Coyotes Upset By Neighbors

Coyotes are the species most upset by the reintroduction of the wolves to Yellowstone National Park, said Bob Crabtree, executive director of Yellowstone Ecosystem Studies in Bozeman.

Shaking up the coyotes could spell relief for other creatures.

“In the same area where you can have one wolf pack of eight individuals, you can have 10 or 12 packs of six or seven coyotes,” he said. Thus without wolves there can be much more predation pressure on mice, squirrels, voles, antelope and deer fawns and possibly even elk calves.”

“Bring in a wolf pack and they are going to clear out a lot of the coyote territories. We watched a pack of five wolves duke it out with a pack of four coyotes at a den. And it was a 10-to-15 minute chasing, wrestling, rolling.

“The wolves eventually pushed the coyotes away from the den that they were protecting. As they sat on the hill howling, the wolves proceeded to dig out the coyote den to try to kill the coyote pups. They didn’t get the pups.”

Grizzly bears appear to benefit from the wolf introduction, Crabtree said. “In at least four cases we’ve seen in the daylight, grizzly bears have taken over wolf kills,” he said.

Crabtree agrees that wolves are likely to kill some cattle and sheep, but he said a system is in place to compensate landowners and dispose of wolves that develop an appetite for livestock.

On the other hand, coyotes currently are the chief livestock predator, he said.

“And what did the wolves do? They tried to kill coyote pups. This is why it is so important to document what is going on.” , DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color Photo