Today's walk report: 051513

Wile E.

I had to mock this up because I was a little too freaked out to get my camera out in time for a picture. The coyote was first spotted crossing this street and I suspect this was her (I believe) first real run in with this level of civilization--at least on the campus. I was on the sidewalk you see and the coyote went scooting up the side of the hill just behind the 1st parked car. So... I followed and again I was freaked out because the animal was just standing there, right behind the right edge of that lower bush, sort of like she was waiting to see if I was following. I could tell she was more spooked by me than I was of her (although I don't recommend chasing after wild animals) and as soon as my camera was up she dashed. I thought I may have gotten a smidgen but there was nothing of her in the picture. I went back to my regular walk which is about one mile on the road perpendicular here (this is a "T" intersection) then up this hill and round the top but saw no sign of her. They really blend in quite well too. Last time I saw a coyote anywhere near here was in the early 80s at the crack of dawn and that time too the dog was acting like--wtf am I doing here?!?

Sorry for the off scale sort of sloppy job on this but what's the point?

 To give some perspective to those viewing who have no idea where this is and therefore no clue as to just how odd a coyote being in this area is I put this map together. The "X" marks the location I saw the coyote. The line going to your left heads into a place called Box Canyon. The downward line leads to the canyons heading toward the Santa Monica Mountains. Either way this is one lost animal and I'm only mapping to the near edge of each of these places.