Not A Bear

So the mystery varmint that tipped over the birdbath the other night probably wasn't a bear after all.

Cindy was out in the garden yesterday morning checking her irrigation lines by the garage, when she heard a huge commotion in the shrubbery and a squeal, and all the birds flew off.

Thinking that part of our hill had slid down into the canyon, she naturally rushed to the edge of it to see what had happened, perhaps not the smartest move; if it had actually slipped, she would have been at the bottom of the canyon.  Fortunately for her, that wasn't the case.

Instead, she saw a large animal running down the side of the canyon with something hanging out of its mouth.  She thought at first it was a very large dog, then that it might be a wolf.  Although I didn't see it, I'm betting it was a coyote (Canis latrans), not a wolf.  According to the California Wolf Center, there is only one wild wolf in California, a male called OR-7 that crossed into northern California from a pack that had become established in Oregon.

Coyotes, however, are definitely present in the area; in fact, we've seen them in our yard before, including one that once peered in our front window, checking out all the plump, lazy cats in our house.  And that's why they're all indoor cats, whether they like it or not.

Coyotes are intelligent animals and quickly learn where the best sources of prey can be found, and our bird feeder certainly qualifies.  We thought at first that the coyote might have bagged Big Mama ground squirrel, but we saw her stuffing herself as usual under the bird feeder this morning.  She looked a bit jumpy, though, so she must know there's a large predator around.

All of this just goes to reinforce the feeling of our neighbor from across the street, who told us, "your side of the street--wilderness; my side--civilization.