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White-Tip Killed by Car - Stomach
Full of Cat Food
White-Tip (coyote 15) - named for his
distinctive tail - was hit by a car and
killed on Rte. 138 in Jamestown on May 1,
2006. On examination we found that
before being hit he was in extremely good
condition: very fat with a lustrous
pelt. His stomach was full of cat
food.
Despite his good condition this coyote
had been wandering the entire island of
Jamestown for the past four months not
apparently a member of any of the four
packs we know about on the island.
We believe he was born into the North
End Pack because, up until Christmas (the
start of the breeding season), he moved
almost exclusively within a small home
range with a distinct territory. The
territory of his pack could be recognized
by the fact that coyotes from other packs
did not trespass within it. Through
the summer the North End Pack moved
between Rte 138 and the north tip of
Jamestown. We discovered from
talking with residents that this group of
coyotes was subsidized with pet food and
scraps put in the woods and near
neighborhoods by residents. Until
late Fall White-Tip was frequently found
in the woods where most of this
feeding occurred.
When the breeding season began in late
December we believe that White-Tip's pack
began to exclude him because, as a
maturing male, he represented a threat to
the pack leader (probably his
father). So White-Tip began
exploring Jamestown. He was filmed as he
encroached on the edges of the Center
Island Pack's territory last winter. He
discovered several cow carcasses on a farm
close to that pack's territorial boarders
and marauded the area regularly to
eat.
From
Winter through Spring, he was
located (by his GPS points) at
the edges of the territories of
all the other packs as if he was
waiting for an opportunity to
join.
It appears from our last data
from White-Tip that the
Beavertail Pack may have begun
to accept him. He was
frequently found sleeping on the
Beavertail and he was last
approached by Numi Mitchell and
Quest Montessori School students
Yin Yefko, Jared Casey, and
Julia Suits (pictured left) on
April 25, 2006. On this
day we found him at a daytime retreat within
the territory, one of the
favorite resting spots, of the Beavertail
Pack. White-Tip gave
us a lot of information about
pack structure, juvenile and
young adult behavior,
and resource use. We wish
we could have had the
opportunity to study him longer
and see what happened next.
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 Click
to see a movie of White-Tip (the
coyote with the collar and
white-tipped tail) discovering
cow carcasses at the edge of the
Center Island Pack's
territory. The footage was
taken over several days this
past February. When he
enters, for the first time,
notice his tail his tucked under
his legs - he seems nervous
about trespassing and smells the
other coyotes. He seems to
get more comfortable after
getting away with it for a few
nights, however! The other
coyotes are presumed to be from
Chase's pack (the Center Island
Pack).
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Questions:
What happens when we feed
coyotes? Can you suggest some
consequences based on what you know about
coyotes?
What are some of the ways
people might be feeding coyotes without
realizing they are?
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Other
Notes: Our first
collar with a programmed release
date dropped off C3 of the
Beavertail Pack, Jamestown,
right on schedule May 23,
2006. The Telonics
automatic release we use worked
beautifully. Unfortunately the
collar release deployed in a
dense 5-acre thorn thicket!
Using
the radio signal we belly-crawled
in and tracked the collar
down. We've now sent the
collar back to HABIT so we can
download all the information
stored on
board and have the collar
rebuilt for our next
coyote. Thanks C3 for help
with our study- maybe we'll trap
you again sometime!
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