I often meet a friend in one of the parks for a dog walk. Several coyotes have been interested in this walker’s dog because the dog sticks with us and has never shown hostility toward any of the coyotes. Sometimes my friend and I will stop and talk while she tends some flowers, and while she does so, her dog busies itself with chewing on either a stick or a pinecone. So today my friend was working on some flowers when a coyote came by. The coyote was immensely curious about my friend’s gardening activity and watched her intently: “Whaaaat are you doing?” When my friend moved on to another patch the coyote went up to where she had been working to sniff things out.
My friend decided to work for some time in one of her favorite places. The coyote was right there. It looked around, picked up a stick and found a comfortable spot where it curled up. And then the coyote began chewing on the stick, just as the dog was doing right then!! When my friend picked up her stuff to move on, the coyote again watched her intently: “What are you doing now?” Once we began walking again, the coyote leaped and ran down a grassy hill. This particular coyote seems to find us on purpose just to say “hello” and stay a few minutes.
