Who knew coyotes had hops like that?
The wild canines – which are actually closely related to wolves – are built to be hunters. They’ve got exceptional vision, a stellar sense of smell and they are quite speedy. All of those skills together make them quite dangerous (for prey). That being said, they are considered to be opportunistic, and won’t ever pass up an easy meal.
I’ve never seen proof of this until now… but they’ll even pick fruit right out of a tree if they really need to fill up their stomach.
Most of the time, people probably assume that coyotes are running around in search of meat. They’ve been known to take down deer twice their size, and unfortunately, pet owners have to be on the lookout for the small-yet-successful hunters. That being said, they aren’t strictly carnivorous. According to the Forrest Preserve District, a coyote’s diet consists of:
-43% small rodents
-23% fruit
-22% deer
-18% cottontail rabbits
-3% birds
So maybe this video below isn’t as surprising, from a diet perspective. However, seeing a coyote’s leaping ability on full display is still a sight to see.
Coyotes have been observed jumping as high as 6-feet in the air, and they’re great climbers too (so an 8-foot-tall fence isn’t exactly “coyote-proof”). And judging by this video shared by Tom Miranda: Adventure Bowhunter, they are quite precise with their leaping as well.
A well-positioned trail camera pointed right towards a pear tree captured a pack of coyotes moving through a wooded area. Some of them kept their distance from the tree, but one walked right up underneath it and had its eye on some fresh fruit.
The canine’s first attempt at picking a pear right off the branch was unsuccessful. But it didn’t give up. Instead, it repositioned, loaded back up, and went soaring into the night sky again with one particular pear in its crosshairs. The second time was the charm, as it snatched the pear within its teeth and dropped back down to the ground.
Check it out:
“Coyote eating pears!”
How about that? Hard to find something fresher than a pear right off the tree.
It almost looks like an athlete testing their vertical leap ability, does it not? That coyote was practically spring-loaded, and though it missed the pear on its first try… there was no doubt that it had the height to snag the fruit right out of the tree.
I’d comfortably file this footage in the “Entertaining Trail Cam Footage” folder, and it seems like most of social media reacted in the same way:
“Easy and tasty treat… if you can reach.”
“That’s pretty crazy.”
“Wow I didn’t know they ate pears.”
“Balanced diet. Good for them.”
“You know meat prices are high when even coyote’s are going vegetarian.”
“Probably the coolest video I’ve seen from a game cam.”
Like I said earlier… great work to put a trail camera on the pear tree. I’ve got a feeling some missing pears and some coyote footprints led to that decision.
