End of our walk in the woods
Earlier while taking Lei for a walk in the woods, we came upon three coyotes! They were some distance ahead of us on the trail, but when I stopped walking (once I spotted them) they all three turned toward me. Lei was behind me investigating a smell and thankfully she didn’t see them. I started backing up slowly and they came forward. I could see because there were three, one adult and two younger that I had probably stumbled upon a mom and her pups. I picked up a large stick, then turned and screamed at the top of my lungs “Lei GO!”
We both raced down the trail, Lei loving it, thinking this is a cool game Mom. She still hadn’t seen them or scented them. Everytime I glanced back, I could see the coyotes tracking us, not running outright like they do when they stalk prey, but I think this was an early hunting lesson for the pups. I kept yelling at Lei to run, and we continued running until I couldn’t go another step. When I slowed down and looked back, I couldn’t see them but there were a lot of curves in the trail. I pushed myself to keep running because we were finally close to the main trail. But man, am I out of shape!
We made it to the truck and I told Lei that I was sorry but our walks are over in that neck of the woods. It is the old Cascade Lumber trail, so now I will either take her around the neighborhood or to the local park. The last time I was that scared was when I found scat in the women’s bathroom at Liberty Falls in Alaska.
Normally, coyotes will shy away from humans, but these three had other ideas.