
abundance of the adults suggests a general return of this age class 
of drifters to their previous home area, and the scarcity of egyotes 
tagged as pups indicates that many of these had remained away 2, 
That some adults may likewise take up permanent residence elsewhere 
is shown by the fact that 2 were taken during summer, 13 and 1) air- 
line miles down-country and across the Yellowstone River 1 and 2 
years, respectively, after tagging. However, since coyotes apparently 
do not breed until their second year under Yellowstone conditions y, 
the subadults may show a dispersal pattern similar to that of pups. 
One of the adults taken down-country in the summer was listed as a 
young animal, probably a yearling, at the time of tagging and the 
other one also may have been of that age class. 
Combined Returns from Spring and “ummer Tagging 
Figure 4 shows the general areas where 260 coyotes were 
marked and released in the Park during the spring and summer and 112 
recovery points of these animals at all seasons. Sixty-one coyotes 
were taken within the Park — 52 within five airline miles from the 
tagging points and 9 at greater distances. Fifty~one were recovered 
beyond the Park boundaries — 9 were 5 aixline miles or less from the. 
tagging locations and 2 were 6 airline miles or more away. The 
distances traveled by the h2 migrants averaged 28.3 airline miles with 
a maximum of 115, 
2 
Since the records show that about half of the pups and half of the 
adults drift down-country in the winter with the balance remaining near 
the tagging points, these non-drifters should show the same ratio of 
4 pups to 1 adult. Assuming that all of the adults and none of the 
pups returned to their original ranges, the ratio there in the summer 
should be 2 to 1 in favor of the younger animals, The difference 
between this theoretical proportion and the approximately equal 
numbers actually found there in the summer may be due to higher natural 
mortality and other losses among the younger animals. 
3 
~ Seven females known to be yearlings when collected were nonbreeders, 
while at the same time 11 older females, including 2 two year olds, 
killed in the spring or summer had bred that year. The failure of 
Yellowstone coyotes to breed as yearlings may not hold true in all 
areas, and this, together with other pertinent information, may be 
the subject of a later paper. 
10 
