I'm listening to the local clan of coyotes getting together for their nightly howl,

[Redstone]

and they're doing so a LOT closer in the woods behind the house than they've done in years past.

But that's OK wth me, because our dog never goes outside unaccompanied, and the kitty never goes outside at all.

The wild critters can have their historically-claimed space, and we'll respect that by keeping our pets out of that space.

Redstone

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. My dear Redstone...

What a lovely sound that must be!

Do they howl year-round?

Someday I just might be lucky enough to hear them from your house too...

And you're entirely in character by respecting that space...

Good on ya!

:hug:

[Redstone]

4. Yes, Peg, during the summer you could set your clock to the "howl" they staged

at almost excatly 9:15 in the evening, and it carried through the air from almost the same spot in the woods between here and the River, as you'd know if you paid attention while listening to that chorus for the last six years or so.

But nature changes, as life its ownself does, and it seems like they've moved their community den closer to where we live. Don't know why, because their historical den was within the boundaries of a Wildlife Management Area where nobody could bother them, so there should not have been any pressure for them to move.

But no matter to me, as long as they can't attack my pets, and we make sure they can't. I actually do enjoy seeing the odd coyote wandering through our yard now and again as though he owns the place - which, if you think about it, he actally DOES.

Redstone

[Lincolngirl]

2. I've heard them

in Arizona. What a sound. Gave me chills. and then it just STOPS!!!!!!

Nature is pretty powerful!

[Redstone]

5. Gives you the chills because at a deep level it's the sound of a community.

When a pack of coyotes gets together for an Evening Howl, it's because they've all gathered together at the end of the day and are expressing their happiness to be able to BE gathered together at the end of the day.

That's why you "get that chill;" beause the sound is the collected voice of a community gathering itself in celebration of being togther, and intact, at the end of a day that is uncertain for animals to an extent that we humans will never understand. We can go to the store (or even the Food Bank) tomorrow if our pantries are empty; animals do not have that option.

Therefore, they celebrate the close of each day, because NO day carries for them the certainty of survival.

We could do much worse than to learn from them, in these parlous times.

(Edited for one badly-spelled word; you know I just can't help it.)

Redstone

[Lincolngirl]

6. Oh, yes, you

are correct. It is very powerful. Like sitting in true nature. Very powerful.

[mopinko]

3. i love to hear them, too.

we get a few in the city, which i love. they are great for the rodent populations, and in a group can take on the raccoons and other trouble makers. we don't tend to get big packs, tho. so you don't hear or see them much.
i was out in the country a couple weeks ago, tho, and they were great. one of the local folks apparently likes them, too, because someone was howling to get them going. they were a little canine riot.

[Redstone]

7. Yeah, if you live in the kind of place we live in, you learn to appreciate any

animal that can keep the raccoon numbers under control

I remember feeding the coons with stale bread and a bowl of water outside my grandfather's camp in Vermont on those summer nights, when they'd take the chunks of bread out of our hands so gently. But now I've become accustomed to their capability for destruction, and am not so favorabily inclined toward them anymore.

Redstone

[mopinko]

8. they can cause a lot of trouble.

not much constructive fun for them in the city. they are scrawny and sad lookin' around here. and in the burbs are just rampant.

[Iggo]

9. That is so cool...

...the first time. After that it's goddam annoying.