Roadrunner in ringtail land

It's an illusion. 

Roadrunner isn't in a sandy wash, but in a wind-eroded cave in a cliff over a seasonal creek. 

A narrow and precarious path led to it. 

It looked like perfectly respectable ringtail habitat.

The cave is under the lower overhang. 

But no ringtail visited the place in 2 months. 

What did visit were a wood rat, Merriam's chipmunk,  California ground squirrel, a cottontail rabbit of all things, and the usual deer mice. 

And there were brown towhees, scrub jays, and perhaps a mockingbird that perched on the camera. 

If this isn't a mockingbird, tell me what it is.

We decided not to give up.

So we changed the batteries and memory stick to give it one more chance.

Still hopeful, we drove on to the next locations. 

Searching for Ringtail

If you see a ground squirrel here you have good eyes.

Chimineas Ranch, Carrizo Ecological Reserve

We were looking for ringtails.

There are no records of ringtails on the ranch, so we set four cameras in rocky areas over a 5 mile area.

This was the last and admittedly a hastily chosen location. 

The memory stick had filled in 6 days -- 332 photos with a success rate (# animal images/total # images) of 38%.

That's what happens when you program your controller for 24-hour shooting and you get dappled light during the day. 

False triggers from hot air. 

We got lots of  ground squirrels, pickup trucks and cattle, wood rat, valley quail and morning dove.

This one is cropped so you can see it.

The set looked a lot better at night, and I'll bet you can't see the wood rat either.

It just proves what hunters sometimes say, "What you're looking for isn't what you'll necessarily get."

A bag of bones

Three weeks of maggots, carrion beetles, vultures and coyotes have reduced the cow to a shell of skin and scattered bones.

The Carrion Cafe has passed its heyday, but it's still open for business. 

Thanks to Craig Fiehler for snapping these pictures today.

The cast of coyotes

White-tailed pup has a big head and a long tail.

The coyote photos were far from ideal for identifying individuals.

At first all the animals look alike, but soon you recognize the immature coyotes with their big-ears and puppy-like build.

After pouring over the photos  I think I can distinguish two or three adults.

I suspect these coyotes are territory holders, a breeding pair and their offspring that hang around the cattle penned near the ranch house -- the same ones that serenade us at night.   

There were two big pups, perhaps 6 months old, that differed in tail coloration.

The one above ("big-head") has a white-tipped tail, and the black-tailed pup below seems to have a shorter tail (though it could be an illusion due to posture).

Three coyotes were lankier in build, and had adult body proportions. 

 

One has more black markings on the tail than two other adults. 

Its the one that was photographed attacking one of the pups.

This one has a marking on the back of the right front leg, and may be same unkempt-looking animal as the one below.

But this one looks more full-bodied and may be different. 

If we get another chance to photograph at cow carrion, I'll make sure the cameras are closer to the action. 

I don't think the IR cams (=no flash) will be necessary under such conditions. 

An old bold coyote

I've been revisiting the cow carcass in Photoshop -- cropping coyote images to figure out how many animals were in that family.

This coyote -- look carefully at the left side of the picture -- was bold enough to walk up to the camera and check it out. 

The camera took two photos of it 3 seconds apart.

Here it is a minute later having a snack of marinated beef jerky.  

 

Its body proportions tell me it's an adult, and if you look at that hind foot at the top of the page you'll see that it has a few battle scars. 

This is the first time I've had a coyote check a camera up close. 

It happens all the time with bears, which are naturally curious, but the legendary coyote usually doesn't take chances like this. 

But all coyotes aren't alike.

Eveline Sequin Larrucea and her co-workers studied the reaction of marked and radio-collared coyotes to camera traps, and found interesting differences between breeding territorial coyotes (alphas), nonbreeding resident adults (betas), and dispersing transients.

Her photos revealed leery coyotes making haste, but the fast Trailmaster film cameras and active infra-red sensors captured full body images good enough for individual identification. 

First finding of note: coyotes didn't rush in as soon as the cameras were set. 

On average the first coyote photo was taken 14 days into the 6-week trapping sessions.

Camera trap success (total # of coyotes divided by # of active camera traps) was highest for adult coyotes during March and April, and for juveniles during July and August.

Photo-captures of adults peaked at midnight, while juveniles showed more or less equal peaks   at dusk, dawn, and midnight. 

Photos of adults peaked 2-weeks after the cameras were deployed, while photos of juveniles peaked during weeks three and four.  

Social status also had its effect. 

Only three territory-holding coyotes, the resident breeders, were photographed and all between midnight and 2:30AM. 

Resident nonbreeding adults (the betas) were photographed throughout the night, while the transients were photographed most often at dawn and dusk.   

There were other differences too, but what it all boils down to is this: population estimates based on photo-capture and recapture of identifiable animals can vary two-fold depending on the time of year.

Spring estimates overestimate coyote density because transient coyotes, the ones just passing through, are vulnerable to photo-ops. 

 

Reference

Larrucea, E.S., P.F. Brussard, M.M. Jaeger, and R.H. Barrett. 2007. Cameras, coyotes, and the assumption of equal detectability. Journal of Wildlife Management 71(5):1682-1689. 

Nighttime at the Carrion Cafe

Guess who's the boss here? 

A cool grassy breeze wafted through the window and over my sleeping bag. 

The yodel dogs gave a full-throated chorus, and I dozed off.

Not for long.

They yapped the rest of the night -- reassurance that a lot was happening at the Carrion Cafe. 

The cameras would be working overtime. 

Many of the 142 coyote pictures were of a hungry big-eared pup.

It still has growing to do if its body is going to catch up to the size of its head.

Here's a bigger coyote for comparison, presumably one of big-head's parents. 

The Cafe was a rough place to take a meal. 

 

Mom and dad made ugly faces and snarled at anyone who tried to butt in. 

It got downright scrappy.

And it looks like big-head got his butt kicked.

Take home message for family 'yotes at the Carrion Cafe? 

Watch your back and eat fast. 

A vulture day at Chimineas

They arrived shortly after dawn for a cold breakfast.

As the ranch house came into view we noticed the vultures in the cottonwoods. 

We unpacked and checked the first camera trap on a hill not far from the house.

That's when we found the dead cow. 

The Chimineas Ranch is in condor country. . . the inner coast range of San Luis Obispo County. 

California condors are coming back to the region, but the vultures never left. 

So we set a couple of cameras at the dead cow.  

It's something you do after your own meal has settled.

 

Two days and 985 pictures later we knew who visits the Carrion Cafe.

Common vultures (81% of the pictures), yellow-billed magpies (55%), ravens (36%), starlings (15%), coyotes (14%).

Magpies arrived for a cold breakfast (5:15:23AM) as soon as the coyotes left (5:15:13AM).

Then came 2 to 3 ravens and the vultures -- young and old, no more than 6 at a time. 

One starling watched from the sidelines and got bold when the big boys were scarce. 

Later in the morning there was a lull.

The vultures stretched their wings in the sun and preened.  

But they came and went all day long.  

Whether the meals were hot or cold, the Carrion Cafe was a busy place.