Sometimes on my daily walk(s), I'll bring along a camera, if the light looks good, if the "seeing" is right. Of course, many of the times when I do not, I end up wishing I had, as some serendipic image pops up. There are always interesting birds about, hawks, vultures, doves, martins, ravens, and lots more that I'm not a knowledgeable enough birder to identify, along with possums, squirrels, and other assorted critters and bugs. (Yesterday a solid black ladybug, with only two red dots on her back, landed on my Astros cap. I'd never seen such a bug.)

Today was one of those days I needed the camera.

I walk along a large earthen flood-control dam, down an east/west road that runs along its crest. You can see it in the picture below. The red X is where I live and the levee is immediately north of it runnning across the image. It's about a mile and a half, maybe a bit more, from east to west.

I was no more than a few hundred yards into my walk when I saw what loooked to be a brown dog trekking down the levee. As I neared it, it slunk off into the knee-high grass off to the north of the levee. As I drew near the spot where I had seen it, I happened to notice what looked at first like a tree branch sticking up out of the tall grass.

I'll be dog-damned if it wasn't a coyote, right out there in broad daylight, just sitting there watching me like he hadn't a care in the world. (I marked my best guess as to where I saw him with the yellow "W." "W" stands for Wile. E. of cartoon fame, of course.

I'd heard him and his pals quite often. I sleep with the bedroom window open most of the time, and the levee isn't but maybe fifty yards away. Wile E. and his pack serenade us in the middle of the night from time to time, I'd guess an average of twice a month. But it's unusual to see a coyote running around in the open in daylight hours.

We stared at each other for a few minutes, then I took a few steps in his direction down the side of the levee. That was all it took. Two quick leaps and he was back in the trees, vanished so quickly and completely I was amazed.

Wile E. needs to be more circumspect. I'm not likely to shoot him with anything but camera, (or maybe a slingshot loaded with bite-sized chunks of hot dog or beef heart trying to get him into range for the camera) but this is Texas. My very own brother has one of Wile E.'s second cousins, or brother-in-law, or something, stuffed and sitting on the floor in his living room. Wile E. ain't gonna grow to get old and wily pullin' stuff like this every day.

... Link (0 comments) ... Comment