Let sleeping dogs lie…

ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
edited January 9, 2011 in Wildlife
On the day before Christmas, my son and I headed to Yosemite to see what we could find while waiting for Santa to head our way.

On the drive down there, I mentioned that we should keep our eyes out for coyotes as we've spotted them around the valley floor far more often during winter than any other time of year.

We came into the park along Highway 120 and just as we were turning onto the valley floor where Big Oak Road meets Hwy 140 from El Portal, I spotted a coyote on the left, just sitting there. We quickly parked and grabbed our cameras as the coyote shuffled between poses like a professional model.

Here are two of my favorites…

1) Just sitting there like tourists don't exist:

1147493712_2PfbV-L.jpg




2) Catching a quick nap…

1139343850_4utYh-L.jpg



We likely could've kept shooting much longer, but some idiots, er, tourists, pulled up and started tossing bread towards the coyote to lure it closer. That pulled the coyote off the tiny patch of grass and onto the parking area's concrete (which makes for a lousy background in pictures). :huh

Comments

  • PGMPGM Registered Users Posts: 2,007 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    Nice photos! You are so right. Parking area concrete isn't the best background!
  • IcebearIcebear Registered Users Posts: 4,015 Major grins
    edited January 5, 2011
    Jeeze. Where's a ranger when you need one.
    Nice shots.
    John :
    Natural selection is responsible for every living thing that exists.
    D3s, D500, D5300, and way more glass than the wife knows about.
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    PGM wrote: »
    Nice photos! You are so right. Parking area concrete isn't the best background!

    Some of my best shots (dead-on focus) were after he stepped onto the concrete (and before I realized why he suddenly moved forward so aggressively). Ah well, there will be more coyotes to shoot on future trips…

    Thanks for the chiming in!
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    Icebear wrote: »
    Jeeze. Where's a ranger when you need one.
    Nice shots.

    I added the ranger's phone number to my cell for next time, though reception along the valley floor can be very spotty so it's a bit of a long shot (plus factoring in response time).

    On our next trip to Park, we spotted a family hand-feeding deer in the meadow between Fern Springs and Bridalveil Fall. I've watched plenty of interactions between Does and other animals. They can be VERY mean on a moment's notice - usually involving kicking with their front legs (those hooves look like they could deliver a nasty smackdown).

    Last summer, while talking with a ranger that was babysitting tourists near a bear in a meadow by the Crane Flat gas station, I asked if her tranquilizer gun was for the bear or for tourists that insisted on getting too close to the bear…sure could've used that for the coyote and deer feeders… rolleyes1.gif
  • redleashredleash Registered Users Posts: 3,840 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    I like #2 a lot--nice composition and his expression is so peaceful. The background clutter sort of bothers me but I'm not sure it would clone out too well. I wonder if a square crop would work? Maybe not b/c the existing crop fits nicely with his pose. The bit of diagonal line with the animal's pose is nice. How fortunate you were to be this close to such a pretty animal. Well done!

    Lauren
    "But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)

    Lauren Blackwell
    www.redleashphoto.com
  • kdogkdog Administrators Posts: 11,681 moderator
    edited January 6, 2011
    Good shots, Thwack. I like the compositions. Unfortunately, this kind of domestication of wildlife is becoming prevalent in our national parks.
    Moderator of Landscapes forum
    Link to my Smugmug site
  • DsrtVWDsrtVW Registered Users Posts: 1,991 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    Nice oppurtunity and shots
    Well he is certainly used to people. Very uncoyote like but then it is in Yosemite. People do act in the most stupid ways when they see the animals in the park. I stopped to watch a bear raid a trash can after a busy weekend, I was at a safe distance across the road but then a car stopped right next to it and the fool jumped out with his cell phone to get a shot. Good thing the bear was busy. I had my camera ready to get the stupid human shot just in case
    Chris K. NANPA Member
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  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    redleash wrote: »
    I like #2 a lot--nice composition and his expression is so peaceful. The background clutter sort of bothers me but I'm not sure it would clone out too well. I wonder if a square crop would work? Maybe not b/c the existing crop fits nicely with his pose. The bit of diagonal line with the animal's pose is nice. How fortunate you were to be this close to such a pretty animal. Well done!

    Lauren

    Thanks for the feedback. #2 is cropped a bit already to reduce background debris but I should've thought to move further left and get more trees in the background (which likely would've removed the rock right behind the coyote as well). I was rushing a bit because I really did not expect the coyote to just stay and stay like it did…I figured I had to grab what I could quickly before something spooked it.
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    kdog wrote: »
    Good shots, Thwack. I like the compositions. Unfortunately, this kind of domestication of wildlife is becoming prevalent in our national parks.


    Too bad we can't seem to domesticate some of the tourists and train them to be better behaved… rolleyes1.gif


    The first bear I spotted in Yosemite was almost completely surrounded by people…flashes going off…folks getting way too close…it had disaster written all over that situation! It was a turn or two past the Crane Flat gas station along Tioga Road so we stopped and got the clerk to report the situation to the rangers. I hate the thought of a wild animal having to be put down because tourists think they're in a zoo and should be allowed to feed/pet the animals…
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 6, 2011
    DsrtVW wrote: »
    Nice oppurtunity and shots
    Well he is certainly used to people. Very uncoyote like but then it is in Yosemite. People do act in the most stupid ways when they see the animals in the park. I stopped to watch a bear raid a trash can after a busy weekend, I was at a safe distance across the road but then a car stopped right next to it and the fool jumped out with his cell phone to get a shot. Good thing the bear was busy. I had my camera ready to get the stupid human shot just in case

    Youch! Front row seat to a potential bear-human fight might not be pretty (but it beats being the human in the encounter!). Glad it didn't get that ugly.

    Bears are why zoom lenses were invented! :D
  • redleashredleash Registered Users Posts: 3,840 Major grins
    edited January 7, 2011
    My only encounter with a bear in the wild was in Great Smoky Mtn NP last summer. We actually saw 2 different black bears at 2 locations, both close enough for some good photos. Thankfully, the rangers were on top of things and did a great job of keeping the crazy people at a safe distance, allowing the bears to do their thing without interference.

    Thwack, I understand what you mean about capturing the shot that you could. I think you did get some terrific shots. I've only seen coyotes running through the field and have never been anywhere near as close as you were.
    "But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)

    Lauren Blackwell
    www.redleashphoto.com
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2011
    redleash wrote: »
    My only encounter with a bear in the wild was in Great Smoky Mtn NP last summer. We actually saw 2 different black bears at 2 locations, both close enough for some good photos. Thankfully, the rangers were on top of things and did a great job of keeping the crazy people at a safe distance, allowing the bears to do their thing without interference.

    Thwack, I understand what you mean about capturing the shot that you could. I think you did get some terrific shots. I've only seen coyotes running through the field and have never been anywhere near as close as you were.

    There was a big fire in the heart of Yosemite near the end of 2009's Summer. It burned about 7,500 acres. During 2010, I saw bears on almost every trip during Spring and Summer. A Ranger told me they were pretty much a daily occurrence in a little meadow across Big Oak Road from the Crane Flat gas station. The only problem with shooting those bears is they always had their head down in the grass/weed munching non-stop which made for boring shots. :D

    As for coyotes, I got really lucky a few years ago and haven't gotten a better coyote shot since this one:

    120136155_mbdfK-L.jpg
  • DsrtVWDsrtVW Registered Users Posts: 1,991 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2011
    Thwack wrote: »
    There was a big fire in the heart of Yosemite near the end of 2009's Summer. It burned about 7,500 acres. During 2010, I saw bears on almost every trip during Spring and Summer. A Ranger told me they were pretty much a daily occurrence in a little meadow across Big Oak Road from the Crane Flat gas station. The only problem with shooting those bears is they always had their head down in the grass/weed munching non-stop which made for boring shots. :D

    As for coyotes, I got really lucky a few years ago and haven't gotten a better coyote shot since this one:

    120136155_mbdfK-L.jpg

    This is coyote behavior i am used to, he is ready to take flight. The one at the top of the thread is like a house dog. I usually only get butt shots as they are running away or they are to far off for 400mm. Some day I am going to set up and call one in and get some good captures. It is on the long list of things I want to do.
    Chris K. NANPA Member
    http://kadvantage.smugmug.com/
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2011
    DsrtVW wrote: »
    This is coyote behavior i am used to, he is ready to take flight. The one at the top of the thread is like a house dog. I usually only get butt shots as they are running away or they are to far off for 400mm. Some day I am going to set up and call one in and get some good captures. It is on the long list of things I want to do.

    I got incredibly lucky on that shot! Just as I was putting away my wallet at the entrance gate, I spotted that coyote just ahead and right by the side of the road.

    There's a pullout right there so I zipped over to closest parking spot, grabbing my camera, and used the back of my truck as a make-shift tripod. I already had a long lens mounted…if the picture above showed a few more inches along the bottom, you'd likely see the curb at the edge of the parking area.

    And that coyote didn't stick around like the one at the start of this thread. Most of my shots are of the coyote turning and leaving… :D

    The area by that entrance gate is fairly unpopulated, so unlike the coyote I found along the valley floor, this one appeared to not be expecting human handouts.

    Winter in Yosemite is when I've found coyotes most likely to be near populated areas during daylight (especially along the popular valley floor locations).
  • redleashredleash Registered Users Posts: 3,840 Major grins
    edited January 8, 2011
    Thwack, that last coyote shot is outstanding--it's my favorite for sure! I could see that printed large in the park's Visitor Center!!

    Lauren
    "But ask the animals, and they will teach you." (Job 12:7)

    Lauren Blackwell
    www.redleashphoto.com
  • ThwackThwack Registered Users Posts: 487 Major grins
    edited January 9, 2011
    redleash wrote: »
    Thwack, that last coyote shot is outstanding--it's my favorite for sure! I could see that printed large in the park's Visitor Center!!

    Lauren

    Now that would be cool!
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