There's more to the story! The coyote and badger were together for about an hour before trotting off through a culvert under a California highway. See for yourself in this extended video.
While coyotes and badgers have been known to hunt together, this video captured a different type of interaction. We see two very different species, right by a busy roadway, using a human-made structure to travel safely underneath the highway together. To our knowledge, this is the first documented observation of its kind. We see an amazing inter-species relationship that seems mutualistic — like they're braving this hazardous situation together.
This footage was captured by our partners, Pathways for Wildlife, as part of our research to better understand how wildlife moves across the southern Santa Cruz Mountains. We have more than 50-remote sensor cameras helping us capture and study scenes like this. The findings help us improve and expand safe wildlife habitats and crossings in the Bay Area.
Learn more about the video and our wildlife study in Northern California at openspacetrust.org/blog/wildlife.
Video: Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) / Pathways for Wildlife
