Tracking Coyotes

Trees bowed beneath the weight of snow and hoarfrost clinging to their branches.  Although the hours of sunlight visible each day had begun to increase since the passing of the solstice there was still only a few short hours where the sun would break above the horizon.  With the pale twilight that preceded and followed the brighter hours of the day just beginning to reduce the darkness of the landscape the pale form of a tokota lightly moved among the trees. Her breath frosted the fur around her jaws and that of the limp body of a coyote she was carrying.  Although the van gogh female had been unable to find her usual target of a fox during the night, but the lone coyote had been unfortunate enough to cross her path and was quickly dispatched with barely a mark on its thick coat.  After following its tracks for a short distance, Eeva had discerned the general direction it had come from, and after carefully marking the path she began to work her way back to the rest of the hunting party.

Vibrant blue eyes gleaming the tokota broke into a steady trot while making sure to avoid letting any of the snow from the trees fall on her and stain the female’s meticulously clean coat.  Ears flicking as she approached the cluster of large boulders the group had took shelter by for the night she was not surprised to see the massive form of the melanistic tokota Jeta sitting atop the formation.  Blinking her orange eyes once in a slow, deliberate motion she remained still as Eeva wove among the still sleeping forms of the rest of the pack to deposit her night’s kill alongside the body of a small fox she had caught earlier in their trip.  Shaking out her coat Eeva looked up at Jeta and waved her plumed tail once before opening her jaws wide in a yawn before making her way up to the dominant female.

       Jeta bent her neck a bit to better hear the smaller Eeva’s quick summary on what she had found while on her short excursion into the woods.  Letting out a short huff of approval Jeta gently nudged Eeva with her large nose before rising to her feet and shaking out her coat.  In a few short bounds she landed among the bodies of those still sleeping.  Going from body to body Jeta woke each of them.  Starting with the curly sisters Nukka and Kirima.  Nukka, the younger of the two siblings was curled in a tight ball against her older and larger sister, who had the “dire” build that she had not inherited.  When Jeta woke the golden tawny with a nudge on the shoulder, she grumbled a little but was soon on her feet as her sister Kirima gently ran her tongue over Nukka’s head before standing to shake the loose snow from her coat.  Both sisters stood in silence as they watched Jeta move onto the next two of the group.

      Illi, when woken was instantly on her feet, tail waving back and forth in excitement as she happily licked the giant but gentle Jeta’s face.  Rasha, the sphinx who Illi had been curled against for the night, feeling her companion’s excitement was soon on her feet as well and ran a short circle around her friends before dashing off into the woods to relieve herself.  Trotting back to the rest of the group, tail whipping back and forth she happily greeted Illi as the smaller barbary also left before returning.  Sniffing each other before pacing over to the two sisters so that the entire group was gathered around Eeva and Jeta.

      The van gogh female shared what she had found during her morning hunt.  From there Jeta signaled for Eeva to bury her two kills, and once she had the younger female began to lead the way to the trail where they could pick up the scent of the coyote she had killed that morning.  Eeva and Jeta took the lead with Nukka and Kirima following behind them.  Illi and Rasha, for their part dashed back and forth, chasing each other through the trees as their exuberance and seemingly endless amounts of energy allowed them.

      With her attention focused on finding her marking and blocking out the antics of Illi and Rasha, the van gogh female was oblivious to the silent approach of Nukka behind her.  Baring her teeth in a mischievous grin the pretty tawny snapped her teeth shut on and sharply tugged the thick fur of Eeva’s tail before quickly retreating to put Kirima’s sizeable bulk between her and her target. Blue eyes blazing dangerously Eeva spun with a sharp bark of indignation and shock.  Dashing forward to try and chase Nukka she stopped and glared at Kirima, who had only planted herself in place between her sister and Eeva.  With her ever-calm eyes she stood in silence as Eeva berated the two curly tokotas, unaware that Nukka’s plan was still incomplete.

      Rasha and Illi, misreading the signs as Eeva dashed after Nukka thought the pristine female was finally willing to loosen up and play.  Dashing from the woods, the two energetic tokotas bowled Eeva right over.  Eyes wide she lay in shock in the snow as Rasha and Illi dodged back and forth around her while letting out short yips of excitement.  However, when Eeva only rolled over to curl her feet beneath herself and slowly stand, still in shock and glaring at Nukka, who was peeking out from behind Kirima, Illi and Rasha realized they had made a mistake.  Heads low and tails waving back and forth they gingerly stepped up the tokota and began to lick her fur back into place in an attempt to appease her.  After a few minutes of the attention she shakes them off with a muted huff and a last growl of annoyance at Nukka before trotting by Jeta before breaking into a steady lope.

    As Eeva finally found the mark she had left by the coyote’s trail she began to sniff at the ground and retrace the path the small scavenger had left.  As the minutes ticked by each of the tokotas in the group began to focus on the task at hand.  Rasha and Illi especially, no longer dashed through the woods hap hazardously, but rather stalked a few short meters from each other, eyes and ears sharp as they kept a lookout for any sign of their prey.  Every once in a while one would pause, the other instantly mimicking their movement until they resumed their steady pace.

      Fanning out on the other side of the main trail where Eeva and Jeta tracked in silence Nukka led the way as her sister followed in her tracks.  Kirima, much like a large, shadowed wall was completely silent as she followed her younger sister.  Green eyes serious she made surprisingly little noise for her size as she wove among the trees.  In a way the dire female resembled an imposing guardian behind her sister.  Nukka froze in place when a familiar scent was carried by a gentle breeze that tugged at her fur.  Carefully sorting through the scents Nukka pulled her teeth back in a grin of sorts as she picked up faint traces of coyotes.  After making sure what she had found was not just a remnant of the scent left by Eeva’s earlier kill Nukka flicked her tail to try and signal to the rest of the group.

      Eeva and Jeta, locking gazes with the two siblings stood stock still until Nukka signaled the direction from which the scent had come.  Flicking her ears in understanding Jeta turned and relayed the information to Ili and Rasha before the massive female began to move forward again, her dark coat easily blending into the shadows of the trees around them.  The much smaller Eeva pinned her ears against her head as she nimbly followed in Jeta’s tracks, letting the melanistic female break a path through the thick snow.

      Eyes gleaming in excitement Rash and Illi began to pick up their pace, although not enough to risk displacing the load of snow from the trees around them with an accidental bump or brush of the fur.  As the scent of the coyotes began to grow stronger the duo easily leapt over a small stream, and were soon able to hear the small yips and other calls of the small pack ahead of them.  Reaching the edge of the trees the duo crouched in the shadows as they examined the short rise before them.  Although not high enough to reach above the trees surrounding it, the hillock was large enough to contain a small cave edged with rocks and the distinctive mound of dirt that remained from the coyotes’ attempts to expand the natural space to form a winter den.

      Holding back a growl Nukka watched the small group of coyotes as they went about their daily business.  The activity was somewhat high however, and as the tokotas watched it seemed as if the group was about to set out on a hunt of their own.  Unfortunately for them however the hunters were about to become the hunted.  After a quick survey of the area to see if any other exits of the den could be seen Jeta dropped her tail once and lunged forward with a deep throated grow.  As she did chaos seemed to break out on the short slope.  Jeta, with her large size and relative lack of mobility quickly sunk her fangs into the body of the nearest coyote while Eeva, with a burst of speed and nimble agility soon had a catch of her own hanging from her jaws.  The van gogh female had cleanly severed the jugular of her prey, carefully avoiding damaging its thick coat.

      While Jeta and Eeva took down their targets the rest of the coyotes scattered, two raced uphill, which Rasha and Illi immediately pursued.  Rasha, with her much longer legs quickly sprinted past the two coyotes and cut off their route of escape.  As they both skidded to a halt, teeth bared and ready to try and fight the sphinx tokota, Illi was able to snag one while their attention was focused on her friend.  Letting out a yip of shock the unharmed coyotes spun to nip at Illi’s jaws, but was soon silenced as Rasha descended upon it.  Raising her head, the limp body of the coyote hung from her jaws as she and Illi looked back to watch Nukka and Kirima try to catch their own prey.

      Nukka was busy trying to dig out one of the remaining two coyotes who had managed to make it to the temporary safety of its den.  Every time the tawny curly began to dig however the smaller carnivore would nip and bite at her paws, only to retreat when Nukka tried to bite back.  Growling in irritation she continued to try and dig the little critter out.  Kirima for her part, was also at a disadvantage.  Although her dire build would normally be helpful against larger and more dangerous prey, for the moment it was working against her.  Her target was nimbly dodging Kirima’s powerful jaws and the occasional swipe of her large paws.

      Eeva, for her part was sitting in a content silence as she watched the two inexperienced youngsters struggle to catch their prey.   In her mind it was payback, especially for Nukka, after her earlier prank and plots against Eeva.  Jeta for her part, was holding back from helping, knowing full well it would be better for the two sisters to figure things out on their own rather than having her intervene and take control of the situation.  Besides, as long as they didn’t lose their prey she didn’t quite care how long it would take for them to get the job done.  Blinking once her orange eyes closed once as her jaws opened in a massive yawn.  Illi and Rasha pulled alongside the two females and stood, tails waving in excitement as they too watched, although every once in a while they would let out a short bark of encouragement for the sisters.

It took a few minutes but after a while both curly females managed to catch their targets.  Nukka finally snapped her jaws shut on her coyote when it bit just a little bit too hard on her paw, and was thus unable to release its grip before getting pulled out of the den enough for the tawny female to end its life.  Kirima, for her part had finally dropped to her stomach in the snow when the coyote thought to run between her legs, and after a short squabble on the ground as it tried to bite the mass of tokota now laying on top of it Kirima managed to pin it in place long enough to put the coyote out of its misery.  Panting heavily the two sisters stood side by side, quickly looking each other over for any serious injuries before walking over to the rest of the group.  Nukka glared at Eeva with a mixture of irritation and embarrassment at the gloating look in the van gogh female’s vibrant blue eyes.

Jeta, keeping a careful eye on everyone picked up her catch and signaled for the group to begin heading back to their resting place from the night before.  Eeva instantly took the lead, while Illi and Rasha dashed after her, nudging her playfully before falling into place behind her.  Kirima and Nukka walked side by side while Jeta took up the rear.  The dominant female’s orange eyes were warm as they looked up at the sky, which was now starting to burn with the colors of the sun as the golden orb began to set.  Blinking once Jeta flicked her ears and moved to follow the rest of the group.  They had worked hard that day, and would have a long trip back to their trainers after a good nights sleep.