iN VIDEO: Coyote pups yip and yowl in Summerland

South Okanagan wildlife photographer Jodi Forster was on one of her usual hikes along the Summerland Bench recently when she recorded the sounds of coyote pups.

The pack appeared to kick off after the sounds of sirens rose up from the highway below, at first barking and yipping, eventually howling along with high-pitched voices.

A member of the dog family, the coyote is a social, intelligent and highly adaptable animal that can be found in a range of habitats across North America including forests, grasslands and deserts.

Coyotes cooperate in packs to provide food, raise pups and protect their territories together. They use howling, as well as scent marking, to identify their territory, according to International Fund for Animal Welfare.

Much of the time coyotes hunt small mammals, frogs or fish using their keen senses of sight, smell and hearing and fast running speeds. 

At this time of the year, the mating season has ended and puppies are being born. The coyote follows a monogamous mating system where pairs of coyotes form strong bonds that last throughout the mating season and after as they both care for pups.

Females give birth to roughly five pups in dens dug into the ground, and in the fall some of the litter will move on while others will stay in the pack.

The coyote is smaller than a wolf, and is identified by its coarse, greyish-brown fur, bushy tail, large pointy ears and long snout.

Packs of coyotes are often heard howling and yapping in the night and at dusk and dawn.

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