We know from scientific studies and Native American records that coyotes and badgers have been known to hunt together. But this is the first documentation (that we know of) where a coyote and badger use a human-made structure to travel together safely.

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 scenes like this which we use to inform our land conservation work.

While badgers have been seen on occasion during our research, they are one of the more rare species for us to capture on camera. Since they prefer to spend most of their time underground, we don’t get a glimpse of them all that often. So, seeing one with a coyote moving through a small space like this is very rare.

With the information we’re collecting from this research, we are building a robust data set to identify the areas where wildlife can safely move across roadways as well as the areas that need to be enhanced for safer crossing. It’s all a part of our work to build a network of protected open space, something we’ve been working on since our founding in 1977.

It’s a real treat when we get videos like this – ones that show some personality and remind us of the relationships between these wild animals and how playful they can be. For more great wildlife videos, check out our recent post that goes into the details of this latest research.

Video credit: Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) / Pathways for Wildlife

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