05/10/2026
Happy Mother's Day to all our human and non human mothers out there!
We would be remiss if we did not give a special consideration for the coyote moms out there, currently trying to manage a litter of rambunctious pups that are now going into exploration mode. Human mothers know the dangers of turning your back for just a moment, so could you imagine 4-6 at once? ?
Unlike many other species, coyote mothers are fortunate in being able to depend on dad for 50/50 support in pup rearing from birth to dispersal. That being said, they do a great job with that 50 percent.
- She gives birth to between 2-6 puppies. However, if there is a sudden sharp decline in breeding female coyotes (hunting, over exploitation by humans primarily), remaining females will often birth up to 12 pups with a high survival rate, creating a population explosion (compensatory rebound).
- Coyotes anticipate and plan for danger before they ever give birth. Coyote moms and their chosen mate will dig up to 17 dens within 1 territory, so that they can move their pups to safety in the event of discovery by other predators/dangers. Coyote dens are fairly elaborate, so the sheer amount of work that would take is incredible to me (I'm biased of course:)
- Mother coyotes will often refuse to leave her den and her puppies for the first two weeks after birth, while she depends on the dad to hunt and bring food. Dad isn't usually "allowed in" at this time
- They take an equal role in all hunting after that initial period, sometimes having a yearling from the year before to help with "babysitting"
-Hope Ryden, author of Gods Dog, recorded yearly "family reunions" ... dispersed pups from previous years litters ..all reuniting after the birth of current babies for a few days of greetings before disappearing back to their own territories for another year. She observed this while observing a pack in Yellowstone for 4 years.
Here at ICRC, we do not breed, so this is one aspect of coyote behavior we have not had the honor of observing in their natural environment.
We have, however, observed pseudo pregnancies with several of our females, exhibiting them yearly for life...I can confirm personally, that with solitary females, they would spend 2 weeks refusing to leave their houses. We had to bring food and water to the door and set it inside. Its been an eye opening experience.
