Lara Durgavich @tinkeringprim8 29 Mar 18 • 22 tweets • tinkeringprim8/status/979167379132469248 NEXT UP: SPOTTED HYENA VS. COYOTE! #2018MMM This battle was a collaborative effort, with valuable input from @TCastanea and @AnneWHilborn. #2018MMM Both animals arrive in Round 2 unscathed: Hyena after shredding the tiny Belo Horizonte marmoset, and Coyote having scared off an opossum. #2018MMM As we learned in Round 1, Harar hyenas are not your average carnivores. They roam the city streets and are not only tolerated by humans, but viewed as neighbors & spiritual guides. The animals get rid of garbage & bad spirits, and locals believe they tell the future. #2018MMM "Hyena Whisperers" in the city have a particuarly special relationship with the animals, feeding them meat (sometimes directly from their mouths!). #2018MMM https://www.pri.org/stories/2010-07-19/ethiopia-hyena-whisperers While these narrators are not aware of any "Coyote Whisperers," many North American Indiginous peoples' traditions portray Coyote as the Trickster, able to kill giants. #2018MMM indigenouspeople.net/coyokill.htm Both coyotes and hyenas, in areas where they are in close proximity to humans, sometimes kill livestock as well (including @TCastanea's chickens). #2018MMM The outskirts of the walled city of Harar, Ethiopia provide the setting for tonight's scene at dusk. #2018MMM Coyote, not familiar with the area, has stumbled across a dump along Highway 10. He immediately begins to hunt for one of his favorite types of prey: rodents! #2018MMM Although the Harar hyenas are provisioned by the city's residents, they, like hyenas in other areas of Northern Ethiopia, also scavenge at local dumps. #2018MMM Spotted hyena (Crocuta crocuta) concentrate around urban waste dum… Wildlife Research provides an international forum for the publication of original and significant research and debate on the ecology and management of wild animals in natural and modified habitats. R… http://www.publish.csiro.au/wr/pdf/WR14228 Tonight, Hyena stops at the dump on her way to visit the city and quickly encounters prowling Coyote. #2018MMM Though Coyote (20kg) is substantially smaller than Hyena (60kg), he goes on the offensive and begins to harass Hyena. Like jackals sometimes do, he targets her most vulnerable spot: the rump! #2018MMM #babygotback https://www.youtube.com/embed/7VJlIFiaV20 (Note: above video is of a Brown Hyena (Hyaena brunnea), not a Spotted Hyena like the ones in Harar) #2018MMM Hyena tucks her rear under her defensively and "groans" aggressively at Coyote. #2018MMM http://acoustics.org/pressroom/httpdocs/155th/pagehyena_sgrowl.wav Coyote is no fool & recognizes poor odds when he sees them. He darts away, toward the highway, with Hyena pursuing. #2018MMM Coyote crosses the highway safely...#2018MMM ....but Hyena is rammed by a car! #2018MMM Vehicle collisions are a major source of mortality in wildlife including spotted hyena cousin striped hyena #2018MMM https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ehsan_Moqanaki/publication/235967597_Vu lnerability_of_Striped_Hyaenas_Hyaena_hyaena_in_a_humandominated_landscape_of_Central_Iran/links/00463514f29a129a58000000.pdf Although Harar hyenas rarely attack local livestock, depredation by hyenas in other areas of Ethiopia causes conflict with humans & can create negative attitudes toward them. #2018MMM Local Tolerance of Hyena Attacks in East Hararge Region, Ethiopia (2013). Local Tolerance of Hyena Attacks in East Hararge Region, Ethiopia. Anthrozoös: Vol. 26, No. 3, pp. 421-433. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.2752/175303713X13697429464438 Tonight, Hyena was hit by a motorist from the Kombolcha region, who viewed hyenas as pests, & did not even try to swerve to avoid hitting her. #2018MMM As the car's taillights recede into the distance Coyote returns to the dump, promptly catches a rat, & digs into his meal. #2018MMM 0:00 COYOTE OUTMANEUVERS HYENA!!!!!! #2018MMM #UpsetCity •••