This morning, Mary Ann and I are parked beside the Fall River Road in Rocky Mountain National Park, waiting for the coyote to come out from behind the bushes a quarter mile across the Sheep Meadows. For two days running, while we had been watching the elk in rut, we had caught sight of this coyote. Mary Ann was certain she could predict where he would be at sunrise, so after an early morning start, we drove into the park and there he was, right where she expected.
The only problem was that this coyote was acting like all good wild predators and noticed us as quickly as we noticed him, and has been keeping an eye on us as we try to act like a big stupid rock.
This is so different from the coyote we saw in March 2003. He was a beggar. He saw humans and approached very close. Mary Ann got great photos, but it was so sad.
We may not get great coyote pictures today, but it’s nice to know there is one heathy predator out there, doing his thing, pouncing on mice, and steering clear of the humans.