I should start a PBS wildlife show right from my front door. Look who came to have a bite of bird food yesterday.

A very young coyote. Brazen as please, eating out of the bird feeder like it was its own bowl. Kind of cute, really. And pretty trusting for a coyote. She ( at least I think it was a she; I didn’t really have time to do a parts check ) was a bit wary of me in the upstairs window with my camera poking out, but not too spooked.

I was very surprised to see her. We’ve heard from other people that there were coyotes around but up until a few weeks ago we had neither seen one or heard one. A few weeks ago while swimming we heard a pack of coyotes across the street at our neighbor’s. We knew it was a pack with young pups, they make a very distinctive yelping and barking racket. The next day we heard them again. Then, nothing. Until now.

She’s not very pretty. Our coyotes that we had in Colorado were more wolf-like looking with brownish-gray coats. This one looks a bit like a hyena without spots. And golden brown. At first glance I thought it was a dog.

What?? You mean this isn’t really my food bowl?

Okay, then ... I guess I’ll leave ...

I mean really. The little family of two hen turkeys and their six babies come at least 3 times per day. They cluck and make restful chicken-y noises. I like them. The bears visit. We have deer but they rarely come into our yard. What’s next?

awww…that’s the prettiest coyote I’ve even seen.  But the only other one I’ve seen was on Antelope Island and he was eating a bird at the time.  That wasn’t pretty.  Your wildlife photos are absolutely amazing!

What an amazing encounter!
I find her very cute. Could she be dangerous (to pets, children or yourself)?

Nathalie, yes she could be dangerous to small pets, but she would not bother me or children. Thanks for visiting!

She’s almost exactly Tucker’s size, I’ve never ever seen a coyote in person, so I assume their numbers are increasing.  Which is good, the population has been dwindling until recently, but they help balance out the food chain.  Eating mice, small deer turkeys and other animals/birds, crickets, goose eggs, and thankfully roadkill or who knows how long it’d take to decompose.
P.S—I saw a sleeping bee on those pretty flowers out by the screen door on the deck.

Oh and you’ve got to send those pics into the Record! $35 for one and $75 for two which they print on weekends in the editorial section. That second coyote picture would deffinately win!