Here in Antioch, CA we are by no means short of coyote, well at least that used to be the case.  Catching coyotes in a natural state of living was a common occurrence a couple years back, but now spotting one in our usual haunts is a fairly unique experience.  A number of months back  my wife caught one sleeping next to a road cut through an open field by off-roaders and illegal dumpers.  Now that the city has headed my warnings and complaints about a growing ‘free’ dump on municipal land they have cordoned off the area, which hopefully draws the larger fauna back. 

It has been quite a while since any intimate coyote encounters, but one memory pops up every time we step foot in the open rolling hills.  My wife and I were taking our two German Shorthairs for a run in what is currently a fairly large expanse of open land within walking distance from our home.  Of course, the urban sprawl continues to make its way northward, and will eventually consume this field, but for now we enjoy the scenery, the wildlife (foxes, kestrels, red-tailed hawks, burrowing owls, coyote, etc.) and the incredible views of Mt. Diablo.  Just as dusk was approaching, we noticed a coyote had appeared on the top of a hill overlooking the depression where we were giving free reign to our dogs (Daisy & Gretchen).  The coyote was quite intent on watching the action and continued to parallel our movements. I was at ease with the situation. Perhaps because I was as much enthralled in the coyote as he was with us, especially when a colleague joined him on watch.  Now that backup had arrived, the coyote robustly made his way down the hill and was partaking in a trajectory that would inevitably result in an intersection. 

Not sure how Daisy and Gretchen would react to the approaching canine, we leashed them to ascertain control.  Intrigued by his pluckiness, I decided to stop and allow the coyote to make the next few steps.  Upon reaching a distance of 30 ft, the coyote halted, laid down, and was unmoved by our now attentive, eager to be  off-leash barking dogs.  At this point I decided to approach the statuesque creature and determine any motives if possible.  As I stepped forward, the coyote stood up, and began lifting and lowering his front limbs in a bouncing motion, as if partially rearing up on his hind legs.  At no time did I feel the coyote was an imminent threat, whether this posture was actually indicative of aggression or not.  As I continued forward, the coyote matched my steps in the rears, keeping a constant 30 ft divide between us. 

As dusk was swiftly becoming night, our dogs conceded they were not going to reach a state of freedom, and as observers it was time we continued on our way home.  Thinking we had left the coyote behind, we were soon surprised to see that he was indeed following us, and being closely trailed by the other.  As we set foot on the pavement, we could see the coyote pull back as if constrained by a human development barrier.  Since that time we had encountered the coyote twice more, always on occasions when I managed to leave the camera behind. 

This memory and our sightings of the curious coyote will be two years old in October.

Tags: coyote, coyotes, Urban sprawl, Wildlife, wildlife encounter

This entry was posted by Scott on Tuesday, September 1st, 2009 at 6:14 am and is filed under Urban sprawl, Wildlife. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.