Coyotes

  There is a family of coyotes living in a square mile section of land near the beach and behind the park that we stay at until the beach opens. I like coyotes. At night they call to each other, reminding me of the time I lived in the desert. I admire the fact that although we (humans) have paved over just about every square inch of 'our' property they still remain, eking out an existence despite us.
  I've spotted them all over the place, usually at night, mostly one at a time but sometimes in two's or three's. They return to their dens at about the the time I pull the rig in, about 4am. On some occasions they are late, probably having had a good dinner, and can be seen wandering home in daylight, no hurry at all. I've seen around twelve at one time, yipping and playing and obviously in good health despite the fact that their home range is on an oil companies property that is deemed toxic.
  A couple of them are more curious of me and my younger dog. We've met while out for a walk. No fear, just curiosity on all our parts. This morning I let Toot (my younger Staffordshire Terrier) out for a pee at the park, checking first to make sure the coast was clear. Rabbits also live in 'squirrel' park and Toots loves to chase them. I thought it was all clear so out she went..but there was one bunny I'd not seen. Off went Toots like a greyhound, but these rabbits are seasoned to life in a park frequented by dogs and disappeared into the woods in seconds. This is always the outcome so Toots was none too surprised and went back to her business of sniffing and peeing. Then, to both our delight, a coyote came out from the treeline where Toots was standing. I was not sure how this was going to play out, and little I could do anyway. It was like that scene  in Hang em High where each participant in the drama looks from one to another and back again to see who is going to make the first move. It was Toots! With a cross between a woof and a whine she made a leap towards the coyote who took off back into the trees. It was over in seconds. The coyote was gone and Toots came back out just as I got there. She was still excited and obviously enjoyed the whole thing.
  Later, just before we left the park I saw another coyote also heading home. This time I had time to get my camera but only managed three shots before the battery died. I've had a hard time getting snaps of them, as you can see by the last two I've posted below. These were taken from my taxi about two in the morning. 
  Long live the coyotes.