It’s not often we get to see two species of wild dogs at the same time.
Both wolves and coyotes are very impressive in their own right.
Coyotes can live just about anywhere and survive on any number of food sources, relying on hunting and scavenging to feed primarily on small game like rabbits and rodents. Wolves, on the other hand, have a much smaller range and population, with a presence in the northern most parts of the country, stretching from Wisconsin to Washington.
Wolves however, are much more ferocious and hunt in larger packs to help them take down large animals such as elk, deer and even bison.
Even though their behavior is similar, coyotes typically stay away from wolves as individually they would stand no chance in a fight, but you get a few of those suckers together and they’re more than willing to approach a wolf with hopes of scoring, more like stealing, a meal.
This scenario played out at none other than Yellowstone National Park back in 2017 and it’s one of the best 8 minutes clips of the reality of nature playing out that I’ve seen, if for no other reason than how rare it is for us to witness.
A group was out birdwatching when they stumbled upon a massive black wolf feasting on a carcass, which I assume was a deer.
But they quickly realized the wolf wasn’t the only one with his eyes on a meal, as three coyotes moved in and started circling the kill site.
At first, the wolf didn’t like these intruders and ran them off.
But after securing a large piece of meat for itself, decided it wasn’t worth the effort to stop the sneaky coyotes from moving around a bush and getting some for themselves.
While I don’t think the wolf had any altruistic intentions, it is cool to see the balance of nature. Two predators sharing a meal, knowing full well they could be battling each other to the death the next time a situation arises.
Also, that line of traffic to watch this play out at the end is wild. I get that’s why you go, but man I guess I just never thought there would be that many people in the middle of nowhere.
“On the Swan Flats of Yellowstone, we were birdwatching when we spotted this enormous black wolf eating a carcass and fighting off coyotes (eventually three in total).
We have seen more than a dozen wolves in the Midwest and Western United States, and this was by far the largest. it was one of the most exciting wildlife sightings of our lives.”
I need to get out of the house more…
