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Suffering from cabin fever, I decided to head out this morning and see what I could see. It was overcast and cold. About 30 minutes after sunrise I stumbled upon this good looking coyote hunting for his Christmas breakfast. Fresh meat is a rare find this time of year and I must not have looked too threatening.Surprisingly, he did not run when he saw me.<\/p>\n
Coyotes’ hunting techniques vary depending on theirprey. When hunting small animals such asmice, they use their sense of smell to track the prey, even beneath the snow. When located, the coyotes stiffen and pounce in a cat-like manner. Iwatched him track what turned out to be a small rodent. He cocked his head several times and it was clear he was drawing a bead on the critter. I could tell he was about to pounce so I tried to anticipate his trajectory to keep him in the frame. I got off five shots during his jump but got only two keepers.<\/p>\n
This whole sequence took only about two minutes. Once he grabbed the mouse, it wasn’t long before he swallowed him whole and disappeared over the ridge. All in all, well worth getting up and out early.<\/p>\n
All images were made with the Canon 1D Mark IV and Canon EF600mm f\/4.0L 1\/1250s f\/4.5 iso 1600.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n