3/13/2006: Urban coyotes

[Undertoad]

http://cellar.org/iotd.php is fixed. The upgrade confused the blog view version of IotD. It's better now.

[glatt]

BTW: The picture is a pretty impressive one. It's difficult enough to get a good shot of an animal like a coyote because they move so fast. But to get the shot just as a cute little innocent looking girl is passing in the background, and in broad daylight in the middle of a residential street is quite impressive. It's a very good shot to accompany a story about urban coyotes.

[chrisinhouston]

Originally Posted by glatt

BTW: The picture is a pretty impressive one. It's difficult enough to get a good shot of an animal like a coyote because they move so fast. But to get the shot just as a cute little innocent looking girl is passing in the background, and in broad daylight in the middle of a residential street is quite impressive. It's a very good shot to accompany a story about urban coyotes.

I would imagine it was shot with a medium length telephoto which will compress the depth to make it appear like they are closer then they really are but, nevertheless, they are on opposite sides of the street which is a little too close for my liking!

[Promenea]

A coyote crossed in front of my car as I was leaving the rental complex in Waltham Mass. Broad daylight there too.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Waltham? I spent many lunchtimes feeding the ducks down by the Norumbega monument.

[capnhowdy]

Kinda sorta.. our dogs today are coyotes, refined. I suspect these animals will self domesticate if they are allowed. I bet if you fed one, you could pet him in three months.

Already there are breeders that cross the domesticated breeds w/ the wild ones.

IMO this will breathe a fresh breath of air into the bloodlines and possibly solving some of the newer strains of illnesses that are disabling our pets today. Just a thought.

[Torrere]

Waltham, Massachusetts? I've spent the afternoon writing essays because I'm applying to go to school there. I don't really know much about the place yet, though, or the coyotes that live there.

In the Colorado Springs metro area (pop. 500,000 last time I had the heart to check) we have:

1) A gazillion deer - they walk down the main road of town all the time
2) a gazillion billion bunnies
3) Several jack rabbits (they prefer west and south of here)
4) Many black bears (I encountered quite a large one on my porch last
summer)
5) A phalanx (at least) of lions
6) A million red foxes with very long legs (makes 'em look coyote-like) - I saw
two downtown in the garden in front of the county court house a few
weeks ago - even the lawyers were stopping to stare at them before going
on in to court.
7) Several wiley coyotes
8) A lynx spotted by yours truly while driving up a pass just west of town.
9) An ever growing gang of bandito raccoons who take great delight in
raiding the local garbage and spreading it all over the streets for
everyone's viewing pleasure at daylight the next day
10) a jillion ground squirrels, pocket gophers, prairie dogs and other assorted
rodents, all no doubt carrying either hanta virus and/or bubonic plague
11) 506 pronghorn antelope
12) A neighborhood martin
13) 17 beaver in the local city park
14) A billion hummingbirds soon to be returning from Central and South
America, all no doubt carrying the latest and most virulent mutation of
the bird flu virus.

Coyotes?

[lookout123]

we have coyotes all over the place. literally. i can hear some pups howling right now. i love having the little buggers around. just don't let your smaller pets wander too far on their own.

[Promenea]

Yes Waltham in a new rental complex just to the west of 95 - Bear Hill. I spend alternative weekends there (LDR). Anyway, this complex is dog friendly so all the dog owners that want to rent an apartment end up there. Lots of dogs and the coyotes seem to just blend in.

As to self domestication - I don't think so. Coyotes are not at all easy to tame. My friend had one from a pup and it was nervy and never really got used to being indoors or around people. It was what you'd call extremely high strung and my friend could never trust it around others or even manage to housebreak it.

[Kitsune]

Originally Posted by marichiko

A million red foxes with very long legs (makes 'em look coyote-like) - I saw two downtown in the garden in front of the county court house a few weeks ago - even the lawyers were stopping to stare at them before going on in to court.

Lucky. We supposedly have a lot of foxes here, but I guess I'm never up early enough to see them. I've heard them at play early in the morning while camping, before, but I could never locate them.

The lynx that roam the neighborhoods, here, are the biggest I've ever seen. It makes me wonder what those things are chowing on to get so huge.