Tag Archives: coyotes

Trouble in Paradise

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I watched a coyote scurry on the outside of our fence. I got one photo of his face, but he was moving fast and it’s blurry. This was the only one in focus. We also saw three coyotes on a morning walk this week, darting between houses. FYI, my story has nothing to do with coyotes.

My husband and I walked down our driveway to start our morning walk. I noticed the recycling bin on our curb had a pink note attached to it. Two neighbors walked by at that moment.

“We’re in trouble now!” I said.

“What?” they stopped and asked.

“We got a pink slip from the garbage police.”

I quickly read through the pink slip and discovered we were getting our first warning for not having the lid down all the way. We had a box that stuck up above the lid line. After three warnings, they said they’d stop our service!

“I didn’t know they looked at our trash,” the neighbor said.

While we were walking through the neighborhood, I noticed a handful of pink slips on recycling bins. We weren’t the only violators.

We walked by another neighbor who was walking her chihuahua Duke. I said, “It looks like a lot of neighbors are getting written up by the recycling cops.”

“Don’t get me started,” she said. “I’ve been written up twice. Then the supervisor of the garbage company knocked on my front door!”

We stood there incredulous.

The supervisor told her that our city is the worst in the state for garbage violations. He also said she had broken a number of rules, including not separating her newspapers and putting them in a plastic bag, as well as not breaking down cardboard boxes enough. I’ve never before heard about newspapers needing to be separated from other recycling.

“We especially have our eye on you!” he said as he left.

Other troubles in Paradise? I’ll save the stories for another day. Thankfully, nothing major at all. Life is good.

The last of three coyotes we saw run between neighbors’ homes. The neighbor who lives here said he saw a pack of seven run by this week. Earlier in the week he saw three Mule Deer.

What do your recycling rules entail? Happy Friday! What are your weekend plans?

What a suprise!

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I was outside at 6:30 a.m. writing in my journal when I heard a coyote yipping in the distance. Then more joined in. It got louder, closer and sounded like a pack murdering prey right outside our fence. I’ve never heard anything like it! I can’t run, so I hobbled my way inside the house. It got quiet. 

Then I watched coyote after coyote slink along our fence. I couldn’t count how many, because some were hidden behind bushes. I got a photo and video of one coyote jumping on the wall.

I posted this photo — which is blurry because it’s a screen shot of the video — to social media and I got an interesting response.

“Great shot and love your Soleri bell!”

I have never heard of a Soleri bell before and I wasn’t sure what she was talking about.

I googled Soleri and found out that the prior owners had indeed left us a Soleri Wind Bell.

In a nearby town called Paradise Valley, an artist from Italy named Paolo Soleri made bronze and ceramic wind bells in the 1950s and 60s.

Cosanti Originals bronze windbells are made using handcrafted techniques and traditional designs in our Arizona studios for over 65 years. They feature vibrant colors, organic textures, and design motifs that vary from piece to piece or artisan to artisan. Each one is a true “original.” They come in a variety of sizes and complement both indoor and outdoor spaces. Each purchase supports The Cosanti Foundation which promotes sustainability through experimental architecture and agriculture.

https://cosanti.com

What a fun surprise. I read all about something that’s been hanging in our yard for years that I knew nothing about. When the weather cools down, we will take a trip to Paradise Valley to look at the gallery. The wind bells range in price from a little over $100 for recently made ones to close to $8,500 for original vintage ones made by Soleri himself. I’m sure that the prior owners of our house would have taken this Soleri Wind Bell with them if it was an original! But I’m pleased they left this one with us!

What surprises have you had lately?

What a walk!

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This photo was taken on one of the few snow days we’ve had. It was during our first year in Arizona. I heard the coyote howling and I caught him on the wall behind our backyard. By the way, he was a big boy!

Wednesday morning, I drove first thing to the post office with my load of Frangos, plus to the hardware and grocery stores. I missed my early morning walk with my husband — who went without me. The weather had dropped to the 40s and 50s, so I knew I could walk when I was done with my errands. It wouldn’t be too hot!

If you haven’t read about my Frango project, you can read about it HERE.

I walked around our neighborhood listening to a podcast and all was well. I walked out of our neighborhood onto the main street, which has a nice sidewalk on our side of the street. I enjoy the walk because the nature’s preserve is across the road. The views are gorgeous.

Sonoran Mountain
The McDowell Sonoran Preserve across the street from our neighborhood.

I turned around to walk back toward our neighborhood. I was surprised by a big coyote who ran a few feet in front of me across the sidewalk to the other side of the street. I was in awe!

I thought about getting a photo, but then three more coyotes darted out behind him. Then two more. That made six coyotes.

They all stopped and stared at me.

Usually, I may see one or two coyotes and they take off into the preserve frightened. These six large coyotes were a pack and I did not scare them. I waved my parka back and forth in the air, stomped and yelled at them.

They didn’t budge. Then two more came out of the brush and across the sidewalk to join the pack.

I was trembling, trying to call my husband to let him know what was going on.

“Where are you?” he asked.

I told him exactly where I was.

“Stay in the car,” he advised.

“I’m walking and I’m alone!”

“I’ll pick you up,” he said.

Then a gardener’s truck slowed down and drove next to me. “Are you okay?” a man asked me.

“Yes,” I said, “I’m just scared.”

The men had seen the pack of coyotes and I appreciated them putting their truck between me and the pack. I told them my husband was coming to get me and they drove away. I was afraid to look back at the pack. I realized I had no way to defend myself against eight coyotes.

I was shaking like a leaf when my husband pulled the car to the curb. But I was safe.

I may think twice about walking out along the preserve by myself. I’ve walked there without worry for four years. The coyotes came from our neighborhood so that’s another thing to think about. I need to remember to carry my pepper spray. Another friend told me to walk with a golf club.

This is the first time I’ve been frightened by the wildlife in our neighborhood.

What would you do if you had a pack of coyotes staring at you?

Just to add to the fun, my husband showed me this scorpion in the garage!

It’s wild out there

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A skinny bobcat on our patio.

Yesterday on our walk, we saw a huge coyote walking down the wash. He stopped and we stared at each other for a minute. Then he sauntered away. He was too far away for a close photo, thank goodness!

I also captured a bobcat on my outside camera. This guy paid us a visit at 4:30 a.m. and stopped by last week around 10 p.m. one night. (Video below).

I found my favorite photos of wildlife to share:

Javelina on the sidewalk enjoying prickly pears.

Mule deer in the side yard.

Coyote on the wall behind our house on a snowy day.

Outside our bedroom sliding glass door. This bobcat climbed a tree, ate some birds and then napped in this spot.

Below is the Bobcat Video:

The bobcat walks by at about 6 seconds. After he disappears behind the tree, you can stop watching. Sorry, I don’t know how to edit the video from our Cox Camera.

I’m on the App Next Door, and a lot of people are posting wildlife photos. It must be another sign that Spring is in the air. What I don’t like is the rattlesnake photos. One I saw this morning was a rattler on a workbench inside a garage. Yikes!

I love all the wildlife we have around us. I enjoy watching the animals way more than worrying about the homeless guy who moved into our yard and said he bought our house in Palm Springs.

What wildlife do you enjoy where you live?

That Darn Cat!

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Olive who is also known as “The Pretty Kitty.”

I was talking to my dear friend on the phone in my backyard. I heard the door to the casita smash shut with a gust of wind. When I came back inside the house, I walked past the front door on the way to our bedroom.

I noticed that not only the front door was open, the screen door was open too. My heart stopped.

I’ve been told by neighbors when we moved here to keep my cat inside. That’s because of coyotes, bobcats, javelina, owls, snakes and huge hawks. My cat would last an hour, they said.

Shaking, I yelled at my husband. “You left the front door open!”

He insisted he was innocent. But I immediately jumped to blame him, because I knew I didn’t.

I got Olive’s favorite treat out, Lil’ Soup by Friskies.

“Kitty soup!” I yelled and repeated. She always comes running and answers “Meow oop.”

Nothing.

We checked under beds. Then went outside to call “Here kitty, kitty, kitty!”

I was crying. I haven’t been so worried since I lost my last cat who got outside at age 17 at our old house. The neighbor’s dog jumped their wall and killed my cat Sherman who was lounging in the driveway of the empty house next door to them.

Calling and callling, getting more and more frantic, I realized Olive went out our front courtyard and would turn right towards the wash, rather than head to the street. At the side of the house, with both of us calling, she appeared.

She nonchalantly sniffed the gravel, looked at me, then my husband — and ran for her dear life into our courtyard and waited for us to open the front door.

I don’t think she’s going out again soon. She spent the next 12 hours hiding under our bed. She must have smelled something that was threatening to her.

If you have pets, what close calls have you had with them?

This is Olive when I found her trapped inside our SUV. I wrote about her car misadventures HERE.

Question about dog owners

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Olive the cat
I’d be a dog owner if it wasn’t for Olive, who doesn’t like any dogs except for Angus, our yellow lab RIP.

I’m working on our neighborhood newsletter — the final one for 2022. At the annual meeting and quarterly board meeting, residents voiced their concerns. Can you guess what the number one issue was?

Dog poop.

Seriously, I walk our neighborhood streets every morning. There is more dog poop on the streets and sidewalks than when we moved here in 2020. One morning there was dog poop on our driveway.

It’s weird. Who doesn’t pick up after their pets? This is a nice neighborhood and people take care of their yards and homes. Neighbors are retired professionals, successful trades people with empty nests or younger working families with kids and dogs.

A neighbor, who has a well-behaved labradoodle who is being trained as a therapy dog, asked me to put something in the newsletter about dog poop. She told me that one of her friends in a nearby neighborhood addressed this by DNA testing every dog — and then testing poop. The guilty were slapped with a $500 fine.

DNA testing? The neighbor thought that was over the top, but said other ideas were having bags at the park and putting up cameras — plus fines.

The neighborhood isn’t big on cameras. It seems too Orweillian.

We do have lots of wildlife here. I looked up javelina and coyote poop. I read it looks similar to mid-sized dogs. Maybe it’s not bad dog owners but wild animals?

Walking through the neighborhood, we stop and pet dogs who are out with their owners. Both the dogs and the neighbors don’t seem like the type to leave pet droppings around.

On a brighter note, thank goodness our number one issue isn’t crime or homeless!

What suggestions do you have for our task force tackling dog poop?

Sights at sunrise

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Sun behind the clouds at sunrise
It’s so hot I’m taking my walks at dawn to beat the heat. The clouds are blocking the sunrise.

We’ve had a hot week and I’ve been swimming rather than walking each day. Our pool in the backyard is a nice temperature so I jump in and kick or swim. I swim laps at the Y a couple times a week too.

It’s weird not to walk every morning after not missing a day since I recovered from knee surgery.

The other morning I woke up at 4:45 a.m. and got out the door for a walk at 5:15 a.m. It was beautiful with birds singing, but I felt a little unnerved with coyotes howling nearby. It sounded like a large pack. I almost turned back to the house, but courageously kept moving on. I actually turned back momentarily only to discover the coyotes howling sounded near my home. Onward and forward seemed like the prudent choice.

Here are the photos I took during my early morning walk.

purple mountains and desert plans.
I love the colors of the mountains and desert in the early morning.

bird on saguaro
A saguaro topped by a bird.
Century plant fallen over
I had been watching this century plant waiting for it to bloom. This was a sad sight.
Century plant standing
This was the century plant two weeks ago.
The oldest quail babies hanging out with their mom and dad in our pool bar. We have three families from wee babies to these teenagers.

If I wake up early enough to beat the heat, I go for my walks at sunrise. If I wake up later and it’s too hot — I jump into the water. Thankfully our pool gets a lot of shade during the day, so the water temperature is still cool.

What is your favorite way to start the day? How are you getting exercise?