Dogs and cats have been fighting since the dawn of time. Something about the relationship between the two evokes the anticipation of some sort of dispute, especially the wild. Even though most of us are eager to give dogs the edge, especially when you consider the prowess of wolves in North America, but there are a handful of wild cats you simply never want to underestimate. Enter the Canada lynx, which may only grow to 15-30 pounds, but has enough grit to stand up to any wild animal they deem a threat. We see this very characteristic on display in the following trail camera footage, which captures a run-in between a large lynx and a coyote who coincidentally cross paths. What results is a short, completely one-sided fight that the coyote is lucky to escape from with its life!
We haven't seen a fight this one-sided in quite some time. It's hard to say what the coyote was thinking as it tried to run past the lynx, but it probably was nothing more than the panic button. However, as you can see, these big cats are fast, they're equipped with huge claws, and they're ruthless when put on the spot. Those yelps of pain from the coyote are all you need to hear to get the full story of what happened here. It's also worth nothing that coyote wasn't scrawny, either. It looks like it has been living well in the dead of winter, likely from scavenging. The lynx was just that much meaner. It did not look like the lynx was trying to kill the coyote as much as it was simply trying to run it out of the area. It makes us wonder if the lynx has a kill nearby it was defending, which would explain the coyote's presence.
One thing is for sure, though: this is one of the more amazing trail camera captures we have seen in a while. Even though type of encounter may happen every day in the wild, the odds of catching it perfectly in frame like this are unfathomable. We'd like to extend our thanks to the video's uploader, Les Anders, for sharing this rare encounter with the world.
For more outdoor content from Travis Smola, be sure to follow him on Twitter and check out his Geocaching and Outdoors with Travis YouTube channels.
