The Sounds of Coyotes In The Night

From the windowsill above my bed come the howl of the dogs. I did not want to open the door and alarm the coyote pack so I opened the window instead.

So you will SEE nothing this time. But what you will HEAR is a pack of coyotes. In the fields out the front of the house.

You will hear me snuggle down. Then nothing, Then the wild dogs. Then nothing again as they go hunting.

The nights here (the plains of the midwest of Illinois) are very quiet, now. It is too cold for much. Every bird has her head under her wing and is fast asleep without a peep. Any rabbit or mouse is fair game. There was only a breath of breeze. When I listened to this, this morning, I realised that while I waited for more sounds I could have talked to you. I will next time. Talk to you.

If you listen really carefully you can hear Boo - breathing loudly on his bed - totally unfazed by the coyotes. He will bark at them on command but generally we leave them be. Unless there is a lone coyote - lone coyotes can be trouble, they have been thrown out of the pack for a reason, so we see any lone coyotes off with lots of loud barking and shouting.

This pack of coyotes will hang out around here for about a week then continue on through their territory. They circle round back to us every 6 weeks or so. The leader of this pack (coyote pack leaders are often female or an alpha male and female) have been very respectful of my dogs and they have never given us any trouble.

Our barn cats live to be very old animals.

Celi

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