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 them 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 or more coyotes stay near a 
