Threat to geese: me v. coyote

JohnDC

I'm prompted to post these photos from the Salton Sea to go with those from KDog Joel at Bosque showing coyotes paling around with the Bosque fowl. http://dgrin.com/showthread.php?t=113804

I just went to the Salton Sea where the snow geese would fly away if I didn't keep my distance and stay in the weeds and mud. A porto-blind did no good. But then to add to the insult, the geese let this coyote trot right through their midst without even flinching. I'm scrapping my camou and buying a fur coat.

These are highly cropped images--there was no way the geese would let me take a close up.

He hears the shutter click and glances my way. The geese go on about their business.


He stops to pose. The geese could care less.

Dogdots

Amazing...the geese weren't even afraid of the coyote, but they were of you.

Sometimes you have to wonder how animals think. They must of known the coyote wasn't hungry

Aspire

What a cheeky coyote, neat capture!

kdog

Excellent shots, John! Looks like you got a lot closer to the wily critter than I did. I'd forgotten how skittish the birds were at SS. At Bosque, the snow geese seem completely unafraid. One even got in my car and tried to hitch a ride. Ok, not really. But if they were any more tame they probably would. Regardless, I'd take a clean coyote shot over a whole card full of snow geese.

Hey did you see any burrowing owls??

-joel

dlplumer

Nice capture and interesting distinction between the SG at SS and the SG at Bosque

NorthernFocus

Amazing the geese aren't even looking at the coyote. I think "bird brains" have more going on upstairs than we give them credit for. It's amazing how wild geese will land in a city park and let people walk within five feet of them. The same birds won't come within a quarter mile of a boat during hunting season Refering to the two locations mentioned, is hunting ever allowed in (or near) the one where the geese are skiddish? They have a permit hunt in our local wildlife refuge in fall and once it starts you can't get anywhere close to the geese.

kdog

articblooms wrote:

Amazing the geese aren't even looking at the coyote. I think "bird brains" have more going on upstairs than we give them credit for. It's amazing how wild geese will land in a city park and let people walk within five feet of them. The same birds won't come within a quarter mile of a boat during hunting season Refering to the two locations mentioned, is hunting ever allowed in (or near) the one where the geese are skiddish? They have a permit hunt in our local wildlife refuge in fall and once it starts you can't get anywhere close to the geese.

Yup. Last year around this time at the Salton Sea it sounded like a war zone with all the gun fire going on outside the reserve.

Bosque, not so much. I didn't hear any gun fire at all there. However, I was told by the head biologist that they do on occasion allow hunts for certain birds. I don't know how often that is.

-joel

JohnDC

kdog wrote:

Yup. Last year around this time at the Salton Sea it sounded like a war zone with all the gun fire going on outside the reserve.

Bosque, not so much. I didn't hear any gun fire at all there. However, I was told by the head biologist that they do on occasion allow hunts for certain birds. I don't know how often that is.

-joel

I agree: hunting must be the difference. In the Salton Sea area, "hunt clubs," "duck clubs," and "shooting blinds" are abundant throughout the same area as the National Wildlife Refuge. Just as Joel describes, it's a shooting zone. These guys must be using streetsweepers for hunting. It sounds like semi-automatics to me--shots in very fast succession. I kept wondering when I was going to get peppered by birdshot. The birds were probably thinking the same thing... all the birds were skittish--even non-game birds like ibis, cranes, and egrets.

kdog

JohnDC wrote:

I agree: hunting must be the difference. In the Salton Sea area, "hunt clubs," "duck clubs," and "shooting blinds" are abundant throughout the same area as the National Wildlife Refuge. Just as Joel describes, it's a shooting zone. These guys must be using streetsweepers for hunting. It sounds like semi-automatics to me--shots in very fast succession. I kept wondering when I was going to get peppered by birdshot. The birds were probably thinking the same thing... all the birds were skittish--even non-game birds like ibis, cranes, and egrets.

That sounds way worse than last year, John. That's awful, and real sorry to hear that. :cry

Did you see any owls this year?

-joel

NorthernFocus

After hunting started around Creamers Field (our local waterfowl "refuge") you could forget about getting any BIF images. As soon as the birds saw you on the ground they would flare. Prior to that, they pretty much ignored you unless you pretty close. The fear did seem to translate across to the sandhills as well even though they aren't hunted.

However, the birds are smart enough to know that they were still safe setting down right in front of the viewing areas even if there were people there moving around in the open.

JohnDC

articblooms wrote:

After hunting started around Creamers Field (our local waterfowl "refuge") you could forget about getting any BIF images. As soon as the birds saw you on the ground they would flare. Prior to that, they pretty much ignored you unless you pretty close. The fear did seem to translate across to the sandhills as well even though they aren't hunted.

However, the birds are smart enough to know that they were still safe setting down right in front of the viewing areas even if there were people there moving around in the open.

Right now, the hunting locations at the Salton Sea are scattered throughout the refuge. Maybe putting the locations on one side of the refuge and the viewing locations on another would give the birds a more consolidated secure area where they could calm down for a while.