It’s not very often that I see coyotes walk past our garden, but we do hear them howling during the night sometimes. Yesterday evening a group of coyotes congregated in the dark forest behind us, howling, yelping and barking loudly. They sounded almost a little too close for my taste, but our fence keeps them out.
Last January I spotted a coyote from an upstairs window. I only had my old cellphone to snap a few pictures. Coyotes don’t hang around long, they’re often out of sight by the time you realize what you just saw. They blend into their surroundings and just kind of slink by.
Have you ever heard them howl in the dark?
Can you see him toward the center front?
in cahoots with muddy boots 
Gosh I really had to look to find him in that last one – very cool. And it’s neat to hear them howling!
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These beasts are so elusive! Hopefully I will get a chance to photograph them better one day. The howling always gives me chills, especially when they are really close!
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Wow! I wouldn’t have thought they’d be that close to town. We do hear them here, and their howl is very haunting.
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Perhaps humans encroaching ever more into their territories might have something to do with it. I love seeing them and the howling after dark with the appropriate distance between us. 😊
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I’ve had several up close and personal encounters with them. They used to wander the streets of Burbank, CA on trash day looking for anything they could scavenge. My step son was bitten by one he thought was a dog wandering the street. When we lived in the mountains of AZ, we (the dog and I) would see all manner of wildlife wandering by. They went their own way, fortunately. I hear them here too on occasion. They will get too close if they have no food or water which is why I never go out after dark. That’s their time. The sound of them is wonderful though. I could listen forever to them, the owls or the frogs. Music. 🙂
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I can imagine that there were quite a few in Arizona! They are tough though, surviving and thriving despite us humans. I know some cats in the neighborhood have gone missing. Probably them and the raccoons! 😬
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I do not hear them howling, but I saw one in a neighbor’s back yard. He was a big guy, too. Unfortunately, a wood duck had been traveling through the yard when he showed up. Not sure if all 15 little ducklings got to the lake safely. I brought my cat in!
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You are smart to bring in your cat! A number of neighborhood cats around here have gone missing over the years. Wood ducks are so beautiful! I hope all the ducklings escaped!
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I did find the coyote in the last picture and thank you for sharing the audio clip of the coyotes howling Sabine – I have never heard coyotes howling and it is a little eerie to hear. I have not seen the coyotes in our local park, or in the neighborhoods lately, so I don’t know if they moved on or not. I am just as glad if they have vacated the premises as our city is far from rural, despite Council Point Park having been plunked down in the middle of the City.
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They are quite something to experience! Visual or auditory! I’m actually glad they are around because they do help keep the natural balance. I’m going to have to google your Park one of these days in order to place it on the map. Geography has always been one of my favorite things to explore and study. 😉
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I was so amazed to see the coyotes running around in the neighborhood … they must have found another locale to live in and I am happy for myself as well as for the squirrels. I discovered your blog when Tom Peace directed me there after I saw the Cooper’s Hawk that swooped down on one of the squirrels inside the Park. So I was already worried about the hawks bothering the squirrels, and then the coyotes. I can show you where it is geographically. I made the map so you can see where it is in Michigan Sabine:
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Council+Point+Park/@42.2335992,-83.6691334,9.17z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x20eadabb62fa0179!8m2!3d42.2350392!4d-83.1615501
This Park is fairly large considering it is a woodsy area plunked down in the middle of the City. I have included a video that was shot by a drone – you can just watch the first few minutes and you’ll see how big the property is and the neighborhood houses nearby.
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Linda, I just checked out the map. What a great location!! The park is huge, and the river nearby too. I remember that post and your story! Your love of squirrels has made me tolerate mine a bit more! 😉
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I wanted to show you the drone video because it gives you an idea of how big the park is and how it is woodsy on the one side and the other side is residential – an unlikely place for a nature nook. And now I have this little gray squirrel who I am catering too – he is smart as a whip. I fed him a few times on the way home from walking and he is hanging around now. Well, I love those squirrels but when I fed the birds in the backyard, the squirrels were a force to be reckoned with. My next-door neighbor fed them as well and those squirrels were a nuisance – they would rip apart and access any feeder you used. They were relentless even though they got their own food. So I totally understand the frustration with the squirrels in the yard. We had to stop feeding the one squirrel as it tried to get into the house and my mom was on a cane and was slow getting up the stoop into the house – you could feed the squirrel to distract him but he would come right back and position himself at the door. 🙂
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Linda, the drone video link doesn’t work, but the neighborhood map one did. Great location for you!
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Oh, that’s too bad Sabine – it is a great location considering it is in the middle of the City. All that nature packed into a small spot (just 27 acres).
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