March 7, 2021: Coyotes on the Prowl

Note:  This post has images that some viewers may find disturbing.  Viewer discretion is advised.   ; )

In like a lion, out like a lamb - March is here, crazy changing weather and all - and it certainly has started out like a lion with some of our coldest temperatures of the year and plenty of wind to go with it.  Mt. Washington recorded average winds of 86 mph and gusts over 130 mph on March 2nd; the low temperature for the day was -28F, and that's not the wind-chill (that would be -80F).  It was not nearly as wild around the lakes, but still pretty cold and the wind brought in squalls with enough snow to freshen things up and even allow some animal tracks to be found, including this weasel track.

The classic 2-2 track of a bounding weasel.

This closeup shows the double imprint where one foot lands almost directly over the other.

Each print is a double-print where the rear foot landed on top of, or slightly behind, where the front foot landed.  I couldn't follow the track for long because the wind had obliterated the tracks after a very short distance, but the immediate habitat and what behavior I did observe tells me it was a fisher.

There was also a plethora of mouse tracks running all over the new snow, scurrying from one hiding spot to another.

Mice like to travel quickly from one hole to another to avoid those pesky owls.  The largest tracks however, were those of the coyotes, out on the prowl for creatures of any size or shape.  

A coyote following along the shoreline,

and circling around something of interest.

Then heading off into the woods

to leave its marker.

Stumps, rocks, the middle of a trail - these are all favorite places for a canine to leave its mark, knowing  it will be readily noticed by visiting males and females alike.  

Those coyote tracks were left a couple of weeks ago, before the most recent snow, but they show coyotes have been traveling far and wide, both on and off the lake searching for food, and one morning this week, after a few inches of new snow, I came across evidence they had a successful night.

This digestive track can't be from anything other than a white-tailed deer.

It's one of the few parts of a deer the carnivores will leave behind.

It was an unusual situation.  I've come across deer kills on the lakes many times (see journal entries on January 21, 2012 and March 10th 2019) but it was hard to figure out just what happened here.  Clearly the kill was recent because the blood stains were still fresh.

Recent snow and fresh blood indicates a recent kill.

But there were very few tracks or evidence of a fight; everything must have been covered up by the snow the night before.  But why were the intestines exposed?  Were they warm enough that the snow melted on them as it fell?  And that doesn't really explain why some fur was exposed as well.  I could see some signs of struggle a few yards away on the shore line but other than these few remains of the deer, nothing.  

Fur on top of the snow.

I expect the carcass or least some stray bones will appear as the snow melts over the next few weeks.

Every time I see one of these deer kills it's disturbing even though I know it's part of the circle of life, and one deer killed will sustain the many animals that will partake of the feast during the difficult late-winter season, including fox, eagles, hawks, and crows in addition to the coyotes.  

A red-tailed hawk feasts on the carcass from a prior kill.

Even the mice and other rodents will chew on the bones to ingest the minerals they contain.  But it's still hard to accept.  So let's end on a brighter note:  Sunny days and blue skies.  Forget the coyote and dismiss the lion - the March lamb is on the way!

P.S.  If you were interested in seeing Beede Falls which I described last week, it appears the ice over the falls has started to collapse.