Hello Old Friend

Coyote

Can you see him? He’s in the middle of the two clumps of trees. (Sorry the photos aren’t clearer. He was all the way across the pond, toward the ridge. Even with the digital 12x zoom, it was hard to get a good shot from this distance at dusk.)

Coyote1

I called out to say hello, and he turned to look. He’s such a big boy now.

This coyote and I go way back. All the way back to a field six years ago when Kiera broke lose from me and played with him. I hadn’t seen him this past year and wondered if he was all right. I can’t explain the relief and joy I feel, knowing he’s still alive and well.

Coyote2

But for his sake and ours, it’s time for him to keep moving.

12 thoughts on “Hello Old Friend”

  1. I finally got your book “Dogs of Dreamtime” and I read it while my daughter was taking her 8th grade state tests. She is homeschooled, so we are required to check in once in awhile. Well… all the people walking by me in the lobby thought I was a lunatic! I was either crying or laughing or just generally sitting there with a smile on my face. We too have Aussies, and we love them so much, but they can be a handful. Thanks for all the training tips and the wonderful story. PS: When my mom died 15 years ago, everyday when I came home from work and was just going through the motions on the farm, I would see a large coyote in the orchard where my mom had grown up. He/She showed no fear and would sleepily look up from her nap and observe the goings on. I began to think it was my Mom who had come back to make sure everything was under control. I looked forward seeing her everyday. She stayed until everything in her estate was settled and then I didn’t see my friend again for several years. I grew up around coyotes, the only time I have seen them call dogs into the canyons is when they have a den of pups near. We only had one dog that was attacked by coyotes when I was a girl. She was a small blue merle Aussie, called Glovie. She survived, but they had shredded her throat. On the farm in those days, you didn’t take a dog to the vet. She crawled under a building on our property and my dad told me she might not make it. We left food and water for her, and in 3 weeks she emerged. She lived out a long and healthy life and only answered the call of the coyotes from a safe distance from then on.

    Nita’s last blog post..Hump month

  2. Oh I love that! I grew up by a creek and always got so attached to all the animals that frequented it. I remember not being able to sleep one night when the creek had dried up wondering how all the animals would get something to drink. The next morning I put a pot in the creek where the last water hole had dried up and did my best to keep it filled until the water started up again. Nature is my first, and last, true love.

    Jo’s last blog post..A Catalyst for Change

  3. After hearing about the busy road and the fox and fisher…maybe a large fenced/roofed area for Finn’s excursions is a better idea. I agree with you, the road is too busy to take a chance with Finn.

  4. I remember the coyotes out on the prairie when I visited my aunt and uncle in Oklahoma decades ago. There were great packs of them. They gave me the creeps and my aunt never let her dog out alone.

    Occasionally there are bulletins issued for coyote watches when food supplies are low here but I haven’t seen any myself.

    We do have skunks, opossums, squirrels, chipmunks, a sharp-shinned hawk, and in season one family of Mallards. I have never seen a raccoon at this house but in the old inner city there were droves of them living in the storm drains as big as a medium sized dog.

    Deb’s last blog post..Writing Rainbow: finding my place

  5. Yes, my coyote friend is certainly one of my dilemmas for Finn. I’ll have to get a picture of the Fisher too. Talk about fierce! As others mentioned, then there are the hawks and owls — which, of course, we have in abundance.

    But, truly, my biggest fear with Finn is the road. Old farm houses such as ours were built right on the road. And we sit on a sharp bend. With cars flying by at 50 mph, he wouldn’t have much chance to get out of the way. Nor would the car have much chance to brake. That’s not a sight or a sound I ever want to take in.

  6. Your dilema from your last post is now crystal clear!!

    “Indoor with privaliges” or significant changes to outdoors for “limited privaliges” …

    Those of us who love “mother nature” so much we live or play in her back yard can never forget to follow her laws. She is equally inticingly beautiful as deadly fierce.

    May the best solution give you the freedom to live in harmony with the nature you love.

    “Sunshine”

    “Sunshine”‘s last blog post..A little off topic

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