July 4th, 2009…not fireworks, just excitement…
Sometime just before 7:00 a.m. on the 4th, Karl started barking, Bob came roaring inside…
I tore outside, stopping only long enough to grab my can of pepper spray.
Karl was doing his “woo-woo-woo” something up a tree kind of noise. As I rounded the motorhome I saw Karl and the coyote. The coyote looked so small that my initial thought was “young” coyote.
They were squared off.
As I came into view, the coyote looked at me, turned and took off to the East – our loop walk. Karl moved a bit toward, keeping up the “woo-woo-woo” and then, somewhat spastically, nose to the ground, alternatively barking, sniffing – following the scent around the area, but not giving chase.
I let Karl do as he needed. He was all over the scent, stopping occasionally to look East and bark.
Time to keep watch…
Watching…
Bob was watching also…with the occasional low growl.
July 4th, 2009. It started out with a bang.
I love the pictures of Karl going “woo-woo-woo”. What a way to start the day, but aren’t you afraid to leave Karl out with the coyote in the vicinity? That Karl may investigate further? I love Bob’s perch … guess he’s moral support!
Karl’s habit and training is to stay fairly close to the house and on the property. He is typically in sight of the sunroom where I work. Even when the coyote ran and I was there as “backup”, he did not go further than the edge of the property.
He does not chase deer or turkeys further either. However, animals are certainly not 100% predictable – always some risk. And just because I rarely see coyotes doesn’t mean they aren’t around – I see their sign where we walk and hear them at night.
I balance what I know of Karl’s (and Bob’s) behavior with what I know of the wild critters to minimize risk to all of us AND the wild things.
**Note: Although I put the photos in with my bit of narrative, I went back for the camera maybe 15 minutes after the coyote left. Karl was still watching and barking (a warning to stay out?) before settling down to keep watch which he did for another 15 minutes before returning to a normal spot closer to the house. Bob stayed inside until midafternoon :)!
Interestingly, I had a coyote experience yesterday morning, too. We live on a canyon and hear them early morning, early evening and at night. I have been walking to the edge of our yard nearly every morning (now that I am out with the puppy while she does her “business”) and have seen one or more a ways down in the canyon on several occassions. Yesterday morning, there was one just a few feet down the hill on the other side of the fence/gate when I got to it. He (she?) had just left a nice little pile of poop right outside the gate! Marking territory?
I can just hear that “woo-woo-woo” now…so deep and protecting of his property!
And I love Bob’s tail…”You just try it Buster”! I bet he was swishing that tail every-whichy-way!
You’re right to worry about coyotes and to be on guard. I know all creatures serve some sort of purpose, but I’m hard-pressed to think what a coyote’s is. I’m glad there was just the one on this occasion.
Hi Ann,
Glad to see Karl is still on guard duty. I thought you were going to post about seeing a bear at your house. Our son saw a large male walking slowly down our road over the weekend. Jim was riding home from a bike race he was in the 4th of July – wouldn’t have had much energy to pedal away from it, but the bear wasn’t interested anyway.
I like that Bob is smart enough to guard from INSIDE!
You truly do need a dog just to walk outside your house safely.
We have a fox that occasionally trots down our city sidewalk. We are two blocks from the edge of the city. Open fields across the highway at the end of those two blocks.
Glad to see Bob made good his escape. And that his steadfast friend Karl was ready to do battle on his behalf. Even more glad that it did not come to that.
When I was stationed in San Diego, there was a canyon behind with a pack of coyotes. There were never any stray cats in our neighborhood.
Coyotes are predators. As are owls, hawks, eagles, mountain lions and wolves…
I don’t wish any of them ill and despite the fact that one of the predator animals took my beloved cat, Gus, I am glad that they are all part of my world and feel it is a privilege when I get to see them. Gus “took out” more than a few creatures himself. A man dear to me who was Marine recon in Viet Nam told me that if Gus was human, he would have been “recon”.
For me, we and all of the creatures have our place, our purpose and our time.
This quote from Chief Seattle was included on “The Daily Coyote” blog today:
While many people view them as little more than varmints, I rather like coyotes. They have managed to adapt and continue to live just about everywhere that we have encroached.
There’s a pack behind the farm where the horses are. I frequently see them in with the horses, and have been within 50 feet of them myself. The unspoken agreement is “you don’t hurt me, I won’t hurt you.”
BR, Yes – I think coyotes are extremely intelligent and also have some feline behavioral tendencies…the air of superiority, calm decisiveness, quiet assertiveness.
This particular one, though small, stood still and took Karl’s measure. I don’t believe it had any intention of attacking Karl or me and I don’t know that it even saw Bob, although Bob saw it. And it didn’t run off, it trotted off.
The unspoken agreement thing – YES! And I try to hold in my mind as I walk, respect for the land and the animals and to school myself to be calm in thought. I believe animals can feel those things. Kind of belaboring this, but I think respect and living with the critters is very important as we humans continue to encroach on their territory. I come back to the Chief Seattle quote: “All things are connected…”
However, if I had sheep or chickens or if one WOULD attack, Bob, Karl or I, I don’t believe I’d hesitate sending it on to the afterlife! And I have no problem with others dispatching any predator who threatens their livelihood or pets.