Monday, September 10, 2012

Coyote Sunset

It is a little known fact that coyotes can smell a video camera at five hundred paces. We've got scads of them and every evening they howl like crazy--until I try to record them. Part of the problem is they only sing for a minute or two then go dead silent, sometimes for the rest of the night. I finally outsmarted them, though, set up the camera well before sunset then walked away and left it running. Forty minutes of recording to get this thirty second serenade. So here you go, my local choir in full voice. (You will need to crank your volume to high. I also recommend removing all dogs from the room prior to hitting play.)




6 comments:

Laurie Lamb said...

I'm so used to hearing coyotes at night that I usually sleep through it. But my children wake me up when they're singing. A small voice in the darkness will cry out, "They have the house surrounded." or "Are the doors locked?"

Kari Lynn Dell said...

Laurie: We have so many this summer and some of them are so bold, they are practically strolling through our yard. Twice they've startled me out of a dead sleep in the middle of the night, so loud I could swear one was sitting right under my bedroom window.

Stephanie said...

We have fewer this year but have lots of deer. I've heard them sing only twice so far. A couple of years ago the dog was barking furiously right outside the bedroom. My husband opened the window and spotlighted the yard. The coyote got confused and almost jumped through the window into the bedroom. He smashed his nose on the glass as my husband slammed the window shut.

Cynthia D'Alba said...

haven't see a coyote in my area. Deer? yup. Rabbits? yup Chipmunks? yup

But I love the video!

Darlene Underdahl said...

They tried various gambits to get our little dog when he was alive; faking a limp, slinking like a coward while the others waited in ambush, but they never succeeded.

They did manage to get most of the unleashed cats and dogs in the neighborhood, except the really large dogs (think Irish wolfhound). Or maybe that was the work of the bobcat, or the mountain lion…

I love the wild predators, but they make the neighbors cranky.

Loz said...

I've only just started reading your blog but I'm already captivated by Montana life! I'm from Australia and have never left the country, so it's amazing to hear all the stories. I'm a huge animal person so listening to the coyotes was a real treat, thanks for sharing! Keep up the great work xo