Ken Dumont was at Echo Lake January 13 and snapped spectacular photos of a coyote fishing.  His photos were posted to the Facebook group Saskatchewan Nature Photographers and sparked conversation, as well as surprise, to see a coyote fishing.

Matthew Tokaruk, biologist with the Ministry of Environment in Prince Albert says it’s not necessarily abnormal behavior and he says he’s learned to expect the unexpected from coyotes because they are so adaptable.

“If they’ve learned how to catch a few fish, and those are some neat pictures for sure, they’ll certainly keep doing that. I mean, especially through the winter, often ice fisherman are going to be leaving some you know fish entrails and spines and heads on the ice and I’m sure the coyotes grab those once in a while. And a couple coyotes have probably learned, that hey, in the shallow water – I can grab a few fish – and I’m sure they probably do.”

He says the coyote population is stable at this time and while predators can be challenging, they have a role to play in Saskatchewan’s eco-system. In terms of other wildlife if you notice white tail and mule deer yarding up into larger

Photo credit: Facebook Ken Dumont

groups it can be attributable to snow depth. Particularly for the deer species, and perhaps elk, March is the time of year that it can be challenging if the snow sticks around much longer.