Boundless Curiosity

“I’ve gotta see what’s happening over there”

An all encompassing curiosity takes a young coyote up on its tippy-toes! This coyote was out foraging when a large Red-Tail hawk appeared, twisting this way and that before landing to catch something — I could not see what it was because I was concentrating on the coyote, but it could have been a bird, vole, gopher, squirrel, snake or possibly a lizard. Some of these are the same things that coyotes like catching and eating. Was the bird’s activity of interest, or was it the food the bird was eating which interested the coyote?

The strange flight pattern and jerking movements of the bird caught the coyote’s attention initially, but bushes blocked its line of vision by the time the hawk hit the ground. What to do? Make yourself tall! This little coyote stood tall like this, on its hind legs, straining to see, for close to 8 seconds. — that’s a very long time when you come to think of it. But then the hawk apparently moved out of sight again because the coyote ran closer and stood up high again. This time, the coyote must have come too close for comfort, because in a flash he turned tail and distanced himself before turning around to watch the hawk fly off.