I came across this image I took of a Coyote standing on rocks on a sunny spring morning yesterday and realized that I miss seeing coyotes as often as I used to. Also, I miss having them in my viewfinder.
Adult Coyote on a sunny spring morning – Nikon D810, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 540, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
When I first moved to Utah I found the Coyotes on Antelope Island State Park to be very cooperative, abundant, and gorgeous. I took hundreds and hundreds of Coyote photos in all kinds of weather and lighting conditions. My collection of Coyote photos grew. I visited the island frequently and felt at home there.
The last couple of years it seems like there haven’t been as many Coyotes on the island. I haven’t gone to the island like I used to due in part to the pandemic and my increasing allergic reactions to the no-see-ums and deer flies. The deer fly season lasts for part of the spring and all summer long.
I also stopped going to the island in part because of the development that has gone on out there including the huge new campground. Pipeline construction along the causeway to the Island which totally stripped slow-growing, bird-attracting, mature vegetation on the north side of the road. Traffic has increased. Climate change has made a negative impact on the birds and animals on the island and the increase in human presence likely has too. There are also areas of the island that I used to have access to where there were great birds that have now been blocked off for various reasons.
Antelope Island simply doesn’t feel as wild and wonderful to me as it did when I first moved here.
If I feel that way, maybe the Coyotes do too.
“Progress” isn’t always good.
Mia
Click here to view more of my Coyote photos plus facts and information about this species.
I love the photo you posted of the Coyote. He or She is really looking in fine shape. Most have found a good supply of food this winter.
There are more coyotes the last couple of years. They have been gorging on the ducks last year along the causeway and this year in the marina. They are frequently close to the farmstead and I see them as I hike/bike the south end of the island. They are staying further out I believe due to the increase of human visitors and photographers chasing them down. Think about the past, how often did you run into another photographer out there compared to now? They know humans shoot them so when a group of vehicles with long lenses start chasing them for photos they run and lay low. I don’t consistently observe the vole population on the island so in the past there could have been years of less voles. Hares and rabbits also fluctuate boom or bust. I do notice years the grasshoppers seem to fluctuate, some years there are incredible numbers hopping as I walk along the trails, some years I see very few. One critter I don’t see often on the island is snakes. I think in all my years of wandering there I have seen one gopher snake. Maybe because I don’t hike or bike May through August. There are far less birds on the island for the past 4-5 years. Remember all the golden eagles and redtails? The number of shrikes, curlews, and sage thrashers have dropped in my opinion. I feel multiple reasons for the loss of avians, drought, creating lack of food down to the base of the food chain, shrinking lake level and collapse of the lakes ecosystem causing decrease of brine flies, a huge food staple gone! Increase visitors, I am an old time visitor, I remember when the road to the farm was gravel and not open year round, car traffic, campers and hikers/bikers have increased incredibly. I used to be alone when I hiked the island prior to 2020. Now I run into gobs of people on the trails. It seems to have really increased with mt bikers and trail runners. I used to see mostly road bikes along the paved roads but now big groups of mt bikers ride the west side starting at White Rock Bay. I used to hike more in the spring but with warming temps with climate change in recent years the biting flies are out earlier. I have mostly been hiking/biking in late fall to winter now. I did a few trails this fall in October-November but with the colder temps and winds off the lake this winter it is the first time in years I did not do many trails. I think I am getting old too, less tolerant to extremes in temps!
One thought I have had for some time also about the coyotes. They wander and travel long distances eating as they move along, with the island no longer being an island I feel they are wandering on and off the island over the mud flats in search of food closer to human habitation along the east, north and south shores.
Beautiful portrait of a very healthy looking top predator– almost looks like a painting
As a follow up to my previous post, I have never seen a Coyote on the island !!
I hope you see one in the future.
Mia, Don’t let the recent development of a campground and other projects deter you. AI is still a wonderful place that I enjoy when I come out from Rhode Island once a year. I would be more concerned about the water levels in the lake. I remember when boats were berthed in slips in the marina and now there are weeds growing where the boats used to be !! The animals will adapt there as they have here.
Gary, I have been concerned about the water level in the Great Salt Lake for years, I consider that part of the effect of climate change and additionally the poor use of water on lawns and agriculture here.
Here is a post from 2015 you might be interested in.
https://www.onthewingphotography.com/wings/2015/04/26/the-great-salt-lake-is-drying-and-utahs-water-crisis/
It reminds me when we saw one in the park near Lake Maggiore . I believe we went there twice
I used to see Coyotes all the time outside of my little town. But where I used to see Coyotes, there are now houses or land is being cleared to build more houses.
Liz, reading what you wrote made me feel sad. I can only imagine how you must feel.