It is hard to believe I haven’t seen Dad for ten days. Wednesday I went into my Los Angeles area coyotes’ field hoping to come across one. Dad was in the rendezvous area, apparently alone. He saw my dog Holtz and me before I saw him. Dad approached us and I pulled Holtz closer with his leash and made him sit. I stepped towards Dad and he backed off. I then began to video.
The video shows a fairly low key Dad. Near the end of the video he scrapes with his head pointed toward me. Usually that’s when he starts to approach. I didn’t want him to come closer so I put my hand into my pocket for a clicker. He ran off as I fiddled with my pocket, not waiting for the clicker. I’ve never used a clicker before. A few times in the past I’ve reached into a pocket for a golf ball to lob at him. I’m pretty sure he suspected that I was going for a golf ball. I took my eyes off him to reach into my pocket. When I looked up a moment later he was gone and I had to play the video to see how and where. He watched Holtz and me as we left.
The previous day as I sat under the bridge I heard Dad’s pack howling. They were in the nature preserve hidden in the distant trees. Their calls echoed faintly under the bridge and were muffled in part by the sound of traffic passing on the street above me. The howling stopped and I didn’t see any coyotes. Several minutes later several teenage boys on bicycles rode towards me out of the nature preserve. I asked them if they had heard the coyotes. They said yes and that although they hear them frequently, they have never seen them.
Posting written by Charles Wood. Visit Charles Wood’s website for more coyote photos: Charles Wood. His work is copyrighted and may only be used with his explicit permission.
Coyote Yipps 
