Reader Stephen Barnard is visited by an impudent coyote (Canis latrans). His notes;
This coyote is becoming insolent. He doesn’t even run away from me any more. I’m going to have to put the fear of god in him. (I’m god in this case.)
When I asked him how he was going to put the Fear of Stephen into him, worriedly asking if shooting was a possibility, he responded:
I’m planning to order a variety of explosive Acme products, leave them lying around, and let him do himself in.
He then sent more photographs of this canid, which, I admit, is a pretty impressive beast:
Finally, reader Randy Schenck from Iowa sent a photo of a melanistic squirrel raiding his bird feeder, having lifted the heavy lid to get in.
I have two words for Randy – squirrel baffle.
They work great, they’re not very expensive, and they’re non-violent. L
Yes, have even used baffles on some feeders in the past. Very non-violent around here.
I figure the squirrels who manage this trick deserve a bit of reward for the work.
one of the first things they teach you in Psychology 101 is that if you reward obnoxious behavior, you get more of it.
Better to feed the squirrels separately than to have them trash your bird feeders. L
Interesting…probably I didn’t know it was obnoxious behavior.
LOL!–hilarious squirrel pic, Randy!
Very nice coyote pictures and he does look somewhat casual. Acme products? Like maybe a blow up roadrunner.
I think a shot in the appropriate vicinity would create a very fast moving coyote.
Whatever you do—DON’T order the Acme anvil. Trust me, no matter what you do to drop it on someone else it will end up on your head.
Just promise that no coyotes will be harmed in the education of ‘Wile E’, as one may call him.
Ditto to the Acme™ anvil idea🐺
Lovely pictures. I didn’t know the coyote was such a good looking animal. (In the UK we have urban foxes that will stare you down.)
He is not being impudent. He is just taking the first step toward domestication.
Errr, with apologies to our Latin scholars, “quis domestices ipsos domestiques?” (who housebreaks the chambermaid? more or less).
I bang pots and pans together to scare bairs away.
My neighbors yell at them which doesn’t really work.
So, logically, if the bears were to bang your neighbours together, that would scare you away?
It would scare *me* away, that’s for sure!
Won’t the coyote run from Deets? Lone coyotes usually don’t want to take on a larger dog.
The coyote is afraid of Deets, so far. Deets is a tough customer, but I don’t want him to mix it up with a wild canid his size.
Is there something wrong with the coyote’s eye? The right one looks all black while the left one is light brown with a black pupil.
It’s just the lighting.
Beautiful coyote! And I love the squirrel pic Randy! I’d let it keep feeding too, having managed the trick. 🙂
Superb coyote pics, Stephen! Face is much foxier looking than the ones out here. More red in yours as well. This is such a variable species!
Yeah, you really don’t want it to get acclimated to you or your near environs…cool as it must be to observe it so closely. Good luck discouraging it. Agree with your decision to keep Deets away!
Yes, Deets is a superstar model. Can’t risk a hair on his beautiful, furry head!
Some CA urban communities are having to deal with coyote invasions. The animals are becoming so smart they can easily pick their way through street traffic. When residents try to scare them away with air horns, the coyotes just look at the horn blowers as if to say: “Are you crazy?”