We have a pack of coyotes that moved in behind the house when I was at the Region 1 show. I heard them that night when sirens went by on the highway. Belle my cattle dog went nuts barking her head off at them. I could hear young pups below the adults cries and yips. This has become a daily occurrence since they showed up, every time a siren goes by on the highway they erupt along with Belle. They don't bother me at all, they don't mess with Grace, Belle or the cats and they keep the varmint population under control. Our house is nestled in a grove of old cedar trees, our nearest neighbor is 1/4 mile away and there is a 120 acre heavily forested park right outside the front door. I consider it paradise!
This morning the adult coyotes started to carry on around 4:30am. Belle jumped out of bed and went flying out the back door when my husband let her out. I brought her in a few minutes later and had to make her settle down. The coyotes kept howling as they traveled through the park, this was something I hadn't heard them do before. I was able to follow their voices and know where they were in the park, they were on the same trails that I ride Grace on. Within 30 minutes they had finished the 2 mile trail circuit and were camped outside our bedroom window. I stated to wonder what they were waiting for. Where were the pups? Then I heard them, just a few little yips and barks in between the adults. I believe it was their first time out of the den and they had met up with their parents outside the bedroom window. The pups where then silent while the adults carried on. I heard the sound of a cough, like the one a dog makes after it vomits. Oh, feeding time!
The adults kept up the vocalizations which is when I pulled out my cell phone to record them. One of them moved closer to the front of the house, so I stepped out on the front porch for the second recording. I am assuming it was the male, the female staying behind with the pups. I could hear him rustling in the bushes just on the other side of one of our vehicles. He continued to communicate with the female. I finally turned on the porch light, which bought his barking to a abrupt halt. I heard him trot through the woods in the female's direction making a low chuffing sound as if to tell her to keep it down. That was it, not another word out of them after that. Pretty amazing way to wake up in the morning.
I hauled Grace and Belle out for a much needed trail ride today. The trail head is about 20 minutes from my house and gets us access to over 8,000 acres of heavy forested logging trails. I left early to beat the rush and assure myself a good spot to park the trailer. There was one other trailer and a few cars in the lot when we arrived. I kept Belle in the truck until I had Grace tacked up and ready to go. I go out of my way to be cautious with my dog as I know that not everyone else out there appreciates her like I do. With that in mind I headed out to a less active logging road, further away from the main trail head to reduce the chance of running into people who might be walking their dogs on leashes.
Grace and Belle perked up when we came off the muddy trail head and hit the wide dry logging roads. Belle zigzagged along the side of the trail following the scents of the variety of animals that had been out the night before. About 20 minutes into our ride I saw a coyote cross the trail in front of us and jump into the bushes. Belle took off after it, but came back to me when I called her out of the woods. I had my helmet camera on and was disappointed that I didn’t get any film of it. Little did I know that I would soon grow tired of capturing a coyote on film.
I swear the coyote that I saw go into the woods had dark fur on its back. Within seconds of passing that spot in the woods, a taller lighter color coyote started to follow us. I stopped to look at it, this time turning on the camera. Belle caught sight of it and chased it back to the spot in the woods where it came from. I called her out of the woods and we headed on our way. The coyote started to follow us again and they played the same game of chase. I started to feel uneasy about it; I have heard stories of coyotes luring dogs into the woods where the rest of the pack then ambushes them. I knew I was dealing with at least two. I told Belle we were getting out of there and proceeded to lope up the hill.
Belle stayed with me all the way up the hill, I even got some good video of her running alongside Grace. When we reached the top of the hill to where I thought we must be safe, I heard the sounds of both a dog and coyote yelping. Belle was no longer with me. That damn coyote had chased us all the way up the hill. When I caught up to them Belle’s hair on her back was all raised and she was backing away from the coyote. She seemed really confused about the fact that it wasn’t scared of her. I put Grace between them and convinced Belle to move up the trail. I then set Grace after the coyote, screaming like a mad woman the entire time. The coyote dove into the bushes and I headed back to Belle. She didn’t seem to be physically harmed, but she was out of breath and still seemed to be confused. I’m not sure that she had fully accepted that she had gone from being a predator to prey.
Grace swung her head around to look behind her and sure enough, that coyote was there again. Now I was afraid to run from it. I knew it could keep up and the last thing I wanted to do was to tire out my dog. I started to regret my decision to go out of my way to avoid people. I was far from the trailer and all my screaming at the coyote hadn’t attracted any attention. I kept telling Belle to stay in front so I could at least keep Grace between the coyote and his potential meal. I let Grace chase him again when he got to close, but he only went into the woods to run parallel beside us. This went on for miles. Belle in front, Grace and I right behind her and the coyote several yards behind.
Belle stopped to wallow in a cold mud puddle. I parked Grace right beside her for protection. As we walked on I saw the coyote stop and urinate in the puddle that Belle had just been in. It got me to thinking that he communicated through smell and maybe he didn’t know yet that I was a human, I have heard and seen on our own trails how coyotes don’t seem to be as skittish around someone on a horse as they are around a person walking on foot. I’ve been told that it happens when a person is no longer a “two legged” being. The same phenomenon happens when they follow the farmer’s tractors. I spit on the ground as we were walking, at the same time I could hear fireworks and the sound of a road off in the distance. The coyote stopped, almost like he had hit an invisible line that he could not cross. I wasn’t sure if it was the scent I left behind, or if we had really hit the end of his vast territory, but I was relieved to not have it stalking us anymore.
The rest of the ride was fairly uneventful. Belle perked up along the way and started to wander down side trails again looking for trouble. I checked her all over back at the parking lot and couldn’t find a scratch on her. Grace was calm as could be during the entire incident, she was more than happy to give chase every time I asked her to.
The video didn’t turn out as well as I had hoped; the coyote is a small speck on the screen. I apologize in advance for my foul language after our run up the hill, I was convinced that I was going to lose my dog and was pretty fired up at the time. I think from now on we will stay on the more populated trails. If you see someone out there spitting from the saddle every 5 strides, it’s just me keeping the coyotes away.
