Black bear
Bobcat
Coyote
Fox
Mink
Raccoon
Skunk
Mountain lion - photo taken two days ago within the
Boulder city limits
Showing posts with label coyote. Show all posts
Showing posts with label coyote. Show all posts
Thursday, April 20, 2017
Wednesday, April 19, 2017
Finder of the Lost
I hate being the local "finder of the lost." I exhaust myself with worry, I go where a lot of people won't go, I sometimes dig into nasty areas, and I see some pretty gruesome sights. Yesterday I received an e-mail from a good client, whom I've worked with/for over ten years. First they had a dog and a cat; the dog passed away, and then it was the cat only. The cat stays pretty much inside during the winter, but has always gone out in the afternoons when there's no snow on the ground. The owner acquired the cat (then a kitten) at her job, more than 12 years ago, when a co-worker came inside and asked if she'd seen the kitten the crow was trying to eat in the parking lot. The kitten had compound fractures of both hind legs, and was very much alive. My friend took the kitten to the emergency vet, and she soon had a beautiful cat named Maggie May.
Maggie went out, as usual, about 2 in the afternoon on Monday. I very rarely saw her outside her own property line, other than liking to poop in the next door neighbor's flower border, which is right on the property line. Maggie was usually sitting at the patio door by 5:30 each afternoon, waiting to be allowed back inside - and she usually had an offering for whomever opened the door. Sunday it was a baby cottontail, but usually it was a mouse or vole. She did not come home Monday evening. The owners waited until yesterday evening to contact me. This morning, Darcie took her bike around the neighborhood at 7, calling for Maggie; yesterday evening, Steve, her husband, had walked the neighborhood fence lines, looking and calling for Maggie.
I drove over there this morning and thoroughly checked their yard. Then I went over to the nearby creek, which is currently dry, and walked the creek bed, and checked out several dens that I know belong to fox and coyotes. No new bones outside any of the dens. Last night, I had dreamed about Leslie Kinder's cat - she had gone missing, and I had found half of the cat in Leslie Lomas' back yard. So I walked over to Leslie's and I started quartering her yard. Near the far back area of her yard is a low-lying spot that has a tendency to flood in heavy rains. Leslie has made a berm of mulch around that area, so the whole yard doesn't flood. As I approached the berm, I saw a patch of grey fur - too long to be a squirrel's. I crossed over the berm, and found what was left of Maggie May.
So I went to Leslie's door, told her what I had found, and got a couple of bags. There wasn't much left - a front leg, the lower part of a hind leg, her head, one ear, the end of her tail, and, curiously, an untouched lung. But there was fur everywhere.... (The bite marks to the skull showed coyote dentition and jaw form, and not the local bobcats, which I was afraid of.) I picked up all the large and small pieces and 90% of the fur. Then I went to Maggie's house, let myself in, and called Darcie.
I left Maggie's remains inside the bags in a cooler in the garage. Steve will bury her this afternoon. I think the worst part was hearing Darcie sobbing on the phone, and, at the same time, thanking me. Because I gave her closure... I cried all the way home, and am still tearing up... It's nice to give closure, but it still hurts like hell.
Maggie went out, as usual, about 2 in the afternoon on Monday. I very rarely saw her outside her own property line, other than liking to poop in the next door neighbor's flower border, which is right on the property line. Maggie was usually sitting at the patio door by 5:30 each afternoon, waiting to be allowed back inside - and she usually had an offering for whomever opened the door. Sunday it was a baby cottontail, but usually it was a mouse or vole. She did not come home Monday evening. The owners waited until yesterday evening to contact me. This morning, Darcie took her bike around the neighborhood at 7, calling for Maggie; yesterday evening, Steve, her husband, had walked the neighborhood fence lines, looking and calling for Maggie.
I drove over there this morning and thoroughly checked their yard. Then I went over to the nearby creek, which is currently dry, and walked the creek bed, and checked out several dens that I know belong to fox and coyotes. No new bones outside any of the dens. Last night, I had dreamed about Leslie Kinder's cat - she had gone missing, and I had found half of the cat in Leslie Lomas' back yard. So I walked over to Leslie's and I started quartering her yard. Near the far back area of her yard is a low-lying spot that has a tendency to flood in heavy rains. Leslie has made a berm of mulch around that area, so the whole yard doesn't flood. As I approached the berm, I saw a patch of grey fur - too long to be a squirrel's. I crossed over the berm, and found what was left of Maggie May.
So I went to Leslie's door, told her what I had found, and got a couple of bags. There wasn't much left - a front leg, the lower part of a hind leg, her head, one ear, the end of her tail, and, curiously, an untouched lung. But there was fur everywhere.... (The bite marks to the skull showed coyote dentition and jaw form, and not the local bobcats, which I was afraid of.) I picked up all the large and small pieces and 90% of the fur. Then I went to Maggie's house, let myself in, and called Darcie.
I left Maggie's remains inside the bags in a cooler in the garage. Steve will bury her this afternoon. I think the worst part was hearing Darcie sobbing on the phone, and, at the same time, thanking me. Because I gave her closure... I cried all the way home, and am still tearing up... It's nice to give closure, but it still hurts like hell.
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Coyote Attack, Apology
Yesterday morning, at 9:30, a single coyote sneaked into a back yard and tried to grab a cat. Bandit is an older fellow, a big, fluffy, cuddly fellow, who is going blind because of cataracts. He suddenly yowled, which is extremely unusual for him, and his human was able to run out and chase the coyote out of the yard. Bandit was frightened, but unhurt, as was his owner, Leslie. I'm staying next door at Alexy's, and have not allowed Shady and Cloudy outside - yesterday or today. So Cloudy and Shady are unhappy with me, but I don't want to tell Alexy that they disappeared and a coyote was next door...
When I got up this morning, I fed Cloudy and Shady, and then walked the 1 1/2 miles to the grocery store; got my breakfast and supper, and walked back to Alexy's. After eating, I walked Rosie, and then came home to see my kits. Was surprised to see Dinah's door open in the hall, but then saw a Boulder police officer inside, and realized they were there to enforce her eviction notice. Poor Dinah. She needs help. I know I'm depressed, but at least I take my meds and get counseling. Dinah swears that there's a man living in "the crawl space above the ceiling" and that he keeps coming into her apartment through the ceiling, and stealing her belongings and food. The ceilings in our apartments are concrete over iron girders, with a bit of spackley plaster over the cement. She called the police and reported this so many times, that they got her permission to set up cameras in her apartment and film for 36 hours. The only living thing seen in the apartment was Dinah - but she called the BPD, while the filming was going on, declaring that the man had come out of the ceiling and stolen food from her refrigerator. She was arrested for making a false police report. Now she's being evicted because she hasn't paid her rent since she first moved in... Poor thing.
Bea, my friend, has a third job interview with the same company today - afterwards, we're to have lunch at the Olive Garden, and then go to the public library, and over to Alfalfa's. The store manager has reviewed the security tapes from the Saturday we visited, and tells us that the manager of the beverage department was on break, and that it just seemed that he was following Bea and me around. The general manager and the beverage manager want to meet with us and apologize. How refreshing!
When I got up this morning, I fed Cloudy and Shady, and then walked the 1 1/2 miles to the grocery store; got my breakfast and supper, and walked back to Alexy's. After eating, I walked Rosie, and then came home to see my kits. Was surprised to see Dinah's door open in the hall, but then saw a Boulder police officer inside, and realized they were there to enforce her eviction notice. Poor Dinah. She needs help. I know I'm depressed, but at least I take my meds and get counseling. Dinah swears that there's a man living in "the crawl space above the ceiling" and that he keeps coming into her apartment through the ceiling, and stealing her belongings and food. The ceilings in our apartments are concrete over iron girders, with a bit of spackley plaster over the cement. She called the police and reported this so many times, that they got her permission to set up cameras in her apartment and film for 36 hours. The only living thing seen in the apartment was Dinah - but she called the BPD, while the filming was going on, declaring that the man had come out of the ceiling and stolen food from her refrigerator. She was arrested for making a false police report. Now she's being evicted because she hasn't paid her rent since she first moved in... Poor thing.
Bea, my friend, has a third job interview with the same company today - afterwards, we're to have lunch at the Olive Garden, and then go to the public library, and over to Alfalfa's. The store manager has reviewed the security tapes from the Saturday we visited, and tells us that the manager of the beverage department was on break, and that it just seemed that he was following Bea and me around. The general manager and the beverage manager want to meet with us and apologize. How refreshing!
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Sleep
Wow. I really crashed today. Arrived home from Rosie's at 11 last night - loved and fed the kits, and went to bed. Bounced out this morning, went and walked Rosie, and returned home. Caught up on e-mail, and, having a head ache, I put an ice-pack over my eyes. (This was around 11 a.m.) I just woke up... Slept the day away.... Oh, well, I guess I needed to sleep.
Earlier this week, a woman was walking her dogs in Peaceful Valley, here on the front range in Boulder County. She had removed the dogs leashes, which was unlawful. Going around a turn in the trail, they encountered a mother moose and her two calves. The dogs, of course, ran at the babies, barking. The mother moose stood still. The silly woman decided it was safe to walk right past the mother moose, to try to collect her dogs. Momma moose then attacked the woman. She escaped with a broken leg - but, of course, had to telephone for help, and was removed by EMS crews to an ambulance. When will people learn that wild creatures are wild? They are protective of their young, just like most human mothers....
Besides the black bear in the Githens Acres neighborhood, this morning a young coyote has started prowling about the area. The wildlife sightings don't bother me, as we are near several GreenWays trails and a huge area of Open Space, both protected from development. But I can't figure out the folks who want to "live with nature" and then get so upset and excited when a wild creature wanders through their yard. - They don't mind the mule deer, raccoons, squirrels, and multiple birds - but the predators seem to scare them. As I said in the above paragraph, wildlife is wild...
Earlier this week, a woman was walking her dogs in Peaceful Valley, here on the front range in Boulder County. She had removed the dogs leashes, which was unlawful. Going around a turn in the trail, they encountered a mother moose and her two calves. The dogs, of course, ran at the babies, barking. The mother moose stood still. The silly woman decided it was safe to walk right past the mother moose, to try to collect her dogs. Momma moose then attacked the woman. She escaped with a broken leg - but, of course, had to telephone for help, and was removed by EMS crews to an ambulance. When will people learn that wild creatures are wild? They are protective of their young, just like most human mothers....
Besides the black bear in the Githens Acres neighborhood, this morning a young coyote has started prowling about the area. The wildlife sightings don't bother me, as we are near several GreenWays trails and a huge area of Open Space, both protected from development. But I can't figure out the folks who want to "live with nature" and then get so upset and excited when a wild creature wanders through their yard. - They don't mind the mule deer, raccoons, squirrels, and multiple birds - but the predators seem to scare them. As I said in the above paragraph, wildlife is wild...
Monday, May 13, 2013
More RMNP Wildlife
Fox family
Rare three-toed American Woodpecker (male)
Coyote
Big horn sheep ram
Three badgers
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Looking Up
A maple tree's autumnal foliage
An otter
A coyote
... at the Assateague Lighthouse
And our weather is looking up, too. It was 37 degrees this morning when I arose; last Saturday, the high was 41 degrees, with rain and sleet. This Saturday, the high is forecast as 82!
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