Posts Tagged ‘coyote’

Yosemite Coyotes

Wednesday, December 29th, 2010

Before we ever got into Yosemite National Park we spotted this coyote perched on top of a mossy rock framed by branches. He seemed so peaceful siting there, he didn’t even seem to mind me watching him. He looked very healthy for a coyote. He looked so fluffy and welcoming, I really would have liked to pet him if he wasn’t a wild animal. So instead I just enjoyed his beauty from a safe distance.

One of the most important parts of doing wildlife photography is respecting the animals I photograph. Some people will do anything to get their shot, even putting themselves in danger for the sake of the shot. Some, which is even worst, put stress on the animal. I always try to not disturb the animal that I am photographing in order to preserve the serene mood of the picture. It is important to remember that it is  a wild animal being photographed and even though it is beautiful or even adorable, it needs to be treated with the utmost caution and respect for its true nature.

When in the park we had more encounters with majestic coyotes. In a meadow out infront of Curry Village there were two or three coyotes wandering around in the snowy, misty meadow searching for food. It was very hard to get a good angle on them because they were constantly moving around the meadow. So when I moved out into the boardwalk they went to the river, and when I went to the river the went back to the boardwalk. Needless to say I was running in circles around the meadow for quite some time trying to get a good shot of at least one of them. Frustrating and tiring but totally worth it.

I got some pictures of a coyote hunting, which I must say is a very funny thing to watch in the snow. They walk around until they hear a sound. Then they slowly inch forward to where they heard the sound. Once there they stand there with their eyes deadlocked on the ground tilting their heads back and forth. They bobble their hed side to side listening to whatever small prey lies beneath the surface of the snow. Then they bring their back legs right up next to their front legs, crouch, and then spring into the air to pounce!

It is so funny watching this hunting technique and I am glad that I got a head on shot of his pounce unlike my time watching a coyote hunting in Yellowstone. I love watching wildlife in its most pristine yet savage moments. Like even this simple act of watching a coyote hunting allows me to have a sneak peek into the vicious cycle that is life. I can’t wait to witness more of this to better understand how this cycle, and our lives work.

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1 Year Anniversary

Thursday, August 26th, 2010

So it is official now, I have had this blog up and running for a whole year. This time last year I decided that I would publish my own work and share what I thought and how I felt with the world. I just wanted to take a quick look back at some of my favorite works I have done, photographs and writing a like.

Of course there was the Shoe Tree from last years road trip that we found out in Oregon. The dawn of the creeper photos early on in the beginning of the blog. Who could forget the somewhat haunting video of Hood doing his she wolf performance. One of my favorites, the baby shoe gangster.

This one is for my mom. Her favorite, the abandoned truck bed out in Salt Lake City.

The rants were fun and I think quite a few people enjoyed them as well. Rants like the Mosquito Hunter seemed popular. My favorite Creeper Photo of them all, the infamous red hat.

This one is for my grandpa, my most faithful and loving reader. 😀 Thanks for all of your support, I know you really liked this gecko a lot so here he is again.

Short stories like the Blind Man and poems like Mary all try to explain and explore what it means to be a human. And of course my persona motto, If Only It Were That Simple, to explain how I try to see the world.

Finally here are just a couple of photos that I really liked over the course of my blog.

The list could go on forever. Thank you to me readers or anyone just poking in to get the occasional read. It has been a good year. I look forward to many more.

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Road Trip: Boulder

Saturday, July 3rd, 2010

Today was the last day of anything really interesting at all sadly. The first interesting note of our day was some wildlife in an odd place. As we were packing the car my mom noticed a coyote walking on a running path right towards us. The coyote just strolled through the parking lot right by us, took a quick glance and nonchalantly moved onward.

We proceeded to start our day out in Colorado Springs and visited the Garden of the Gods.

It was a really beautiful landscape full of red rock mountains that you could walk around between.

After that we headed up to Boulder Colorado which my mom was very excited about. I really loved Boulder and took a look at the University of Colorado at Boulder for a while and then headed to Pearl Street to get a feel for the Boulder experience. This also included a car full of college kids, one of which is yelling out the window,

YEAH BOOTJACK! MY MOM IS FROM HANCOCK, BOOTJACK IS THE SHIT!

Very interesting indeed…

Down on Pearl Street we had lunch at the Boulder Cafe and I got an excellent veggie pita wrap. We went shopping a little and took a good look around. It was beautiful and I really loved the atmosphere and how friendly the people were. It reminded me of Santa Cruz a little because of the different street performers.

This guy dressed in a shaggy dog suit was pretty interesting. He acted just like a dog, wagging his tail, rolling over for belly rubs, and shaking hands. I thought it was strange because you are actually petting a person, plenty of people had no problem with this though and did it anyways.

From then on out we have nothing to do because we entered Nebraska. There really is nothing there.

We did have an interesting event happen at our hotel tonight. We walked into our room but it was freezing so I turned the air off. When I walk back the smoke alarm is beeping and there is smoke in the room. So my mom runs for the phone which is disconnected and does not work. So we book it out of the room thinking it is going to burn down at any second. No, we still don’t know what happened. We are safely in another room now. Tomorrow will be our last night on the road and I can’t wait to be in Michigan.

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Yellowstone: Coyote Headshot

Friday, May 28th, 2010

This really is a case of saving the best for last. In February I went to Yellowstone on a photography mission where I followed coyotes, river otters, bison, elk, bighorn sheep and wolves for a week in the snow. I saved my best shot as a present for one of my very best friends. So here is the grand unveiling of my best shot: the coyote headshot.

I got this close up headshot of a coyote when we were driving along the road and happened upon a coyote trotting down the middle of the road.

We slowed down as he weaved in and out of the road. It almost seemed like he was trying to make sure we didn’t pass him. During this time I had whipped out the four hundred lens and was hanging out the window trying to get a good shot of him. It was painful and pretty ridiculous looking as we stopped and went; me being jerked around the whole time yelling at the driver to stop the car. Just in time, I got my shot.

He was beautiful but I could tell he had been in some sort of fight recently because his ear was bloody and gnarled. He had some mean scars on his muzzle as well. So that’s it, that raps up my Yellowstone trip finally, with my best shot of the trip.

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Yellowstone: Roadside Friend

Wednesday, March 24th, 2010

While I was in Yellowstone, I met a new friend along the roadside. There was a coyote trotting in the middle of the road when we drove by. He would not get out of the road to let us pass. So we spent a good ten minutes with him. Every time he would move to the side of the road we would make to pass him, but he would dart out in front of us as if he was trying to keep us there. It was very strange.

He was a beautiful creature but had clearly been in a fight, his ear was mangled and bloody and had scars on his muzzle. I of course was hanging out of the window trying to get a photo of him as I always do. My training on the road trips to Michigan really paid off with my camera ninja skills.

We finally departed from our new roadside friend to go seek out more adventures in the majestic Yellowstone.

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Yellowstone: Coyote Rock

Friday, March 19th, 2010

We found a coyote laying down on top of a snow hatted rock that just looked really amazing. We decided that we would wait for him to stand up on top of the rock because the composition of the shot would be perfect. He seemed pretty content just laying there though, trying to take a nap.

He really was beautiful and I almost missed him. I hadn’t even noticed him at the time because I was watching another coyote out in the fields when another person pointed him out to me. It is funny how easy it is to miss things. It makes me wonder what else did I miss, what other wonderous creatures did I pass by as I was consumed by some other thing?

He was watching us, it was amazing because you could almost see what he was thinking as he eyed us warily.

His nice little nesting place did give me an opportunity to try out and practice my newly learned photography skills.

He unfortunately did not work with us quiet as well as we had wanted. Instead of standing up as we had hoped he would, he sort of non-chalantly slide off the backside of the rock. We missed a possible great shot but still we did get to watch him for a while. I wish he would have stood up though so I could be showing you much better pictures. Oh well. Thanks Mr. Coyote for posing.

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Yellowstone: Feeding Time

Tuesday, March 9th, 2010

Feeding time is a sacred time in the snowy valleys of Yellowstone in the winter. Here, every chance at a meal is essential to survival. We were lucky enough to watch a coyote hunting around in a small valley.

Just got to say, check out the pink little feet on that vole…

Anyway, we waited around for a long time watching this coyote roaming about when he started to stop and was clearly listening. It was adorable, he would freeze and then cock his head to either side and wait then swivel to the other side. It was amazing to watch this creature hunt.

The take off jump!

It was extremely amusing watching the coyote pouncing in and out of the snow. It reminded me a lot of my dog who does the same exact thing… except to rocks. She has amazing survival skills. Anyways, I digress. I must say I was rooting for the coyote the whole time. It must be so hard just to find a couple of meals a day out here where the snow covers everything. I just wanted him to find some food so he could survive. We all practically cheer when the coyote  snagged something.

He snatched a little vole out of a hole in the snow. He seemed to really be reveling in his victorious catch. He played with it for at least fifteen minutes.

I would also like to mention at this point about how I am getting these shots. Previously I was using a 600 lens, but that was when the coyote was lying down taking a nap. My dad got to use it when the coyote was hunting. …. No I am not jealous 😀 But at this time I was using a 400 lens… minus a tripod. This was extremely difficult because that thing gets heavy after holding it for a while. So I resorted to using a rock and my arm at a 90 degree angle as a tripod. Nifty huh? Still when we left my arm was so dead, but it was worth it.

As mentioned, the coyote was playing with his food like in this picture. He would pick it up, drop it, or spit it out like here. Also in the first picture he was tossing the vole into the air and catching it. It was really amazing to watch, but I did feel bad for the vole.

A moment of silence for the vole.

…. And we’re done. Hey, the coyote deserved to play with his food, even if it was bad manners to play with his food. He worked hard for it. If I worked that hard for my food I would play with it too. Anyways we left the coyote in peace with his prize and moved on with our day. Just another day in a winter wonderland where survival is earned every snow trodden step of the way.

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