Posted on 03/21/2024 10:53:26 AM PDT by Red Badger
Limpy the Coyote, Yellowstone's best-known animal con artist, is teaching other critters how to beg tourists for food. Wildlife observers say other coyotes have been picking up on the scam and following Limpy’s lead.
Limpy the coyote, also known as Tripod, frequents the roadside in Yellowstone National Park, where he tries to score snacks by looking pathetic for tourists. (Photo Courtesy Isabella Smedley)
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As Yellowstone National Park gears up for its forthcoming peak season, one of its best-known grifters — Limpy the coyote — is at it again.
And he’s starting to bring friends along.
Limpy, also known as Tripod, is a coyote that frequents the roadside in the Lamar Valley area. He has an old leg injury, but he greatly exaggerates his limp and makes sad eyes at people in passing vehicles, hoping to score snacks. He’s become a pro at it.
And lately, other coyotes have been picking up on the scam and following Limpy’s lead, wildlife photographer Isabella Smedley told Cowboy State Daily.
“Coyotes are smart, and people are stupid,” she said.
Feeding wildlife is strictly forbidden in Yellowstone, and it’s bad for the animals, she said. So, while the acting talents of Limpy and his understudies might be impressive, she’d like to see it stop.
Smedley said she recently “drove up behind somebody throwing food out their car for Limpy, so I scared him away. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get video of the car’s license plate that time, to turn them in. Limpy really good at his job. He’s got a master’s degree in begging.”
Feeding Coyotes Can Get Them Killed
Smedley said she and other wildlife photographers are concerned about the welfare of Limpy and the park’s other coyotes. The begging routine draws them to the road, where they might get hit or run over.
What’s more, if coyotes get used to handouts, it will dull their natural hunting and scavenging skills. So, they might starve during the off-season when there aren’t crowds of tourists to sucker for food, she said.
The National Park Service has been posting more signs warning people to stay at least 25 yards from “habituated coyotes,” Smedley said.
But park rangers can be spread thin, so the public should pitch in to help break the coyotes’ bad habits, which are really the fault of people ignoring the rules, she said.
“I take videos all the time of license plates, and I turn people in all the time,” she said. “If people who love the park get serious about turning people in for feeding coyotes, we can get a handle on it.”
Limpy, a coyote that lives in the Larmar area of Yellowstone National Park, has mastered looking pathetic for tourists, in hopes of getting snacks. Feeding wildlife is strictly forbidden in Yellowstone. (Photo Courtesy Isabella Smedley)
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$5,000 Fine, Jail Time For Feeding
When coyotes get conditioned to handouts and lose their fear of people, it can get them killed, Park Service spokeswoman Linda Veress told Cowboy State Daily.
There are reports of people feeding wildlife all over Yellowstone, she said.
“Occasionally people do feed wildlife, or visitors leave food out and easily accessible for animals to get,” Veress said. “Animals that become dependent on human food may become aggressive toward people and may have to be killed. Visitors are reminded to keep all food, garbage, or other smelly items packed away when not in use.”
Park rangers didn’t have to kill any coyotes over the winter, she said, but they have investigated reports of some critters getting too comfortable around people.
“Law enforcement rangers are following up on instances of potential coyote habituation that occurred this winter,” Veress said.
“Once a coyote has been food-conditioned, they become less fearful of humans. They can display aggressive behavior and may bite. Once this occurs, coyotes are almost always killed. Attempts to haze, or trap and relocate them tend to be unsuccessful at stopping the aggressive behavior,” she added.
The maximum penalty for feeding wildlife in Yellowstone is a $5,000 fine and six months in jail.
Hopes He Learns Better Ways
Smedley said she enjoys seeing Limpy whenever she visits Yellowstone, but she wishes he’d learn to survive only on his natural skills.
“He knows how to hunt and find food on his own. Even with his leg injury, he looks good and he can move very quickly,” she said.
That hasn’t stopped him from trying his begging routine, even on Smedley, who flatly refuses to cave to his pathetic act.
“If I stop my van, he will stop by me. If I move forward, he will follow me forward,” she said. “Those eyes, he really knows how to make them look sad.”
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
I had a dog that would milk an old leg injury for sympathy. One day, I was looking at her for some minor transgression, and she lifted up her paw a bit. I said “Wrong foot,” and she put it down, and picked up the other one. We’re all being played.
LOL! (Are you sure you didn’t train her to do that?)
He’s just doing the job in Yellowstone, that RATS so far, won’t do. That’s because critters can’t vote. But if they ever did get the vote, RATS would be setting up critter welfare offices all over the park, and encouraging them to come in and apply.
Great story. ;-)
Great story. ;-)
Behavioral modification from mimicking what was observed as successful.
Turning coyotes into democrat welfare recipients. 😉
🤣
It's like the local turkey posse, running over to the side door when I open it.
I have to say, the boys are always extremely grateful for the snacks. It's six buddies together on their daily travels. They thank me with their happy giddy gobbling chorus of appreciation.
Glad there's a lot of space and peace around here, no Smedley the Scold to get all righteously indignant.
“Coyotes are smart, and people are stupid,” she said.”
This reminds of when I was reading about bird feeders. One “expert” said that if you start feeding birds you must continue because they become dependent on your feeder. I thought, yeah, that makes sense. Then my brain kicked in and said wait, when a wild bird’s food source is exhausted they just die? No, they go find another food source. People are gullible.
I’m pretty sure that she trained me.
whoa ho! Right on the money!
How many people have been jailed?
My son had a crippled dog who ran on three legs but walked on four and then he got a puppy and pretty soon the puppy did just the same as the other dog even though there was not a thing wrong with her.
That’s kind of amazing when you think about it - Nature v. Nurture.
“Smedley said she enjoys seeing Limpy whenever she visits Yellowstone, but she wishes he’d learn to survive only on his natural skills.“
I’d say that that’s exactly what he’s doing. The limp is probably phony. I had a German shepherd who turned a limp on and off all the time. The tell, besides the fact the the limp would come and go in the blink of an eye was the nose low sad face that was only there with the limp.
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