Coyote

Seeing a coyote in Yellowstone National Park is a common event. I probably saw a half-dozen coyotes during my trip there this winter. This coyote, however, was a special treat. The group I was with was out for a morning sunrise photo shoot when we noticed it traversing the Old Faithful Geyser area in the Upper Geyser Basin. We were able to photograph it repeatedly as it hunted for its morning meal.

Many people confuse coyotes and wolves. Coyotes are quite abundant in the park and can be commonly seen traveling through open meadows and valleys. They are very intelligent and adaptable animals. This trait helped them resist efforts to exterminate them in the early 1900s. Wolves, on the other hand, are quite rare and their numbers are quite small. It is very uncommon to spot wolves in the park. If it looks like a German Shepherd then it’s most likely a wolf. If it has a pointy nose and slanted eyes then it’s most likely a coyote. Wolves are also much larger than coyotes.

This image was taken with my Canon EOS 7D Mark II using my Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 II Lens set on 371mm. The camera was set on Manual mode with the aperture set at f/5.6, shutter speed at 1/320th of a second and the ISO set at 250. I hand-held the camera for this image. This is a single image processed in Lightroom and completed in Photoshop using Nik Color Efex Pro.

You can access my Yellowstone NP/Grand Teton NP collection by clicking here. Please use the section below to post your comments, questions or suggestions.

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