The coyote we had fifteen years ago, was very comfortable on the ice of both The Pool and The Pond, and there were many sightings of our current coyotes using the ice on The Lake and Turtle Pond this last winter. David Lei took a wonderful shot of a coyote on the Turtle Pond ice and included it in an article co-written with Jacqueline Emery for Smithsonian Magazine.

But I wasn’t expecting the coyotes to swim or walk in shallow water, but they do it all the time. I’m not sure why I didn’t think they would swim, as there are many breeds of domestic dog that love swimming. It turns out the park’s raccoons swim as well. I guess that’s why we don’t have any nesting ducks on the island of Turtle Pond.

The coyotes have also used one of the park’s islands to sleep on during the day. On the two occasions, I’ve seen them use an island to sleep on during the day. I was only able to hear some splashes as they left the island. Sadly, it’s almost impossible to photograph all of their behaviors. They really know how to stay out of sight and love to stay in the shadows.

I’ve only been able to take one thermal movie and extract some stills of the coyotes swimming. There isn’t snow in the image below, black is heat, and white is cold.

In this first photo a coyote swims to one of the park’s island, with a freshly caught Brown Rat in its mouth, with four ducks and geese to the right.
 

The wet coyote reaches one of the park’s islands.
 

The coyote shakes off the water on its coat.
 

Video of the coyote swimming to an island, eating a Brown Rat and exploring the island.
 

A coyote on one of the park’s islands. They will also walk in shallow water to get around dense vegetation.