Coyote Entered Back Yard
Lots of coyote stuff has happened in the past week (relatively speaking). First Colleen saw one frolicking with a stray lap dog, then we heard two group howl sessions before dark. The pre-darkness howling was a first for us.
The most significant coyote encounter happened yesterday. It was a gorgeous day. Warm, sunny and clear. I was up on a ladder painting the back of our house. Our six month old son was in his stroller under a nearby shade tree and Elke, our dog, was dozing in the sun about ten feet away from him. My wife came out the back door and exclaimed something about a coyote. It was not unusual to see a coyote passing through the outskirts of our yard so I was not surprised and hurried down the ladder to see it.
What I saw shocked me. It was making a bee-line for our dog. My wife yelled at it and it slightly changed direction and trotted towards the tree line. It had progressed to within twenty feet of Elke and wasn't very afraid of any of us. Elke thought she was the one being yelled at and was so confused that she never even saw the coyote.
Not a cause for hysteria, but definitely an eye-opener. The coyotes have been elevated from 'Neat-O' to 'Potential Threat' status in our household.
Comments
My dad woke up at 3:30 this morning to a large grey coyote in our gated yard, it was in our koi pond! when it saw my dad in his truck it hopped over a 5 foot fence. We live in california just outside the city. Once a coyote finds food in someones yard will it keep coming back??? We have all kinds of goodies in our yard! fruit trees, walnuts, fish and small field rodents.
Posted by: theresa | October 12, 2007 08:08 AM
Theresa,
From what I've learned, coyotes are opportunistic. They won't pass on an easy meal.
I've read news articles and heard one first-person account about pets falling prey to coyotes as well.
First time I've ever heard of them eating Koi - but they'd be easy, and probably tasty, prey so I guess that makes sense.
Posted by: Eric G. Wiley | October 12, 2007 08:34 AM