger and coyote as
they zig-zagged together through the sagebrush for about 20 minutes. I never
left the roadway, but remained in my truck, camera and lens out the window,
with Hud the herding dog leaning on my shoulder, just as captivated by the
scene as I. We watched until the two hunters continued on their merry way, out
of sight.
I returned a little later in the day, hoping to catch
another glimpse of the pair, and was rewarded by the sight of badger’s rump
disappearing into a hole she was frantically excavating, with Coyote stationed
nearby. As Badger threw dirt into the air, Coyote reclined on the ground,
watching the excavation, and blinking her eyes as some of the dirt landed on
her.
Eventually Badger quit throwing dirt, but did not reappear
above ground. Coyote got up and inspected the new hole before lying back down
next to the hole, placing her chin on her paws and falling asleep. Satisfied, I
left them to their slumber.
My apologies that the photos are not of better quality (they
are severely cropped in), but they serve the purpose of proving my story true.
I dared not approach for fear of scaring them away, or otherwise altering their
Sunday outing. I did see both Coyote and Badger again later in the day, but
this time they were no longer together.
14 comments:
You realize you may have the first photo document of LEGEND.
Congratulations!
Thanks Steve - it sure was fun to watch. All told, my encounters with this pair lasted about three hours.
I should also mention that this happened in an active natural gas field, not a protected refuge. We were only about 1/2 mile from a drilling rig, but it's an area where I see coyotes often. I've driven you through this area as well Steve - typical Wyoming sagebrush rangelands.
I've seen this story told a hundred times in print with a disclaimer at the end! What an awesome thing to run into in your daily life, and how great that you had a camera! Keep an eye open for Bigfoot!
What's next, "The Wind in the Willows" with a new canid character? :)
Gobsmacked.
"There are more things in Heaven and Earth..."
Hi Steve,
Popped over after a heads up on SB's blog. Congrats on a great blog...John
....AND(plug time here) EVERYONE, if you enjoy such wildlife tales/observances, it is MANDATORY you get Cat's new book--"The Shepherds Of Coyote Rocks"--chock full of such stories, as well as a better understanding of the sheep, and guardian dogs, and donkeys, and transhumance, etc. etc. that is regularly discussed and presented on this blog. My NEW HARDBACK copy(beautifully illustrated with just such photos) was VERY reasonably priced, as well! Got mine off'n Amazon, of course....L.B.
Holy cow!
This may sound a little silly, but I'm still completely over the moon about this. One of the most wonderful things I've ever witnessed.
Lane, I may have accidentally deleted you (home after day in Alb with lots of mail and shaky hands). Again please-- something about Wild Kingdom?
Cat-- I tweeted it too!
What Lane wrote, recovered:
I have always read about this hunting partnership between badgers and coyotes, and once saw an old "Wild Kingdom"(back in the Marlin Perkins days) episode about it, except they also included Golden Eagles as sometimes hunting alongside coyotes and badgers, taking advantage of any groundsquirrels, etc., flushed by the two mammalian predators! But then, that episode was almost cerainly made with tame captives, with the usual "Wild Kingdom" disclaimer--"All sequences, whether actual or created, depict authenticated facts"!....L.B.
There was an old Smithsonian magazine that had some pictures of this. Certainly not an everyday occurrence, to say the least.
I once saw a photo in Natural History of a coyote and a badger who had hunted together. If I remember correctly, the acompanying article said that they groomed each other afterwards.
I'd give my eyeteeth to see what you saw!
Thanks
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