Spring is baby animal season, and it’s always fun to watch for local wildlife babies. We wrote earlier this month about the baby ducks hatched near Buzz co-publisher Patty Lombard’s pool…but we also had fun last week following a couple of other baby wildlife stories. They’re less local, but are both cute and educational.
First, while it’s pretty common for local residents to see coyotes out and about in Los Angeles, it’s much less common to get a glimpse of newborn coyote babies. But Toogee Sielsch, a wildlife photographer in Lake Tahoe, recently set up a camera at a home in that area where a mother coyote established a birthing den under the house.
Sielsch spent two weeks in late April and early May documenting the often “secretive affair” of the mom parenting her seven newborn pups, and posted video and photos on his Instagram feed. He later told CBS News Sacramento that it was “one of the most amazing learning experiences I’ve ever had with any wildlife species.”
According to Sielsch, coyotes spend most of their lives on the move, and settle in only when giving birth and caring for their newborn offspring. Sielsch’s Instagram posts show the mother feeding, grooming, and caring for her pups, and also document the long periods each day when she leaves the den to hunt for food. (During those times, another coyote – possibly an older sibling to the newborns – looks after the babies.)
Sielsch said the mother moved the babies out of the den on May 11, and several days later, after making sure there were no further returns and the space was fully empty, he sealed it up so the homeowners won’t have to worry about future wildlife intrusions.
Meanwhile, slightly closer to home, we also enjoyed reports last week of three mountain lion kittens found in the Simi Hills. The offspring of mother cat P-77, the new kittens are all female and have been named P-113, P-114, and P-115.
This National Park Service video shows the approach to the den, and two of the three babies:
More NPS mountain lion photos are videos are available here.
if you have photos or videos of any other local wildlife babies, we’d love to see them – please post links in the comments below, or send photos to [email protected]!
