Coyote pups. ©Ariel McGloghin, 2015. Please do not use photos without permission. Many years ago, on my second visit to the US, a raccoon invaded our camp site in Virginia and stole an empty cottage cheese carton. I thought it an exotic creature with its bandit mask and lavish tail. Now I know better! Every Fall raccoons dig up my lawn looking for juicy larvae.
When we moved into our house in a wooded suburb of St. Paul Minnesota I often heard, but never saw, another exotic creature. Sometimes at night yips and yowls rang out beneath my bedroom window in a wild exuberant chorus. It was a while before I realized the manic conversation was coyotes greeting one another. Finally I did see a coyote, trotting nonchalantly across a nearby frozen lake despite the sub-zero temperatures.
When we moved into our house in a wooded suburb of St. Paul Minnesota I often heard, but never saw, another exotic creature. Sometimes at night yips and yowls rang out beneath my bedroom window in a wild exuberant chorus. It was a while before I realized the manic conversation was coyotes greeting one another. Finally I did see a coyote, trotting nonchalantly across a nearby frozen lake despite the sub-zero temperatures.
Mother of the pups. ©Ariel McGloghin. I see coyote scat often, usually right in the middle of the trail as if its depositer is saying, "This is my territory. If you don't like it, leave." Since that first siting I've seen coyotes in Tucson, Arizona as well as near my home. Each of these sitings left me with questions: Why have these wild animals come to live in the city? How do they coexist with people? What do they eat? How do they survive Minnesota winters? How do they survive in the arid desert? So I began to read about coyotes and discovered that they are steadily increasing their presence in urban areas. Cook County, Illinois has an ongoing research project to study the smart, adaptable animals and their lives in Chicago. (Read more about the Cook County project.) Out of my interest came "Hungry Coyote," my story of a year in the life of an urban coyote.
I've also discovered that not everyone is as fascinated by coyotes as I am. Many people consider them to be vermin and take every opportunity to kill them, often by cruel means such as poison and leg traps. Organizations such as Project Coyote explain better than I can why killing coyotes is not the best way to manage their numbers and how coyotes help humans by consuming huge numbers of mice, rats, and rabbits. On a recent road trip to Ontario, I discovered coyote hides hanging in a general store. "What do people do with these?" I asked. "Hang them on their walls for decoration" the assistant answered. For me, the best place for a coyote skin is on the coyote. I can't imagine why people would want one to decorate their homes.
The delightful photos you see in this post were taken by Ariel McGloghin. Ariel lives in an off-the-grid tiny house and you can see more of her gorgeous photos and read about her fascinating house on her blog, Fy Nyth ("my nest" in Welsh). She has more of her great coyote pics at this page on her blog, but please don't use any of the photos without Ariel's permission. And this is the story of Wiley, the tame Wisconsin coyote who was the model for the illustrations in "Hungry Coyote."
The delightful photos you see in this post were taken by Ariel McGloghin. Ariel lives in an off-the-grid tiny house and you can see more of her gorgeous photos and read about her fascinating house on her blog, Fy Nyth ("my nest" in Welsh). She has more of her great coyote pics at this page on her blog, but please don't use any of the photos without Ariel's permission. And this is the story of Wiley, the tame Wisconsin coyote who was the model for the illustrations in "Hungry Coyote."
Mother and pup. © Ariel McGloghin.
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