Pup dispersal

[Pup]

How far do the pups go? Is there studies on this? I remember reading that some stay around close, is there truth to this? Normal litters of 4 to 7? What is the survival rate up to weaning age?

Reason for asking is that most of our stands are on places that we hunt every year, not alot of new stuff,but some. I have not seen alot of new pups, . One exception is we went in late Aug. last year, and definitely got a juvenile female in. big ears, smaller. But for the rest of the year bigger mature coyotes. Just wondering.

later pup

 

[Dick Reece]

I hope Rich H reads this and responds.I had some false ideas on this that I actually read in a book,and he set me straight. I read they had 2 litters of 12 or more pups a year!

 

[Cdog911]

By golly, SE, if you can find any of those 2-and-12 coyotes, I need to import them to hereabouts to fill in the voids. That's probably how the coyotes around Scottsdale reproduce, but not in Kansas.

Rich can fill in a lot more than I'll put here, but coyotes typically have one litter per year. Number of puppies depends upon a lot of factors, including food availability, densities, age of the female, dam's health at time of breeding, first litter or some other number, etc. That 4-7 figure is pretty accurate. One litter, it was reported, numbered 19 years ago, but there are a lot of guys in the know that regard that as being 2 or more litters cohabitating in the same den site.

Dispersal, around here, occurs in late October and, from my vantage point, is marked by a sudden cessation of loud and raucous group yip-howling every night, mainly becasue ma and pa have booted the wild childs out. But, the young'uns don't always venture far. In fact, one or more may be kept around to serve as tenders with next Spring's litter, tending to the new whelps while the alpha pair are out and about. This past dennig season, an alpha pair I watched all winter had their litter in the den, and all five of last year's pups stayed within a mile of them. Only watched the situation one time and spoke with the rancher, but he never saw the adults interacting with that group of 5. Always maintained a distance of one half-mile or more. I howled one night after dark when I knew they were in the area and only the a-pair answered me back.

My experience with howling has found that our local litters may be booted out of the territorial core (recognizing that the "core" boundaries have become very vague and fluid by the dispersal time of the year), but that the litter stays together as a loosely knit "pack", but not so much in the conventional sense of a pack (no breeding/ whelping going on, not as clearly defined a heirarchy). While howling, I can bring the entire litter in out of what appears to be curiosity as much as anything. When the really cold weather hits and it becomes harder for the group to find sufficient food to feed everyone, they seem to single away and spend more time hunting on their own, for their own benefit. I may sound a little vague here, and sorry if I do, but a lot of what you ask is dependent upon local and regional conditions and what is observed here may not be the same in your backyard. Juts my .02 from anecdotal observations and personal experience.

Pup. I'm interested in hearing what Rich has to offer as commentary on the trend you're seeing toward more adult males. In my area, it's exactly the opposite. Our pop'n is in a growth mode recovering from mange infestation and we see a disproportionate number of YOY and 1 y/o's. Mature males have always been challenging to come by, but they're out there.

 

[Rich Higgins]

Hi Pup. The longest transient journey I have read of was 246 miles by an ear tagged short yearling. Must have been very hard times because time of dispersal and distance traveled are usually determined by availibility and desireability of habitat and population density. If food is in short supply, the coyotes are stressed, parental -pup bonds break down sooner and dispersal begins earlier and the pups will probably find those conditions are effecting all the neighbors and they will have to travel some distance. If there is a surplus of food and their territory is attractive to others and defense is common, the alphas will hold over the pups and even recruit transients into the pack to help with territorial defense. In the 80s when the rabbit populations were peaked for several years it was common to see packs of 4-6 and sometimes more. When food is so plentiful that there is no competition for it, dispersal in the classic sense may be non-existant.
DA Danner did a study on the Santa Rita Research station in 1973-75 because the Farmer's Investment Co.s feedlot was on the western border and contained 20,000 cattle of which about 30 died each month. They were dragged to the eastern border of the lot and dumped. Danner trapped and radio-collared 16 coyotes as a sample group. Observed the others from a distance. He found that because of the constant availibilty of more than enough food, territories were not established, instead the coyotes established overlapping home ranges that were elliptical in shape and anchored on the feed lot. Pups did not disperse, adult home range size was an average of 20 sq.mi. for adults and a little over 2.5 sq. mi. for pups and yearlings. I've read accounts from buffalo hunters in the 1860s and 70s. that reported aggregations of up to 300 coyotes following the herds and hunters.

 

[Rich Higgins]

Lance, I've read of the 19 pups in the shared den as well. The largest litter I've heard of was 17 taken from a den in Colorado. The bitch had 17 placental scars.

 

[Rob]

Interesting read Rich . Thanks

 

[Slydog]

Pup,
Good question bud.

cdog911,
That's probably how the coyotes around Scottsdale reproduce, but not in Kansas.

I think you and I hunt a close cousin coyote, cause they don't produce like that here either but there are big numbers here. I only remember seeing one litter of 11 pups that were from the same A-female and I can only tell of one case of two litters in one year from a single A-pair however I have seen quite a few times where a alpha and bata were both bread and raisd pups just a couple weeks apart but within the same denning sight.

sly

 

[Slydog]

Rich H.
As always thank you for your time and knowledge.


sly

 

[Rich Higgins]

Slydog, you are very welcome and as always I thank Cdog for his input. Our own Hemingway and Roark. I wish you were right about Scottsdale litter sizes but 2-4 is all I've been seeing this year.

 

[Cdog911]

LMAO

 

[Pup]

Thanks guys for the info.

later pup