Coyotes make me laugh sometimes. They do not like to be caught flatfooted.
In this case, I came across a Coyote in an open field in far south Dallas. The Coyote and I saw each other at roughly the same time. I reached for my camera, and the Coyote headed for the hills. Wild Coyotes do not like to risk confrontations with people, and are usually very quick to bugout when encountered. I only got a few shots of the retreating Coyote as he quickly disappeared from view.
Fortunately, Coyotes often travel in pairs, and that was the case this time. Almost immediately Coyote number two stuck his head up to see what all the commotion was about. By this time the first Coyote was long gone, and that is were I got my first chuckle. That first Coyote split, without so much as a warning to his compadre that danger may be near. He basically said, “See you later sucker!”
The second Coyote was so distracted by watching his friend retreat that he did not notice me. He just took a step or two forward and stood there watching his partner gallop away. The quizzical look on his face seemed to ask, “Hey, where are you going?”
The whole time I was standing perfectly still, but fully exposed, only few dozen yards/meters away. It took a minute or two, but my beeping camera finally alerted him to my presence. That is when I got my second laugh.
The Coyote turned to look at me, and it was clear that at first he did not believe his eyes. I saw his expression change as the hapless Coyote realized he had been caught unawares. Like I said, they don’t like that. They don’t like it at all. You might even be inclined to suggest it embarrasses them. That’s the way this Coyote’s reaction seemed to me.
After a moment of indecision, the Coyote turned away and began following after his friend. He stopped to give me one last look before dropping behind a small rise and disappearing into the woods.
Lovely images.