Coyote

Remember the mysterious canine that showed up on our trail camera a few weeks ago? At the time, I thought it was probably a fox, or maybe a neighbor's dog. Well, I have a new guess about its identity now, because this morning I saw a Coyote in the woods behind our house! It was quite close to the house when I first saw it (and I got some amazingly close glimpses through my binoculars), but by the time I ran to get my camera and got back to the window, it was quickly ambling away. So here's a somewhat blurry and distant picture of the Coyote through the trees:

Really though, this was a gorgeous creature. Up close, its thick fur and its white chin and chest were particularly striking. I love those red accents around its ears and on its pointy snout. I don't think I've ever seen a Coyote in the wild before, so the whole situation was pretty exciting. And I don't know why I hadn't seriously considered that we might have Coyotes around here; I know their numbers are increasing, and they are apparently adaptable enough to do well even in urban areas. In retrospect, the mixture of forest, fields, and few houses around here makes this seem like a pretty good place for Coyotes to hang out. It's just so strange (and cool) to think that such a large predator's habitat overlaps with mine.

The Coyote veered off into small stream bed between two other houses and continued on its way and out of sight. (This creature actually seems to have a pretty bad wound on its front right leg.... I didn't notice any limping, though, and I hope it heals OK.)

I actually spotted the Coyote while I was looking out the window after seeing an adult Bald Eagle glide low over our house. Soooooo yeah, this place has some pretty amazing wildlife. I'm certainly happy to be spending my time here, and I'm just trying to enjoy it as much as I can!