Calling her back was to no avail, so I ran too.
Then the coyote spun around, and suddenly they were nose to nose, inches apart, and roughly the same size. From all I’d heard and read, I thought this could go really badly. They stood there for what seemed like an eternity, no sounds, no circling, just staring.
Then they both broke away, the coyote headed west they way they intended, Eva back to me to resume the walk like nothing had happened. My heart was still racing.
I learned two things that morning. First, coyotes aren’t nearly as fast as I had expected. No wonder Wile E. Coyote can never catch the roadrunner. And two, I didn’t worry as much about encounters with single coyotes and my medium-sized dogs anymore, at least not ones traveling alone.
Coyotes are survivalists and tangling with hunting dogs isn’t smart for that objective. My perspective would change if the dog were smaller and alone or multiple coyotes were involved.
100+ years of coyotes
Coyotes weren’t Ohio residents at the turn of the last century. The first sighting was around 1919, a handful of decades after wolves were extirpated from the state. At a time when many other wildlife populations were just beginning to recover across the state, whitetail deer for example, they walked in at an average weight of 35 pounds as the new apex predator on the block.
Through a combination of intelligence and a willingness to do whatever it takes, they’ve expanded and thrived in that position since and were found in all 88 counties by 1988.
They sit at the apex just below hunters and cars. Hunters and photographers can take advantage of coyotes’ opportunistic nature by using calls that mimic smaller animals in distress. If you’ve ever heard these sounds, you’ll remember them, and coyotes certainly do. That said, rarely do they come charging in to take over the scene.
Discretion being the better part of valor, they’ll check out the scene using all of their senses. They’re attracted from a distance by the sound. When they get closer, they’ll often stop and visually assess the scene. My 60-yard encounter with Eva was much closer than coyotes want to be to humans in my experience.
The entire time they’re using their acute sense of smell and the wind to validate what their ears are telling them. They’ll often travel a complete circle around what they think is the source of the sound, ensuring they get downwind of where the scent should be, before coming any closer.
If anything is off, they’ll check out.
Making more coyotes
It’s safe to say the population is stable and not going anywhere. When one is eliminated, another will move into the area. Generally nocturnal during the breeding season from January to March, they are more visible across the landscape as they search out mates. You might hear or see more activity during this time. Gestation is around 63 days, with a litter of 5-10 pups born in a den from March to April. Both the male and female provide the litter, with the male providing for both mother and pups when they’re newborn. At 10-12 weeks they start learning to hunt. They stay together as family through the summer, then go their own way to start their own lives, anywhere from 10 to 100 miles away.
While they are primarily nocturnal and healthy coyotes generally avoid humans, you should use common sense when dealing with them. Don’t leave food scraps and waste loose where animals can easily get to them. Watch over and have control over your pets, especially at night.
Don’t approach an animal that is acting abnormally. You can call the Division of Wildlife at 1-800-WILDLIFE (945-3543) if you have questions. Oh, and I can 99.999% assure you that what you saw in Southwest Ohio was not a wolf.
Devin Meister is a local outdoors and wildlife enthusiast and has a blog called “Average Guy Outdoors.” He is an Ohio University graduate. Reach him at meister.devin@gmail.com.
MORE ONLINE
Coyote facts: ohiodnr.gov
100+ years of coyotes in Ohio: metroparks.net/blog/celebrating-100-years-of-coyotes-in-ohio/
About the Author
