For the last couple days,
there has been a plethora of prints trailing through my backyard near the tree
line. My suspicions were that it was either a fox or coyote. It was
hard to tell from the prints because they weren’t very clear in the fluffy
snow.
So one night, out of mild
curiosity to see if I could catch the culprit, I looked out one of windows
behind the house into the forest. I wasn’t expecting to see anything so
when a flash of eyes reflecting outdoors lights and a coyote shaped shadow
slinked off into the forest greeted my sights, I was startled. From that
point I became even surer it was a coyote because the coat look more molted
instead of a solid colour like on a fox.
It took a couple tries, but finally my trail camera,
when it wasn’t covered in snow, got some pictures of the trespasser.
Indeed, it was a coyote! Really though, it's not such a surprise
seeing as the coyote population in my area has exploded. You can’t go
anywhere without seeing one or hearing about one. They’ve even taken to
wondering our downtown area.
A warning to those of you with small dogs or
cats: if you live near a forest, or anywhere with coyote sightings, keep your
pet inside or at least escort it outside. I'm sick of hearing that coyotes
kill people’s pets and it's all the coyotes fault. This is my opinion:
the coyote is a predator, was here first, and hunting is in its nature and any
small animals left unguarded are unfortunately fair game in the scheme of
nature. That’s how nature works. SO KEEP YOUR SMALL PETS INSIDE IF
YOU KNOW COYOTES ARE NEAR YOU!
