This morning Rebecca has a post about coyote. She extended an invitation to share our coyote stories, so here I go. They’re to be based on personal experience, not research, so my ‘facts’ may or may not be accurate scientifically, but they are true to my experience!

We live in Colorado country and have lots of coyote running around, especially at night when they seem to run in hunting packs. When they catch something, they do an enormous amount of erie-sounding yowling, like they’re arguing over who gets what. If they’re in the distance and we have our windows closed, upon first hearing them they sometimes sound like a group of children making a lot of noise, then their distinctive erie sound is identifiable. If the coyote are in the yard, I can tell you it’s a bit unsettling In the daytime, it’s not unusual to see a single coyote running through a field or across the road in front of your car. They always stop, turn around to see what you’re doing, stare for a few seconds, then go on their way. I’m always glad for the safety of the car.

When we first bought Stone Gate, our ministry retreat lodge, we inherited an outdoor cat, whom we named Mr. Wily. (Did you notice Rebecca’s post title?) He was a fairly wild cat, hence the name, but would come up on the deck and yowl for food. We respected his ability to remain alive despite the prowling coyote. One day he appeared with half of his tail missing, a sign that perhaps he had barely escaped the snare of a coyote’s teeth. He was around for a few weeks more, then disappeared altogether. We surmise that he had become coyote dinner. We were kind of sad, and glad we hadn’t become more attached to him. One of our neighbors down the road has a dog that seems to live outdoors, and we admire his ability to remain alive in the midst of such a large coyote population. We joke that he’s so ugly (and he is the wierdest-looking dog we’ve ever seen) the coyote don’t even want him.

So there’s my coyote story. I hope it’s the only one I ever have.