Coyote Largo como Lobos.

For the past few weeks, the musician had been boasting about coyote sightings and collegial commiserations while he played his recorder at 13 Trees…stories of coyotes sitting to listen for fifteen minutes and more.  I had not been to 13 Trees since my foot injury, but I was intrigued by his stories, my foot was feeling stronger, and wanted to see for myself.

Nature Investigator:
I was walking along the path on the other side of the Nature Center, heading NW into the heart of the bosque, when I heard them before I saw them. I heard the heavy padding of the alpha male’s paws.

Around the bend in the trail he loped with a smaller female not far behind.  His head was down, sniffing the ground.  The wind was coming from behind him, so he did not catch my scent for moments that felt like minutes.  I stood, stilt-still, thinking it was enough simply to observe this beautiful coyote creature whose large footprints I had noticed imprinting the wet, sandy trail. 

Ten feet away, he stopped abruptly and looked up, clearly startled to encounter a human before him. Then, with only a whisper of movement, he turned to his right and disappeared into the brush where the young female had wisely veered fifteen feet before.

~ Big footprints, big coyote.