By Monty Siekerman
I saw a coyote in town.

The critter was across the street from where I live on State Route 81. He was near a large walnut tree, just yards from the Baptist Church.

At first glance, he looked like a stray dog, which is not an unusual sight in this area of town where dogs escape their confines or are dropped off by bad owners and left to fend for themselves.

The animal and I made eye contact. Thinking it was a stray dog, I tried to coax it to me with a sack of cat food that I happened to have in my hand.

The "dog" would be handed over to the police, the owner found, all would be well.
The coyote turned away and took cover in a backyard thicket.

Later, I realized I had dealt with a coyote, not a forlorn pooch. The creature's coat was light gray with some brown and black, its size was coyote size (about 40 pounds), the giveaway to its identity was its tail. Dogs usually move their tail, happily or in fear, when approached by a stranger.

This animal shyied away, its tail downward from the beginning of the encounter to the end. That's a coyote mannerism.

The police department said no one reported a lost dog that looked similar to a cross between a German Shepard and a husky...must be a coyote, I concluded.

In recent years, I have heard coyotes howl at night while at my cabin just north of town.

While driving last fall, I nearly hit one that was crossing SR 235 near Hog Creek.

They are in the area, no doubt, but is unusual to see one in town.

Coyotes are among the least endangered species because they know how to adapt to the environment.

Over many decades, there have been very few reports of coyotes biting or attacking people. However, they do look to cats and small dogs as a food source.

But, their main diet is found in the wild: birds, squirrels, mice, rabbits. They can attack sheep, goats, cattle, thus can be a nuisance to farmers.

Coyotes are mostly solitary but do sometimes form informal packs to bring down large prey.

In any case, Buddy, my cat will stay inside more. Hate to think he would be coyote food.

Buddy usually awakes me at 4:30 a.m. by pouncing on my ribs (that works, I'm up). But today, he had to wait til sunrise before he was let outside to check out his territory.

If cats could only talk, I would have known there was a wild thing in the neighborhood.
Let's hope the coyote was just passing through.