This gives off big Looney Tunes vibes, does it not?
Before I get too far along… yes, I am aware that Wile E. Coyote’s arch nemesis was the Road Runner. This video, captured by wildlife photographer Griffin Lamont, I’m focusing in on has a coyote in it, but there’s an obvious absence of a road runner. Instead, this wild canine was facing off against some river otters. I make the cartoon reference because the coyote comically slides about about five feet through the ice and snow in the clip.
You’ll see how cartoonish it is when you press play on the footage.
In case you didn’t know, coyotes are both hunters and scavengers, tending to let situations dictate how they get their meals. The wild animals are commonly known to hunt small prey, but on occasion, they’ll pick up on the scent of an already deceased animal – or fish – and go to stake their claim.
However, that doesn’t always go as smooth as coyotes would like, as evidenced by the footage below out of Wyoming. A group of river otters were busy chowing down on a freshly caught fish they had just pulled out of the water. In fact, they were so preoccupied that they failed to notice a coyote sneaking up on them. There were at least four otters all circled around a partially eaten fish, but that didn’t stop the hungry coyote from approaching the potential meal and challenging the otters.
And hey… I know you might be thinking, “Why would a coyote be worried about a couple of otters?” Despite their size and appearance, these mean little things pack a punch, which is made evident in this video as they bravely fought back against the bigger coyote after it swiped away their fish. The confrontation takes place right by the water, which is typically an otter’s domain, but the coyote was able to stay mostly on the ice, thus having the upper hand (upper paw?).
You want to know what I find really interesting about this clip? The otters had absolutely no idea that the coyote was nearby. Typically, if small prey can be caught off guard, a larger predator will take advantage of the easy hunt. But this coyote apparently didn’t want to get into a fight with these otters, because it instead went for the already hunted and killed item that was on the menu.
The coyote could have easily chomped down on one of the otters instead, so they should consider themselves lucky… even though they were quite angered by having their dinner stolen. Who wouldn’t in that situation, you know? Imagine setting the table for supper after prepping a meal, just to watch something/someone else trot off with it.
Shoutout to the otters for putting up a bit of a fight against the coyote, though good on them for realizing they’d prefer to live to see another day rather than dying over a half eaten fish. The bad news is that they lost their already fought for meal. The good news? They can always catch another fish, and maybe next time they’ll take turns keeping watch for pesky coyotes:
