Crossed paths with Mr. Coyote this evening. I was on my way up from the studio and, wonders never cease–I had my camera. So I took a couple of photos. You have to look closely to see him because he blends in.
This is going to be like Where’s Waldo? Hint: He’s on the right, in the grouping of three trees. About mid-level in the photo, staring at me face on. There’s a black dot that’s his nose. He’d been on a parallel path to me but stopped when I called out.
This one is a little easier to make out. Upper right, running off. If you’ve never seen a coyote before, they’re about the size of a mid-sized dog. They hunt in packs and have a distinct yip yip yip as they surround their prey. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been awakened in the dead of night by their killing chorus. The yips become a frenzy and then…silence. Total. Complete. SILENCE. And Mr. Bunny (or whomever) is no more.
We’ll hear them every night for weeks. Some nights more than once. Sometimes they sound like they’re right outside my window. Coming from a sound sleep to that racket kicks the adrenalin up. And then the dogs start barking. Because that’s what dogs do.
Really, who needs sleep?
Oh, right…I do.
After a couple of weeks the coyotes move on to fresh hunting and things quiet down. But they’ll be back. Weeks. Maybe a month, they’ll be back.
And looking at those photos I’d say it’s going to be noisy tonight.
We lived on a mtn top in Black Mountain, NC many years ago. I was sitting out on the front porch and a fox walked across the driveway not 5 feet away. He stopped, looked me square in the eye and then continued to saunter right on across the driveway up into the woods. I will never forget it. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my camera like you. Even if I had, not sure I would have had the presence of mind to get a photo. Now shall I also tell you about my run ins with the rattlesnakes?
Ha–Donna you should’ve seen me fumbling with the camera. Speed was of the essence here and I was all thumbs. Pointed in the general direction and started clicking away. Shot at least half a dozen pics but these were the only two that remotely came out.
I’ll take coyotes over rattlesnakes any day! Haven’t seen any around here but my friends who live at a slightly lower elevation encounter them fairly frequently.