A coyote encounter

     Maybe it was because of the nature quote I posted earlier today (Karma), but we had a coyote encounter this morning.  My dog Charleigh and I were walking in the South Valley Park and saw a huge coyote sitting maybe 50 yards away, alternately growling and howling at us.  We stopped and watched for several minutes. It was such weird behavior for a coyote....usually they are shy creatures, drawing no attention to themselves.  I thought maybe this one was injured or had pups nearby.
     After a while, I tried to move on and Charleigh was having none of it.  I was having to drag her away as she kept trying to get at it.  Luckily, this caused me to turn and see that the coyote was running right at us.
     A woman nearby noticed the coyote charging and came towards us.  The coyote, seeing that there were now 2 people as well as the dog, had second thoughts, turned and moved in another direction.  A different hiker said he had heard that there was a big elder male coyote in the valley lately so always carries a pointed hiking pole for protection.
     Charleigh and I continued our walk with our female rescuer, who didn't want to be out there alone any more than I did.  That coyote stayed within 50 to 100 yards of us for the next hour until we left the valley!
     In retrospect, he must have been declaring that this was his territory to Charleigh, who decided to challenge him on it.  She is not a quiet, humble, mellow girl and will not take anything off of any animal. I am just fortunate that the woman nearby came to our rescue or I would very well have been in the middle of a dog-coyote fight.
     But this encounter did mean we met a new friend named Fran, so it is all good.  And maybe I'll start carrying a pointed hiking pole for protection.  Also, I learned that there is safely in numbers and that maybe a dog and her person aren't always a big enough number.