COYOTE 73 



coarse overhairs or 'guard hairs' while there is proportionately more of 

 the fine under-fur. The reverse is the case in the Valley Coyote. In other 

 words, the Mountain Coyote is a 'woolly' animal; while the Valley species 

 is ' hairy. ' A thick coat of fur to protect it from cold is of course essential 

 for an animal which dwells during the winter months in snow-covered 

 mountains. The coat of the Mountain Coyote is probably subjected to 

 relatively slight wear, because the animal lives more in the open and has 

 its den among rocks rather than in a burrow in the ground. Its tail never 

 loses its rounded 'bottle-brush' form. One molt occurs each year, in the 

 fall, taking place some time between September and December. The 

 transition from the old hair and fur to the new does not bring about nearly 

 so great a change in appearance in this species as it does in the Valley 

 Coyote. Just after the molt is completed, when all the old hair has fallen 

 out and all of the new is fully grown in, the fur is prime, from the stand- 

 point of the trapper and fur dealer. The wear which does occur in the 

 Mountain Coyote, even though slight, results in lightening the coat color; 

 some of the black hair tippings are lost and at the same time the reddish 

 tones pale out, so that the general gray tone becomes even more pronounced. 



With the coming of autumn, many of the small mammals at the higher 

 elevations go into hibernation and, with the arrival of the snow, the 

 retreats and forage grounds of others are covered over. The Mountain 

 Coyotes, which have lived well all summer, are now forced to hunt more 

 assiduously for food. The migratory tendency which results in the appear- 

 ance of some of the big gray coyotes at the lower altitudes on the west 

 side of the mountains may well be a result of this stress. In October, the 

 numbers of coyotes in Yosemite Valley are augmented, and from then on 

 the animals are more or less common in the environs of the Valley between 

 the altitudes of 3500 and 7000 feet. The high-zone animals probably never 

 go lower than is necessary to find an adequate supply of food. In Yosemite 

 they keep to the north side of the Valley about Mirror Lake and in the 

 taluses near Rocky Point, Yosemite Falls, and Indian Cailon, where favor- 

 able den sites abound, and whence they can sally forth at night to search 

 the meadows for mice and gophers, the houseyards for chickens, or the 

 garbage pits for table scraps. 



The Mountain Coyote ranges upward regularly to above timber line. 

 On July 17, 1915, tracks of a Mountain Coyote were seen in Donohue Pass, 

 altitude 11,100 feet, near Mount Lyell. This is our highest station for the 

 occurrence of the species. This animal had crossed the 'pot-marked' snow- 

 field, stepping carefully on the edges of the 'riffles,' seldom dropping into 

 the holes. 



The track of a coyote cannot be distinguished surely from that of a 

 large dog, but as dogs are not allowed in Yosemite National Park, save 



