the roadrunner
This morning while I was riding down the hill out of my neighborhood to work I came across a large coyote walking down the left side of the road. This is not unusual fo rthe neighborhood and slowed down as I passed. I was surprised he did not bolt into the scrub oak as I got close and was excited to get a closer look. About 50 ft after passing him I slowed down and turned around just in time to watch him wind up his sprint in my direction. Being on a steep grade it was easy for me quickly accelerate down the road only to watch him accelerate into a full speed chase.
I have encountered dozens of coyotes in my neighborhood and have never known them to be aggressive so I was a little shocked by this guys attitude.
After a couple hundred feet of high speed down hill I decided to take a left turn onto another road to see how committed he was, sure enough he made the turn and kept on coming. This road levels out and I noticed he was slowing down a little so I slowed down, came to a stop about 100 feet from where he stopped and we stared each other down. As our eyes met I could tell he meant business and noticed he was fairly mangy and looked like he had gone a few rounds with some big local dogs. I decided to see how bold he was and sprinted the cannondale scalpel straight at him, for a minute I got a little worried as he did not budge until I was maybe 20 feet from T-boning him. He then flipped around and ran up the road another couple hundred feet before stopping.
This guy was holding his ground and I had no choice but to turn and head for work.
He's still out there roaming emigration oaks...
posted by Bart G at 9:55 PM
6 Comments:
I'll come look for him on my lunch ride tomorrow. He'll probably catch me though.
10:39 PM
A co-worker of Joel's had the same thing happen to him yesterday around the same place. I hope he doesn't hurt anyone.
9:05 AM
this is a bad sign. where i came from coyotes are very much out of control snatching up pets and small unattended kids. the cities have encircled pockets of land that they live on and they have no where to go.
protected by the law it is illegal to kill them.
i found out by a state employee that there are 10-15 attacks on adults a year that are not reported to the public because of fear of a mass extermination that would happen by vigilantes.
i never heard of a coyote attacking a adult and now i know why. it happens, we just don't hear about it.
coyotes do not hunt alone or in pairs, they hunt as a group. one goes down and lures a dog(or human) back to the pack, which is close by. you have a large pack of coyotes near by.
please be careful with small kids and let your neighbors know.
12:05 PM
Yea I see coyotes all the time and hear hem every night. In Utah coyotes are legal to hunt you can get $25 for each hide you bring in, although hunting them in the neighborhod might be a little tricky.
4:47 PM
That same coyote has been hanging around lately. I have heard a few other neighbors comment on his boldness (McNally's, Pico's, Rollin's). This makes me pretty nervous with kiddo's playing outside. Maybe it's time to get animal control involved?
10:53 PM
I'll bet it was the same coyote that attacked this guy in Emigration Canyon a few weeks ago. This could be a serious problem.
http://watchingtheworldwakeup.blogspot.com/2009/06/i-am-attacked-by-coyote-really.html
10:06 PM
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