Wednesday, December 7, 2022

A FEW ANIMALS WE SAW ON A TRIP TO THE GRAND CANYON BACK IN 2009

 

I am not going to have much computer time for the next few days, so I won't be able to visit for a while.  I'll catch up as soon as I can.

As I have mentioned before, I have started transferring posts from my old blog.  This was originally published in the summer of 2009, so those of you who have been with me since those times may remember it, and I hope it will be a nice refresher.  For new blogging friends I hope you will enjoy this old post.  The following narrative may be out of date now, so you will have to take that into account if you are thinking of going there, or have already been.

"We saw a few animals on the road going to the Canyon. On our way out we drove on a lonely stretch and passed what we thought at first was a dog. We thought it may have been lost and as we hadn't been going very fast, and as there were no other cars in the area, we slowly backed up to find what was actually a coyote standing on the side of the road.

She didn't seem very worried about us and we thought how beautiful she was. I know not everyone loves coyotes but from the outside world looking in, they are an amazing animal to me.  The last time we saw a coyote was in our old neighborhood back in San Diego many years before, when one wandered down from the arrid hills behind us, and rested underneath a bush in our nextdoor neighbor's front yard. That one looked a scraggly, poor little thing, half starving. Our neighbors had a dog were able to fetch dog food and a bowl of water. It shuffled slowly out on its tummy and helped itself to food and water, went back into the bushes and rested for a good long while, eventually returning to the hills it came from. We never saw it again. 

This coyote near the Grand Canyon, I am thankful to say, looked decidedly healthy with a beautiful coat that gleamed in the sunlight. I don't know how long she would have stayed there staring at us, but we were the first ones to move on, and the sight of her was a highlight of our holiday, a total gift.

I believe this is a White-tailed Jackrabbit(?)  We spotted it scampering near The Watchtower.  I was sitting on a bench admiring the view and I heard rustling behind me.  Another one of nature's multitude of gifts!
There were warning signs of Mountain Lions, but we didn't see one.  Another beautiful animal but most definitely would not want to bump into one.
The only other animal we saw in that general area, apart from the birds, was a wolf that ran across the road. Gregg got a very clear look, larger than the coyote he said, but I only saw a quick glimpse, a flash of something running into the trees."
Looking back this is a wonderful memory.  One of the reasons I am glad to be transferring the old posts as we get to visit these vacation spots again.  It always starts up a conversation where we relive those old memories, and occasionally remind each other of another memory long forgotten.

Near our home, according to our local neighborhood app, there have been several sightings of coyote.  People get very worried, understandably so, not only for the safety of their children, which is obviously paramount, but also with their pets in mind.  One commenter on the app said they had recorded a strange howling in the wooded area behind them, and another commenter who used to be a park ranger, identified that sound as at least five coyote, which I was very surprised at.  I haven't actually seen any, but there have been photos shared, never more than one or two, and sometimes mistakenly identified as a coyote but was actually a fox.  People sometimes comment on screeching, wailing sounds in the woods behind their houses, again identified as a fox.  We do get fox sightings but only occasionally.  More often we see raccoons as previously mentioned on my blog.

I found a wonderful illustration of a coyote online, and left the artist's name still attached if you want to do a search on other work.


Thanks for looking and have a great day!





41 comments:

  1. What WONDERFUL animals to see. I hope you enjoy your time away from the 'puter.

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    1. I did thank you and am back now slowly catching up :) It was a wonderful experience and is now a great memory :)

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  2. Thank you for coming by and leaving a comment on my last blog post Denise. It's amazing the interesting wild life you see when out and about. We know fox families and badgers live in the neighbourhood undergrowth, but a coyote when on holiday must be a wonderful sighting. Your break away from the computer is necessary when you are busy. Best wishes, Linda.

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    1. You are very welcome Linda, I always enjoy visiting your blog :) I have seen foxes here and raccoons, but I don't think there are any badgers in the states. That would be quite a sight to see. As for your last sentence, so true but am happy to be back looking at comments and returning visits :)

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  3. Great coyote!!
    I like the painting. I did one in acrylics years ago
    ...
    https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gonYhXRFA-E/XDzdt3dezSI/AAAAAAAA-zc/QU7h2nq-TNsKvKeg4iZxvhNQ3i5lcEs4ACLcBGAs/s1600/copyrighted.jpg

    Hope your time away from the computer is for fun!!

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    1. Oh wow, you are so talented Anni, that is an awesome painting! Yes it was for fun and I will be sharing what I saw :)

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  4. Wonderful post and I love that illustration

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  5. Great post, Cool sighting of the Coyote, the bunny is adorable. Take care, enjoy your day!

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    1. Thank you Eileen, it was a marvelous experience. You take care and enjoy your day also :)

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  6. Replies
    1. Gregg had his foot hovering over the gas pedal :) but after we realized it was not a lost dog I had a few moments to press the shutter button. I was also fortunate to have our zoom lens attached so wasn't really as close as it looked.

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  7. Beautiful coyote. The legs on the Jack rabbit would give him a great boost if need be.

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  8. While walking big boy in the year 2020 we saw a coyote in our neighborhood running down the middle of the street and walking Bo this year he and I Came Upon a racing coyote and stepped off the street and behind a car and waited for it to go by. I think they're beautiful creatures and I feel bad that they have to be pushed out of their native home and come in to pay the neighborhoods. That rabbit is absolutely precious

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    1. I feel exactly the same way Sandra. They were here first after all. I didn't realize you had coyotes in Florida. Seeing the one in this blog, I was happy they had plenty of uninhabited land to roam around, except for the new nosy tourists :)

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  9. We loved our visit to the Grand Canyon North Rim but we did not see much animal life. You were lucky and great photos. Cheers Diane

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    1. We were very lucky Diane and thank you :) So glad you got to experience it yourself.

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  10. One always sees the most interesting creatures when venturing into an area not usually visited. The coyote is lovely and I really loved the art, too.

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    1. Yes we do, partly why I enjoy traveling and I have missed it these last few years. Thanks Jeanie :)

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  11. I love this coyote painting! i just saw on the news last night...a dad drove his little girl home from school. and when she got out of the car, a coyote grabbed her by her pants and started to drag her away. Good thing the Dad was there, and came to her rescue. But coyotes are so adaptable, almost more so than any other animal.

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    1. I saw the same news Ginny, very scary and I'm glad the little girl's daddy was there to fight it off! When we lived in California we lived on the back of arid hills where mountain lions used to come down, as well as the coyote. We found rattlesnakes in our neighborhood. We were always warned about sightings. One neighbor saw a cougar jump on his stone wall but thankfully it jumped back after he was spotted. Wildlife needs to be treated with great care and I remind myself of this all the time, not only around here with our own coyotes, raccoons, foxes and the occasional bear, but when I am traveling to parts where the wildlife is much larger. Common sense is paramount.

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  12. How wondrous to get to see these beautiful creatures. Love the painting.

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    1. It truly is and I'm glad you enjoyed the painting. Thank you Sandra :)

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  13. Nice to see your photographs and I do like the painting ...

    All the best Jan

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    1. So glad Jan and thank you :) All the best to you too.

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  14. Oh how exciting to see your sighting of a coyote, Denise! I love it when an animal crosses our paths. The jackrabbit is a handsome one as well. I remember seeing a large coyote in Scottsdale, Az a few years ago. The park ranger we spoke to said a single one usually is nothing to worry about, but if running in a pack that's another thing.

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    1. It really was very exciting Martha Ellen :) and a little bit of a shock as I was expected to see a lost dog. It felt a bit eery that he just stood there staring at us. The rabbit was another surprise. Coyotes and other wildlife should never be taken for granted.

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  15. You're transferring all your old posts? I'm wondering how you're able to do that. I do get nervous about something happening to my blog and suddenly all my memories and thoughts will be gone.
    It was cool that you got to see a coyote in the wild, but I'm glad you were safe too.

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    1. Yes Kay, ever so slowly transferring them but also keeping the originals on my old blog. You can back-up your posts you know. I haven't done it in a while and in fact you just reminded me I should do just that. When I refresh my brain on I will write a post and let you know too. Thank you for the reminder.

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  16. I thought it looked very much like a wolf!

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    1. That's what I thought after finding out it wasn't a dog, but then learned the difference by comparing photos online ;) Thanks Angie!

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    2. I should add that there are now wolf-coyote hybrids these days, almost forgot about those.

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  17. Lovely coyote and sweet San Diego story too.

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    1. Thank you Cloudia, I'm happy you enjoyed them :)

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