Tag Archives: pack of 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 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!