Return of Yoat... no Sightings of Baby

Yoat has returned, and is spending a lot of time cruising the property. She has been sitting in her "favorite" spot under the trees in the early twilight as she did last year. As always, she is not afraid of me, but i have noticed that when other people are present to enjoy the Yoat-watching experience, she is MUCH less apt to hang around and have her picture taken.

Even when observed from the house, she seems to know that there are strangers watching her. It is possible that her ability to smell is alerting her to unfamiliar aromas. She is likely accustomed to my scent, since she and I inhabit the same property.

Yoat eats the pinon cones that have fallen-- she did this last year as well. In fact, when I went out into the yard with my friend Nick to collect pinon cones last year, I noted that ALL of them were gone! Now given the size of the property and the number of pinon trees, that is a LOT of cones! Yoat does spend a lot of time looking for cones and then eating the entire cone.

I always wondered what the coyotes are eating out there. Since Yoat began to hang around, there are no more rabbits-- and this is great for my garden. Also, the usual hordes of ground squirrels are gone! This is also terrific. The damage inflicted to my fence line and other problems cause by the enormous rodents has ceased to be. Thanks, Yoat! I assume that it is Yoat who is controlling the rodent population.

When I first moved here, I thought that coyote eat deer. We have a lot of deer here. But not once, and not anywhere have I seen signs of a deer kill. Not a fresh kill, not an active kill and not an old kill. In fact, the deer and the coyotes seem to leave each other alone. I have only once (last mating season) seen the coyotes in a group greater than 3. Since the coyotes are very small-- maybe 40 pounds at most-- I doubt that one or even a pair could take down a huge mule deer. A young deer, perhaps, but not an adult. Those things are huge!

Baby has been missing for a number of months, and so her fate is uncertain. She may have moved on to live in another location. Her relationship to Yoat is also unknown. At first, I assumed that Baby was Yoat's pup. Then I began to wonder if maybe they were a pair-- a male and a female. Baby was very small when she showed up with Yoat last year, so maybe she was, after all, Yoat's baby, and has grown up and moved on.