Just thought I would share some nuggets I read recently regarding the behaviors of black-tailed jackrabbits and also coyotes. I love when field guides have cool and interesting behavior observations. But you don’t often get that, and so I like to spend time rummaging around in the reference section of my local library.
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Survival strategies & behaviors of black-tailed jackrabbits
- Tends not to travel far for water sources. Instead obtains moisture from their food: grass, leaves from low-hanging mesquite branches, and joints from prickly pear cactus.
- At farms, has been known to consume chili peppers, leaving the seeds uneaten due to their spiciness.
- Does not use burrows.
- Eyes have wide vertical and horizontal range, close to panoramic vision. Equally adept at hearing.
Source — Mammals of the Southwest Deserts by George Olin, published in 1982.
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Coyotes’ Reaction to Human Encounters
- “In a number of instances I have seen a coyote sitting motionless among the bushes of sagebrush near the top of some sandy hill. Such an animal will allow a fairly near approach … so long as motion is continued in a direction that will take the person past the coyote. If a stop is made, or if the direction of travel is switched to one directly toward the coyote, it is instantly away, over the hill.
Source — Mammals of Nevada by E. Raymond Hall, 1995 edition. In the above quote, Hall was citing some cool observations documented by trapper J.R. Alcorn in the 1930s, when he trapped more than eight hundred coyotes to sell their fur. It’s really interesting as it describes almost precisely what occurred during my own experience a couple of weeks ago.
the prickly pressed 