Don’t drink the water: Watch a ‘jerk’ coyote pull rude stunt at Arizona watering hole

Mark Price
·2 min read
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Coyotes are sort of nature’s version of ill-mannered teens — awkward in any crowd — and a trail camera video recorded in Arizona is proving their uncouth reputation may be deserved.

It’s a minute long, and hints of drama by showing a large coyote appearing to track an unsuspecting bobcat to a watering hole.

Both species are not afraid to defend themselves, so it’s easy to assume a fight is brewing.

However, what viewers get depends on their tolerance for bathroom humor.

First, the bobcat drinks, then saunters away.

Then the coyote arrives, takes a refreshing sip — and hikes one leg to shamelessly urinate in the water bowl.

Several thousand people have viewed the video since it was posted Jan. 2 on YouTube’s AZ Desert Critters channel, and they all seem to agree the coyote deserves a good slap upside the head.

“What a jerk,” Rebecca Cartwright wrote.

“Just rude,” Laura Holbert posted.

The video was recorded Dec. 29 near Tucson by part-time pet photographer Keith Cannataro. He says the two animals were about 10 seconds apart in real time, and the coyote’s decision to pee in the water took him off guard, too.

“At least it peed after drinking,” Cannataro told McClatchy News. “This was the first time I recall seeing a bobcat and coyote so close together. Being just one coyote, I didn’t think it would try anything with the bobcat.

“I gather from other people that this is some sort of (territory) marking. I jokingly mentioned that maybe the coyote was aiming for the side of the water dish and as we males know, sometimes our aim in not perfect,” he said.

Cannataro started putting out the water for wildlife in May, during a period of extreme drought in the state. His has recorded about 160 videos for the AZ Desert Critters page, include javelina squadron, badgers and rattlesnakes.

In one video, recorded in September, he captured a coyote realizing just in time it was walking straight at a rattlesnake that was lying in wait near the water. The coyote is seen backing up and walking around the reptile.

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