THE CLOWN OF THE PRAIRIES 85 



out what this was they scampered racing away. 

 Going only a short distance, they sat down, as 

 though at a dead line. Evidently there is a 

 small zone of safety surrounding the den be- 

 yond which the puppies are not allowed to go. 

 At this moment Mr. Coyote appeared, from 

 down the slope, with a jack rabbit in his jaws. 

 He was coming quickly along and had not sus- 

 pected my presence. How eagerly the puppies 

 watched him! As he came up they commenced 

 snapping and tearing at the rabbit he carried. 

 Mrs. Coyote hastily joined them, and all scurried 

 into the den. The following morning the den 

 was deserted. It is common for coyotes to 

 move their puppies promptly to another den 

 when they think they are discovered. 



Another mother coyote decoyed me into 

 watching a vacant den. Her children were in 

 another den a quarter of a mile away. In 

 carrying food to thejm she went out of her way 

 to enter the vacant den, then left it by a differ- 

 ent entrance and proceeded by a circuitous 

 route to the waiting puppies. Both of the old 

 coyotes hunt and carry food to the den for their 

 puppies. 



Repeatedly I have seen a mother or a father 

 coyote lure a hunter or trapper away from the 

 den or spot where the young were hidden. I 

 have also seen one ot mote coyotes stay near a 



