I seldom do this, but you must see this...

 
From the blog, nature of man, apparently they set up a camera "trap" just outside where they knew coyotes were denning.

21 hours later the batteries died.

Very unusual.

Normally, speaking from my experience, this means something BORING happened, like a tuft of grass triggered the camera every time it bowed in the wind. Once happened to me and the cause was waves in the Pacific. Every time a wave rolled up, CLICK! Yeah.

So, NOT THIS TIME.

=)

Dozens and dozens of shots of baby coyote pups playing and playing and playing.

CHECK THIS OUT! =)

There's SEVEN pups.

It'll lift anyone's mood. =)

Oh, and I realize this is also on my blog roll, but in case it gets bumped down the list, check THIS out, too. AWESOME. Nature is SO stunning sometimes, I can barely take it. And in my comment on MOBugs I put a link back HERE to ANOTHER natural STUNNER who took my breath away (scroll down...).

Enjoy!

bb

midnight coyote concert

 
I mentioned a while back seeing a pair of coyotes cruise through our property, presuming it was a post-rave walk home. I'd never seen a pair on our property before, just singletons.

(photo by Rebecca Richardson)

Apparently they are members of a band, because they held a brief concert last night, waking me up instantly. Click on #6 "Coyote group" on this page to hear an approximation. Very nice moonlight last night...

Anyhow, it sounded close enough I thought I'd peek out the window to see what I could see.

And the concert came to a screeching halt. A few additional yips, but the real singing was instantly OVER.

So, either it's a coincidence, or: "Oh, man, it's that chicken-watcher chick. Shut it!"

Any other theories?

=)

biobabbler

Was there a canine rave last night?

 
In the last 30 seconds I have seen, moving across my property from east to west, 10-15 yards behind the chicken coop:

1 LARGE brown lab
1 PAIR of coyotes

I have NEVER seen a pair of coyotes here before. Singletons, sure, but two?!?

Wow. Two close passes of major predators in 30 seconds.

Yikes!

Through subsequent discussions with friends, and the fact that they'd all come from the east, a neighborhood filled to the brim with dogs, I am now positing that they were returning home to crash after an all night canine rave.

Glad I was being a bit lazy today in getting the "girls" out into their chicken runs.

An added benefit to this episode, besides delight at seeing beaUtiful wildlife is that I'm all refreshed, now, having taken an impromptu jog after the coyotes to encourage them to move on through. I think they giggled as they VERY casually jogged back into the wildlands behind our house.

"Yeah, yeah, lady, we know. We're going..."

=)

biobabbler

coyote calisthenics first thing, today...

 
Benefit to getting dressed with shoes on at 7:20 a.m.? When you notice the chickens collectively STARING west, so you go outside to investigate (at 7:22) and see a coyote jogging through your property, you can run in your trail running shoes (vs. floppy fuzzy slippers) after him/her.

Didn't even look at me as it casually loped eastward (humming: doot dee doo, doot dee dooo), then into the back lot thicket. It knows all too well how piteously slow humans are. =) And I wasn't carrying a rifle or anything, so...

Anyhow, nice brief wake-up workout this morning, thanks to my coyote-cardio-trainer.

And a good look at a very fuzzy, beautiful creature.

=)

xobb

Coyotes think Chicago is their kind of town...

  
Pretty great story of urban coyotes living largely under the radar (tho' their collars map their movements), probably eating lots and lots of rats and mice along the way.

Yay!

up with the coyotes, down with the rain beetles

 
The coyotes got me out of bed yesterday, then last night I went to bed because I couldn't write in the dark, but having the lights on meant the poor rain beetles bashed their substantial bodies against the windows and did not actually find females. So, for their sake, I just went to bed.

Who knew wildlife would be setting my schedule for me?

=)

biobabbler

coyotes got me out of bed this a.m.

 
Their calls, that is. I'd gotten up at 5 for a potty run, then was lazy and tho' awake, went back to bed. 3 minutes later, one, then a chorus of coyote howls and yips ensued, emanating from pretty nearby, in the dark.

Too cool...

But I was very glad the chickens were locked up tight.

=)

biobabbler