Coyote Photos

An animal with a bad, and undeserved, reputation in South Dakota. Coyotes are often considered enemy #1 by farmers and ranchers, who don't hesitate to shoot them on sight. While they may occasionally take a chicken or other small farm animal, they also take a huge number of small rodents that farmers consider to be pests. It's not just farmers though...hunters in the state target Coyotes because they believe Coyotes are killing "their" Ring-necked Pheasants and other game birds.

Because of all the hunting pressure in South Dakota, Coyotes are EXTREMELY shy in the state. The most common view of a Coyote in South Dakota isn't at a chicken coup, or one taking a Ring-necked Pheasant. The most common view of a Coyote in South Dakota is of its backside as it runs far, far away before you can get anywhere close to it. Thus, despite spending a huge amount of time outside in South Dakota since we moved here in the early 1990s, and despite seeing quite a few coyotes over the years, I have very few in-state photos. Most of the photos below are in areas where Coyotes don't face the same kind of persecution they face in South Dakota, especially Yellowstone National Park, where they can often be seen hunting, seeminglyi oblivious to the crowds of people on the main roads.

My favorite photo of the species is of a Coyote near the Gibbon River in Yellowstone National Park. A beautiful setting with a green grassland and flowers, and most importantly for the photographer, an animal that was actually cooperative for a few pictures.

Coyote - Canis latrans


Coyote 1	Coyote 2	Coyote 3	Coyote 4
August 4th, 2007	August 6th, 2007	August 6th, 2007	August 6th, 2007
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Alert, young-looking coyote on open grassy clearing	Coyote in lush green prairie with flowers	Profile of coyote in lush green prairie with flowers	Coyote lounging in lush grassland at side of a stream

Coyote 5	Coyote 6	Coyote 7	Coyote 8
August 6th, 2007	August 4th, 2007	August 4th, 2007	August 4th, 2007
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Coyote sitting in the warm afternoon sun	Coyote on the prowl, crossing grassland area in Lamar valley	A pair of coyotes on the hunt	Coyote trotting across open grassland

Coyote 9	Coyote 10	Coyote 11	Coyote 12
August 7th, 2007	August 7th, 2007	August 7th, 2007	August 7th, 2007
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming
Closeup of coyote giving a soulful look into the camera (poor thing may have mange)	Closeup of head and snout in warm wun	Stopping to sniff the flowers	Coyote stopping to sniff the flowers

Coyote 13	Coyote 14	Coyote 15	Coyote 16
August 8th, 2007	August 8th, 2007	May 4th, 2008	May 4th, 2008
Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming	Near Tucson, Arizona	Near Tucson, Arizona
Coyote on the prowl along the banks of the Yellowstone River	Coyote on the prowl along the banks of the Yellowstone River	Alert coyote checking out the cameraman in Sonoran Desert habitat	Coyote moving through Sonoran Desert habitat

Coyote 17	Coyote 18	Coyote 19
May 18th, 2020	May 18th, 2020	September 2nd, 2020
Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Newton Hills State Park, South Dakota	Custer State Park, South Dakota
Curious coyote in the sumac at sunrise	Coyote moving through open meadow at Newton Hills State Park	Coyote hunting along the edge of a prairie dog town.