It was so nice to head out on our Sunday morning walk with temperatures hovering just above freezing! It was a welcome relief after highs of barely above 20 for the previous week. It had rained overnight, but it did not wash away the snow cover we had.
I made sure I wore my boots with the Yaktrax* on them, but our driveway was the only place it turned out to be at all icy. Since Luke gets excited about every walk and barrels out the door at high speed, it’s for the best that I get all the traction I can!
Our woods are loaded with tracks in the snow not just from our many walks, but from the two families of deer that hang around our area.
The only tracks I did not like seeing were these canine ones, the same size as Luke’s, but since they rambled off into the woods by themselves, we know they are not Luke’s.
We believe the size of them means coyote. That makes me nervous, not just for our chickens and guinea hens, but because a family in the Southern part of our state was recently attacked by a rabid coyote (you may have even seen the story on national news, since the father ended up killing the coyote with his bare hands!).
However, hubby assures me it would be rare to see a coyote during the day and it is also rare for coyotes to have rabies (plus that incident was a long way away from us). In addition, the Southern part of our state is far more populated; in our rural area the wildlife has more woods to travel around so it’s not as common to see them in your yard (knock wood). The last time we saw these tracks, a few days ago, they did come close to the yard and coop, but I think our flood lights probably scared it away. Still, we keep a closer eye on things knowing one is out there. One good thing is that with no leaves on the trees, we can usually see far ahead of where we’re heading too, so I can keep an eye out ahead when we’re walking.
It is a happy thing that we see way more deer tracks than anything else, since they are one of the few types of wildlife we want to see in our yard!
Now for our Awww Monday photo…..
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We have coyotes, too, here in suburbia. They adapt so well. I’m sure Luke’s presence is a deterrent to keep them away from your farm.
I definitely think it helps. It’s another good reason that I walk Luke around the property and woods daily; to let our presence be known. 🙂
Love that nose bump!
Awe great boop photo and what a nice walk.
Hmm, rabid. That is scary. And I completely understand your fear for your birds. I hope that you all stay safe!
So far no more sign of it, we hope it stays that way!
swell, Hello Luke!
Yup, have to be careful of wildlife. Although rare, rabies and other disease can be transmitted. Definitely important to keep everyone up to date on their vaccinations.
I sure pray that isn’t a coyote. Makes me extremely nervous!
There’s been no fresh tracks the last few days, so hopefully he was “just passing through”!
Geez, those coyote tracks so close to the house would make me nervous, too! Thankfully, even though there are coyotes in the area, we haven’t seen any near our house. And Ducky’s never alone in the yard, even with the gates closed and locked, for more than a minute or two. And even then, I’m either right inside the back door or watching out the kitchen window. I hadn’t heard the story about the rabid coyote, but then the only news that’s ever on in this house is the political crap. Ugh!
It’s the same with Luke. Even when he’s out in his fenced yard we keep a close eye on him.
I did see that story about the rabid coyote- very scary.
I know, I can only imagine how scary it was for that family, especially when the coyote tried to grab their son!
Coyotes can be scary…but you just have to be smart and avoid them. Most don’t want to be near humans. Thanks for the boop, Luke!
Yes, I know you’re right. As long as we keep our eyes open, and I talk to Luke the whole time we’re walking, hopefully we never see one. 🙂
it does not matter where one lives- coyotes are most likely there….. read on: https://www.publicpressure.org/the-legend-of-the-train-riding-coyote/
That was an interesting story – thanks for sharing! If a coyote can ride a train, then I’d have to agree!
Dalton & Benji bop you right back!
We have coyotes here too, and sometimes red foxes. I am glad we have a tall fence all around our semi rural acre of yard.
Do you ever see wild turkey tracks, there are lots of those here too.
I have seen mink, and we used to see lots of pheasants and bobwhites…I miss those, but there have been more homes being built around here…
We have the foxes as well, and yes, the wild turkeys. I haven’t seen any turkey tracks recently but not too long ago there were three big jakes in our yard. We also were seeing a lot of what we think were opossum tracks back before Christmas.
We used to see pheasants at our previous home quite a bit. But that was because our Fish & Game Dept. stocked them on the land below us for hunters. But every winter we’d have some around our bird feeders, so we knew some had escaped their fate! Oh, and that stopped when they started building houses on that land.
I’m not sure if we have bobwhites around here, I don’t remember ever seeing one. We do have ruffed grouse though, which the dogs would often flush out in the woods. It always startled me, but it was fun to see them.
I’m glad you two got some walking time in and above freezing is a darn good thing. We saw that coyote story too, scary. There have been several daytime sightings of coyotes here since all the new housing developments are taking up too much of their space.
It’s sad that so many people don’t realize all the problems that over-population is causing. 🙁
Scary stuff and I did hear about that man killing that coyote with his bear hands. Amazing what we can do when we’re defending our own.
It’s good to see Luke out patrolling his area. He’s such a handsome pup. Tell him I love him.
Thank you for joining the Awww Mondays Blog Hop.
Have a fabulous Awww Monday and week. Extra treat for Luke. ♥
Luke does a good job of letting everyone around know that this is his yard and land! 🙂
I love that nose boop!
🙂
You live in a beautiful, and partially untamed, area. That brings the good and the not quite so good, so i am hoping the coyotes stay away.
Enjoy your week!
We want to live peacefully with the wildlife around us, so we have a lot of flood lights and other anti-predator lights. The hope is to simply keep them away, though we’ve had our issues with the foxes and our birds in the past, but that was in broad daylight.
we have not much wildlife, apart from wild boars… but een they can be a challenge… Luke that is such a cute awwwww-photo!
That’s one thing we don’t have around here, thankfully!
We have coyotes around here. Most of the time we see them when we are out early in the morning. They see us and they run away, but we have seen them just walking down our street (in suburbia) during the middle of the day. That is usually right after the farmer cuts down the corn in the fall. Several dogs have been nearly killed and some killed within a couple miles of us by coyotes, but they were outside in the dark in a yard without a fence. Very sad and scary.
That is very sad and scary, and I’m just glad you girls have your own safe yard. Most of the time wildlife runs away, and if they don’t, that is not a good sign! I take the fact that we’ve never seen this coyote to be promising, and I haven’t seen any fresh tracks the last few days either.
We did hear about the rabid coyote and the father killing it with his bare hands. Thank goodness his son is okay.
A nose boop right back atcha, Luke☺
I can’t even imagine how scary that must have been for all of them!