PHOTOS OF DENS

I lost quiet a few of my older pics/[PC virus], Brian.

Here are some old pics, I managed to salvage. Majority of coyote & Red Fox den holes I've seen. The entrance hole is oblong ie[taller than it is wide]. Coyote den holes, being a little wider & taller than a Red's. But both are very proportional. Near the very top of the entrance hole. I have found an inverted v-notch with claw marks. I've seen this on both canine digs.


Below is a pr of coyotes early December. Female standing, male digging like a backhoe LOL! I watched them for quiet awhile. Male soon went out of sight deeper in the hole. They abandoned this site a couple wks later. Who knows why?

Taken 12/8/08
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Male out of sight, slinging dirt out of the hole. Female sitting on her fat rump, samo...same LOL!
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Red Fox den hole entrance. This den, was around 9' long from entrance to exit. Entrance hole, was roughly 8" wide, x10" height/tall. Exit was about 1/2 the size of the entrance. Just big enough, for a fox to slip it's head & leg out.
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Inside the den.
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Part of the den chamber, showing the mouth of the inside exit hole.
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"Below is a pr of coyotes early December. female sitting, male digging like a backhoe LOL! I watched them for quiet awhile. Male soon went out of sight deeper in the hole. They abandoned this site a couple wks later. Who knows why?"
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Well Kirby, they knew that the hole no longer held the critter or critters they were digging for. In December, that hole may have been the den of some little critter but I'm sure that you know it wasn't a true COYOTE den.
 
Kirby
Thanks for sharing your photos and telling me your story.
IM pretty sure I know where a den sight is and will share photos when I can get some pictures of it.
THANK YOU KIRBY
 
Here is the female from above. Laying by her rodent hole, about a month later.

Taken 1/16/09
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I realize, many biologists, or experts, whatever. Believe coyote & fox breed in January & February. Thats fine & dandy. But no way in hadies, will I ever believe in JUST those two months. Some earlier, some later.
 
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Just so ya know, Brian. If a coyote or fox digs a den hole under a hard structure. Like a shed, or whatever. The entrance hole is often semi-lunar shaped ie;[like a bowl]. Red Fox often have more than one exit hole. Sometimes 1-3 eixts.
 
hello kirby when is the earliest you have noticed "pairing up"? now that you brought up the subject iv'e seen "harvested" pairs in november and as late as feb.so there is a 4 mo window. i don't know if they were breeding or not but difinitley together.i usually quit on valentines day as i don't want to shoot next season's fun.
 
emeraldterriers1, I've seen coyote family groups still together in mid December. Soon afterwards they scattered their yearling pups. To the outer edge's of their territory & beyond. For that adult female coming in season, I suspect was shortly there after, or prior.

Red Fox on the other hand, some pr-up/breed/den abit earlier than do coyotes. I've seen a pr of Reds on a cleaned out den mound, in November.

Some people bristle, or call bs on my experiences. As they tend not to mesh with those in the know. LOL! Oh well.

It is obviously better to get out & see for yourself. Rather than buy into everything someone spouts. Or pulls from written form, as to the TOTAL TRUTH, eh.

Here is a family group, I watched on 12/18/09. The next day, the yearlings were gone/scattered. I also seen the adult female alone the following day.
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I found it interesting this day. The adult male/[dark tail] went around to various pups, et pinned them down in the deep snow. Adult female just sat & watched. Except she assisted in pinning down a female pup. From what I could tell, in this group. There was 4-male & 1-female yearlings. I watched this group for around 45 minutes or so, learning/observing their behaviors.
 
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"I realize, many biologists, or experts, whatever. Believe coyote & fox breed in January & February. Thats fine & dandy. But no way in hadies, will I ever believe in JUST those two months. Some earlier, some later."
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That is true Kirby, I just hate to see folks start believing that every hole a coyote digs in is a coyote den. During the fall and winter, these holes are likely being dug out in search of food. The actual coyote "dens" will not be cleaned out until about the month of March. A coyote "den" is used for bearing and raising PUPS.
 
You & I have split hairs on this topic, before Rich. Really, we'll never completely agree on this topic. I agree, canines often will dig a pocket or shallow hole digging after a meal. Initially, I thought when I seen that male digging. I thought he was after something.

As the minutes rolled on by however, I figured otherwise. Especially after seeing the female lay by that hole numerous times in the following days. Looking back, she laid by that hole over a months time.

Reds on the other hand. Are well known to keep useing their "old" den hole during harsh Winter weather. I've seen this many times over the yrs. Coyotes[yeah hard to believe, huh]will also do the same thing. Use their old den hole in Winter. But the majority of the coyotes. When they "hole-up" in harsh weather. Will often choose a roadway culvert over an old den hole.

As for man's definition of the word "den" there are many definitions. You are well aware of that, from our last disagreement.

BTW, how are ya?
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a coyote 'den' is used for bearing and raising pups...is a brushpile considered a den site? iv'e ran adults and had several pups caught and dispatched in them with terriers.i don't know if they give birth there but the pups have ranged from very young to maybe a third grown,maybe 4 months?
 
I look be-twixt their legs LOL! Actually, I tend to watch coyotes on the move, for quite awhile. Evenutally, they take a leak. Other visuals, often the male is larger/huskier than the female. Not to mention, most often the male lags behind when they travel.
 
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emeraldterriers1, Webster's Dictionary has some definitions to read. From what I understand, in Iowa anyway. A "den" is a burrow that an animal inhabits. Typically for birthing & rearing young.

Ironically, coyotes or Red Fox don't always adhere to man's definitions. My Wife's cousin farms South of us. A female Red took up residense in the road culvert. Right across the road from their house. Red gave birth & reared her pups in that tube. Was that culvert a "den"? uh, well yeah for the time being. But did not fit the norm, of the definition, I reckon.
 
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Originally Posted By: Rich Cronk"I realize, many biologists, or experts, whatever. Believe coyote & fox breed in January & February. Thats fine & dandy. But no way in hadies, will I ever believe in JUST those two months. Some earlier, some later."
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That is true Kirby, I just hate to see folks start believing that every hole a coyote digs in is a coyote den. During the fall and winter, these holes are likely being dug out in search of food. The actual coyote "dens" will not be cleaned out until about the month of March. A coyote "den" is used for bearing and raising PUPS.

Depends on the area and the weather. But most of the actual breeding takes place in just those two months and has been documented. Not to say that anecdotal information such as you supply has no validity because in nature all things are fluid.

This from a FWS report involving western coyotes.

Breeding season - Courtship may begin as early as 2 to 3 months before
coyotes attempt to mate. The female is monoestrous, having one period
of heat per year usually between January and March [4,62]. Estrus lasts
2 to 5 days. Some coyotes mate with the same individual from year to
year, but not necessarily for life [4].
 
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emeraldterriers1 ,
Coyotes would rather have their den site protected from the weather and predators that would eat their pups if they got the chance. Their den will vary from a modified badger hole in farm country, to a natural crevice or "cave" in rocky area's. Old abandoned culverts have been used as dens from time to time. An area north-east of here offers almost zero cover after the crops are harvested. These fields are over run by guys in 4x4 pickups who chase coyotes for sport. The coyotes have reacted to this practice by finding a culvert, shallow ditch, old badger hole, brush pile and etc. to hunker down and hide when they hear the pickup coming. I think that if I was being chased like that, I would crawl under a brush pile or something too. Would my chosen hidey hole be my den?
 
Had a pair of coyotes den up last year behind my house, even saw the female looking really heavy in March. End of march a lion came by and investigated their den. They packed up (no pun intended) and moved their den somewhere else for the remainder of the year. Dunno what it means but they left.
 
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