Indecisive Coyote With A Duck
Coyotes sometimes prowl the causeway to Antelope Island early in the morning. While they’ll certainly take the occasional vole they may come across, voles aren’t really their intended quarry. There are far more voles on the island than there are along the causeway. Coyotes come onto the causeway to scavenge. 1/2500, f/5.6, ISO 640, 500 f/4, not baited During winter there are many ducks along the causeway and occasionally one of them dies – an easy meal for a coyote. But most often these coyotes are after falcon leftovers. Peregrine Falcons and Prairie falcons often hunt the causeway and most ducks are too large for either species to completely consume, so there’s nearly always leftovers. Three days ago I found this coyote with a duck. The bird appeared to be frozen so I suspect it was carrion. Here, the coyote couldn’t decide which way to go with its meal – left or right, because the causeway is narrow and the animal is confined by the lake in the back and the road in front, which gave me an indecisive posture that I like (despite the side light). Ron