A video posted by the Peninsula Open Space Trust captures a coyote and badger crossing through a culvert together, showing the animals do peacefully coexist and often times benefit off of one another.
Wildlife experts have observed the partnership when hunting together, especially when the menu includes ground squirrels.
The two have been known to team up to pursue the ground squirrel. If it goes into an underground burrow, the badger takes over and digs it out while the coyote guards the exit hole. If the badger scares it out into the open, the coyote uses its speed to capture the squirrel. They each bring a unique skill set to the table and help the other’s weaknesses.
In one study at the National Elk Refuge in Wyoming, 90 percent of all coyote-badger hunts featured one of each animal, while about 9 percent involved one badger with two coyotes. Just 1 percent saw a lone badger join a coyote trio.
While these two don’t generally share a meal once one of them catches dinner, they both know if they work together, it improves the chances of one of them getting a meal.
Photo: Kimberly Fraser/USFWS