California coyote left emaciated after two weeks with jar stuck on its head released into the wild

A coyote with a plastic container over its head was rescued on Feb. 5, 2018. A coyote with a plastic container over its head was rescued on Feb. 5, 2018. Photo: Sierra Wildlife Rescue Photo: Sierra Wildlife Rescue Image 1 of / 37 Caption Close California coyote left emaciated after two weeks with jar stuck on its head released into the wild 1 / 37 Back to Gallery

A female coyote who was rescued in February after spending more than two weeks roaming the ranch land of the Sierra foothills with a plastic jar over her head was released back into the the wild on Sunday evening.

Gold Country Wildlife Rescue returned her to her home territory near Cool, Calif., four weeks after she was found in a dehydrated, emaciated state.

"She came to us in critical condition, weighing barely 15 pounds. Upon release she weighed a smidge over 21 pounds," Sallysue Stein, who founded the volunteer rescue program 25 years ago, wrote in a statement.

VIDEO: Rescued coyote released on March 4, 2018

The group in Auburn first got a call on Jan. 26 reporting the animal near Cool, as reported previously on SFGATE.

After that, Stein says they received at least two calls each day from people who saw the coyote. Some commented they'd seen the animal several days before Jan. 26.

Others called in saying they were concerned the animal couldn't eat and one person saw her fully immersing her head into a pond to drink water.

"There's no way she could have eaten," Stein said. "But she had to have been getting water."

Gold Country Wildlife Rescue and Sierra Wildlife Rescue volunteers scoured El Dorado and Placer counties for the coyote daily, and Stein was out on Saturday until 2 a.m. Traps were set in the areas she was spotted; a volunteer from Elk Grove brought dogs trained in search-and-rescue to help.

"Then there was no sighting no Sunday," Stein said. "Nothing. I thought she was down, or, even worse, we'd lost her."

The news improved Saturday morning when someone called in with a sighting and a crew of volunteers was able to surround her as a drone flew overhead.

"She was cold, wet, emaciated, dehydrated," Stein said. "She'd been skunked and she was covered in fleas and ticks. Miserable conditions."

She added, "Her ears were a mess. She was scratching at this thing trying to get it off her head. She was clawing at her ears."

Back at the rescue center, the 15-pound coyote was given IV fluids and warmed up with blankets and a heating pad.

"About two and a half hours later, I went to peek in at her and she lifted her head up," Stein said.

With electrolytes, vitamin B shots, mammal formula smoothies and extra care, the coyote who is thought to be about 9-months-old, was nursed back to life.

"Her recovery took 4 weeks...Stein said. "Towards the end, she was very unhappy with us, which we take as just one measure of success (our goal is always to keep them wild)."