Saturday, May 4, 2013

Quiet Down, It's After 4AM!

In the course of my regular on-the-job walkabout, I heard a chorus of coyotes howling to beat the band not far from our grounds. I work about fifteen miles north of New York City, one of the most densely populated areas of the planet. Of course, coyotes have established a presence in New York City, particularly in Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, but it's still odd to hear them singing in the suburbs.

Back in December, I had a funny run-in with a local coyote. During the course of a low-key fundraising event, I was walking through the parking lot to assess the number of available spaces (we had several "showtimes", so we had adequate parking as long as too many people didn't linger too long after each performance). While I was walking through the lot, I saw a rather handsome dog about thirty feet away from me. A few weeks earlier, a neighbor's whippet had gotten loose and ended up at our front door. We took the dog in and called the number on her tag so her owner could retrieve her. I figured I'd do the same for this nice-looking dog, which I thought could have been a Collie-German Shepherd mix. So there I was, standing in the parking lot calling out, "Nice doggie! Good doggie! C'mere doggie!" Meanwhile, this beast is looking at me as if to say, "What the hell are you up to, you dumb, hairless primate?" Then the "nice doggie" turned around, and I noticed the bushy tail canted at an angle... nice doggie, my ass! The coyote then leisurely sauntered off, then disappeared between two nearby houses. Saucy beast, it acted as if it owned the whole neighborhood.

Strangely, I didn't blog about this back in December, probably because I was too busy posting Yukon Cornelius/Abominable Snow Monster slashfic.

7 comments:

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mikey said...

Wait.

You're offering Coyotes for 12% off?

ShaZAMM!!

ifthethunderdontgetya™³²®© said...

That is quite the bushy tail!

The only time I remember seeing a coyote in the wild was at a golf course in Ct.
~

mikey said...

I killed a badger in a confrontation in the wilderness once, and of course there is my neighborhood ocelot, but while I know they have Coyotes down south in Bouffant's neck'o the woods, I don't know if we have them up here. The interesting thing in the bay area, particularly on the peninsula where I am is the exploding mountain lion population. Seeing them is becoming much more common, as is the occasional human getting gnawed upon.

Usually it's bicyclers, thought, and I tend to agree with the general trend of mountain lion thought on the subject - bicyclers tend to be dicks and often SHOULD be bitten...

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

You're offering Coyotes for 12% off?

We won't be undersold. EVERY COYOTE MUST GO!! NO MONEY DOWN!!!

That is quite the bushy tail!

It's a dead giveaway. I would've given the beast kibble if I hadn't seen that tail.

The interesting thing in the bay area, particularly on the peninsula where I am is the exploding mountain lion population. Seeing them is becoming much more common, as is the occasional human getting gnawed upon.

Interesting... here, the black bear population is high enough that an occasional young male will wander down into the suburbs. One made it as far south as Yonkers- a local pizza man found it behind his pizzeria, dumpster diving.

They're the "new raccoon".

M. Bouffant said...

Bears, male, female & young'uns in the garbage & in swimming pools are quite common in these parts.

Mtn. lions, but I don't think the puma population is growing.

In daylight you know it's a coyote 'cause it isn't groomed.

Big Bad Bald Bastard said...

Bears, male, female & young'uns in the garbage & in swimming pools are quite common in these parts.
Mtn. lions, but I don't think the puma population is growing.
In daylight you know it's a coyote 'cause it isn't groomed.


Sounds wild... literally!