Grumpa Joe's Place

At first glance the image above looks like a typical winter scene without snow. Only the green grass is out of place. The snow blanket must have brought it back from dormancy. I was sitting down to breakfast looking out the window when I felt eyes staring at me. My own eyes were pointed out beyond the pond into the neighbors yard to the south when I froze. Eyes. Yes a pair of eyes were staring right at me. Then the eyes moved across the back lot into my domain and stopped. The eyes were upon me again. By the time I thought to pick up my phone and open the camera app the eyes had moved to look in another direction. I watched, and within a minute the eyes moved along through my northern neighbors yard into the wet land beyond.

Can you see what I am talking about? Take a closer look at the picture below.

By spotting this critter I have confirmed my guess of last week, when we had a deep snow cover, that I had a visitor right at my patio slider door. Among the rabbit tracks were the deep prints of a dog. The prints extended along the back of the house stopping at the patio door, and then off into the woods through the back yard. It didn’t look like the rabbit was harmed, but he got a workout for sure. The foot prints left right below the window were similar to the paw prints of a large dog. The dogs in my neighborhood are all fenced in and don’t wander in the night. so I deduced these prints to be left by Wiley Coyote, the nemesis of the Road Runner in cartoons.

Just this week I read a news bit about watching out for your animals because it is the time of year when the coyotes are looking for mates, and if he can’t mate with it he might eat it. My neighbor to the south has a very large American Eskimo female. Most likely, Wiley had picked up her scent, and stood motionless as if waiting for her to appear. The coyote, who eyed me up, was definitely on the look out for both a meal and a frolic. His fur appears to be in good condition after a rough winter, and in general he looks healthy.

If I am very lucky, I will see him again. Most likely he will make the rounds of the neighborhood over and over until he finds a meal, or get frustrated, and leaves for new hunting grounds.

Filed under: Biography, Cartoons, family | Tagged: Coyote, Road Runner, Winter |