The girls go on a hunt

 My coyote magnetism continues. Sunday afternoon as I headed down the highway en route to the sheep, a beautiful coyote with long gangly legs ran across the road in front of me. Laughing at the continued presence of these wild canines in my life, I pulled off the highway to get a few images of the coyote as she ran away.

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.