Like a page out of a child’s storybook, a coyote and a badger trot side by side, seemingly the best of friends.

Scientists have known for a long time that coyotes and badgers in the American West hunt cooperatively for small mammals; the partnership is even featured in Native American mythology. But until now, the association between these two predators, each at the top of their respective food chains, has always been thought to be purely transactional. What’s so striking about the video, says independent behavioral ecologist Jennifer Campbell-Smith, is that it’s not “these cold, robotic animals taking advantage of each other—they’re instead at ease and friendly.”

This is the best thing you'll see all day! 🐾

Our wildlife cameras spotted a #coyote and #badger together — the first time this type of behavior has been captured in the San Francisco #BayArea.https://t.co/YDcnhyiWL1 pic.twitter.com/qZQgcbwtTk — Open Space Trust (@POST_fans) February 4, 2020

Case in point: The coyote wags its tail and bows down playfully, signaling that it’s inviting the badger to follow it into the tunnel. The badger’s body language is relaxed; the animal even lifts its tail to waddle more quickly to keep pace with the coyote. “The badger was showing happy behavior—for a badger,” she laughs. The animals are known for being notoriously grumpy.

What’s more, the affability between the animals shows that they certainly know each other as individuals. “I wouldn’t scientifically want to use the term friends, but these are two wild animals that clearly understand their partnership.”

The video, taken by the nonprofit group Peninsula Open Space Trust, is an important discovery for scientists: It shows both the first example of coyote-badger cooperation ever taken in the San Francisco Bay Area and possibly the first video showing two species sharing a culvert—a tunnel that allows water to flow under a road and wildlife to bypass highways. But there’s another crucial takeaway here, she adds: Helping the public to relate to the wildlife in their own backyards.

Such clips help “people see that, oh wait, just like I can have a friendship with a dog, they can, too,” she says. “It’s not just a human thing; all animals can collaborate.”

Win-win situation

Coyotes and badgers occasionally form short-term alliances to hunt ground-dwelling creatures, particularly in areas with relatively high densities of predators and prey, such as open expanses of Wyoming, Montana, and Oregon. The most common structure is one coyote and one badger, though occasionally two coyotes will join up (two badgers have not been observed, however), notes Campbell-Smith. (Learn how coyotes are hacking life in the city.)

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It's not known how the relationship begins, or whether it’s learned behavior from the species’ parents, she says. But there’s no question the association is mutually beneficial.

That’s because the carnivores complement each other’s hunting styles. If a coyote spends time near a badger, there’s a good chance the badger is going to scare up a squirrel, which the coyote can then run and catch. If the badger hangs around a coyote, there’s a likelihood the coyote will drive the prey underground, which then gives the badger—a superior digger—a meal.

Research has backed up the efficacy of this mutualism: Coyotes and badgers that hunt together are both more effective at getting food. For instance, observations in Wyoming have revealed that coyotes that team up with badgers save energy and likely time by not having to search, chase, and stalk Uinta ground squirrels.

Such studies have also shown the coyote-badger affiliations are more common in rural areas untouched by humans—making this video all the more exciting, notes Megan Draheim, a conservation biologist at Virginia Tech and founder of the District Coyote Project, which studies the predators in Washington, D.C.

“This is a great reflection of how much nature and wildness there can be in urban areas, and why it’s important to think about nature and plan for it.”

It also gives the public a glimpse into the coyote’s playful side, Draheim adds. (Read how the most hated animal in America outwitted us all.)