...but not this sort!
Last night, as I was trying to talk myself into falling asleep (it was one of those nights...you all know what I mean), I was vaguely listening to some music coming from the other room. The song ended with maniacal laughter. That was never part of the recording that I remembered. The laughter was getting louder and creepier. Then I realized it was coming from somewhere behind our house.
Coyotes!
The Mister had heard them one other evening, months ago, but other than that we haven't been aware of them, although we know they are found in this area. We experienced coyotes in Colorado, and they sometimes sounded like they were below our bedrooms window. For the most part, those coyotes simply howled their mournful ululations. Before this I never heard what sounded like people chortling with glee and sinister cackling.
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| Photo by Josh More |
I wanted to record the sounds, but my phone wasn't handy and I was wrestling with the dogs who were trying to work themselves out through the crack in the door as I listened. (They were freaked out by the sound, and kept woofing periodically for about 20 minutes after the fact.)
There are a number of videos showing the variety of sounds coyotes can make on the Internet (of course there are!) if you care to search. A few on TikTok recorded the 'laughing' sound. However I prefer not to use TikTok, so wouldn't link to them.
I'll keep my ear out for them tonight...or maybe I'll sleep!
The first time I heard a coyote was when we moved here. There can be long stretches when there is nothing and then every night they are in full vocals. I've seen only one, crossing the road years ago.
ReplyDeleteIt's rare to see them...even though they can be out in the daytime. I saw a few out west, and only one here in FL a few years ago
DeleteOur coyotes often talk and play out in the corn fields, and they always sound much closer than they are. A few years ago, we had a rogue one who became bold enough to come into the yard to snatch a chicken in the middle of the day, so we set about hunting the bugger. Let's just say that Wile E. Coyote is aptly names. Several nights of trying to call them in resulted in a big fat zero for the home team, and a win for the 'yotes.
ReplyDeleteWe don't let our hens free-range any longer, and we haven't seen any close to the property since we stopped letting the hens out. I do worry about our 'barn' cats, but they have several places on the property that they can retreat to if necessary, and we usually keep them in the house at night.