A Coyote on a Morning Stroll

And perhaps hoping for breakfast

While sitting along the edge of El Rio Preserve, my friend and I were excited to see a coyote appear on the opposite side of the now dry lake. When the lake is filled with water, there is no shoreline over there, so the coyote was taking advantage of a new area to explore.

This post shares photos from the Coyote’s twenty minutes of exploration. It seemed to be taking its time, not really actively hunting, but moving along at a casual pace. The Coyote’s feet were muddy from the soft, wet path it was taking.

At one point, it alerted to something.

It leapt into the grasses, too quickly for me to get a decent shot off. It remained buried in the vegetation for perhaps a minute, occasionally twitching a bit.

Whatever the Coyote saw or heard escaped this time. The Coyote looked around, perhaps to see whether anyone had watched its unsuccessful hunt. It’s not so easy finding breakfast out there.

Eventually the Coyote disappeared behind thick reeds near the southwest corner of the preserve. After several minutes it reappeared, continuing in the same counter-clockwise direction along the shaded southern shoreline and still at his casual pace.

With the water practically all gone, the lake was giving off the musty smell of algae, mud, and other decomposing life. The Coyote ignored most of the aroma in the air but did seem to pick up occasional scents that interested it. We never did see it make another hunting attempt.

It emerged from the shadows and began to walk across the middle of the lake bed. It was interesting to note that the colors of the coyote’s fur coat changed depending on the direction it faced and the lighting at that spot. Here, you can see that the Coyote is sinking a few inches into the slightly moist plant debris.

The Coyote came very close to where we were quietly standing and then it stopped and paused for a second.

It looked around as if deciding which direction to head next. The Coyote seemed to already have its thick winter coat. Isn’t that tail is just amazing!

And then, the Coyote decided to head back to the side where we first spotted it. It disappeared into the distant vegetation, twenty minutes after we first saw it.

We had a very nice morning at El Rio and I have many pictures I have been and will continue to share from that morning. However, the Coyote was like icing on the cake. We left after he did and walked away with smiles on our faces.