Animals around the Basin: Coyotes

It would be difficult to talk to a Columbia Basin citizen who has not seen or heard a coyote. In fact, coyotes inhabit many residential areas and even downtown areas.

My most recent sighting was in the residential area of Hacienda Heights, CA, which is a few miles to the Southeast from downtown Los Angeles. My cousin, Mike Grimshaw, was driving me home from an early-morning breakfast before my flight back to Spokane.

We were discussing wildlife in the area and Mike said the residential area was infested with coyotes.

“Here?” was my response, gesturing with my hands, showing house after house as if it were in the Knolls Vista housing area.

“Yes,” Mike said.

At the next intersection, he pointed to the left, “Look, there’s one right there.”

Sure enough, a large coyote, with a beautiful coat, was scooting along the sidewalk of a housing area within 20 miles of Los Angeles.

Coyotes are known to be creative, sneaky, cunning, sly and clever. One of the most repeated stories about these song dogs is when they work in pairs. This way of acting is documented when the first pioneers appeared in the Columbia Basin up until modern day.

A coyote will approach a family dog and play with it, being friendly and enticing it to follow the coyote away from the house. Little by little, further and further the coyote and dog move away from the security of the house and front yard.

Finally, perhaps at the edge of a shed, the family dog will turn the corner where the second coyote is waiting. Bam! The family dog becomes coyote dinner.

A demonstration of the cunning efforts of a coyote was demonstrated while traveling from Moses Lake to the Tri-Cities a few years ago. There is an area just before heading down the hill to Mesa. First viewed were two farm dogs, out of breath, at the edge of the cliff.

Another quarter mile down the road, the coyote was spotted, calm and standing at the edge of the same cliff, just at a quarter-mile distance from the farm dogs. It was obvious to me, the coyote had given the farm dogs “the slip” meaning it had confused the dogs and escaped by one means or another.

Coyote biology: They aren’t as large as they seem, averaging 18 pounds for males and 15 pounds for females.

The coyote is typically smaller than the gray wolf, which confuses the public from time to time.

Usually, a coyote doesn’t cause problems with city or farm families. However, everyone should take care with small animals, being aware of the possibility of them being eaten by coyotes.