Last week some Coyotes in Garland, Texas made the local news. Several of the Texas prairie wolves had made a home of an disused golf course, and they were thriving there. Sightings of the Coyotes had increased in recent weeks, and the residents of the surrounding neighborhoods were getting antsy.

As it turns out, I drive by that same golf course every day, and I have been keeping an eye open for the Coyotes just in case. This morning I got lucky. All of the pictures in this observation were taken at a distance of between 200 and 300 yards. The quality of the images is not great, but the story they illustrate is worth sharing.

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

I found this pair of Coyotes near the intersection of Jupiter Road and Beltline Road. One of the Coyotes was lying out in the open soaking up some early morning rays. The second Coyote had wandered away from the first and was hunting along a small rise in the distance. The first Coyote kept a close eye on the second, and they both were very alert for signs of danger. Several times I saw one or both Coyotes divert their attention to some noise emanating from the nearby residences. Life can be a struggle for urban Coyotes, and they can never be too cautious.

Coyote - Oakridge

After some time, the roaming Coyote started back toward her companion, taking just a moment along the way to chase a squirrel up a tree. Once together again, the two Coyotes greeted each other enthusiastically. I was thrilled to get pictures of this behavior!

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

It was about this time when I first began to notice the faint wail of a distant, but approaching siren. A police car, ambulance, or fire engine was headed in our direction. Coyotes will sometimes answer sirens with howls of their own, and when I looked back at the pair it was clear they were intrigued by the noise as well. Sure enough, the two Coyotes soon started singing back to the approaching emergency vehicle. They kept this up for nearly 30 seconds, before they began to detect that something wasn’t quite right. The look on their faces was pure puzzlement as a big red firetruck flew through the intersection with horns blaring.

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

Coyote - Oakridge

3 Replies to “Coyote – Oakridge”

  1. Great story! You must have been thrilled to see all this – hunting, greetings, and howling, all in one sighting. Fantastic. Hope residents settle down about the coyotes in their midst, because they are probably here to stay – research shows that removing coyotes from a functional habitat (whether by trapping, killing or relocating) simply makes room for new coyotes to move right in. Secure trash, supervise pets, and know that if you let your cats outside to be happy predators of mice and birds, they may also become unhappy prey of North America’s native wild dogs. And as DFW Urban Wildlife demonstrates in this and so many other posts, there’s a lot to savor about having the opportunity to watch wildlife.

    1. Thank you so much for your comments! This was a special sighting. A rare occasion where I had clear line of sight at a distance where the Coyotes were not alarmed by my presence.

  2. Great pics and narrative!! My kids went to St. Joseph’s at Jupiter and Spring Valley and I turned at that corner every day for years. We have coyotes in our back yard– on an acre with a wooded creek in Sachse. We hear them a lot, especially in March. Thanks for the awesome shots!

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