Eastern Coyote Hunt

Shortly after 7AM Becky appeared, moving in stealth mode, to get the camera.  She had seen two of the coyote pups running flat out down the path.  Standing soundlessly in the bedroom window, we watched as first one then the other made a cat like pounce into the tall grass.  One of them came up holding a dark rodent between its teeth.

Much playing with the food followed.  Keep away was popular.  Both coyotes snapped at each other with their heads side by side while facing in the same direction.  They seemed to be learning adult behavior but the feigned bites were aimed at the air.  These games continued for several minutes.  Neither Becky nor I actually saw the meal eaten.  We do not know if the meal was shared or if one ate the whole thing.

Ed decided to go outside to try for a closer picture and to check the now older pups reaction to him.  Both coyotes ran for the bushes the moment they saw Ed.  The first to run gave no audible signal to the second.  Ed was able to move closer using the sod pile as a screen.  The second pup bolted the moment it saw Ed.  It is a comfort to know that these wild animals will now quickly run away from us.  An earlier attempt to chase these animals away ended in a close standoff.

This was not their first visit to the garden last night.  The remaining lettuce shade cover had been ripped from the cage and torn to bits.  We need to shade the lettuce from the hot summer sun but the pups run across the covered cages caving them in.  The only workable solution is to leave the cages uncovered for now.  The pups have learned to run away from people.  We view that as an important lesson.  Bouncing on the lettuce covers is only an annoyance.  Watching these sleek wild animals up close is a wonderful experience.  Want a closer look? Click on the picture!

September 2012 Arbutus

Please understand that one of the reasons that we write this blog is to create a record for ourselves.  Expect to see an arbutus post nearly every month until we understand the life cycle of this plant.  The patch has changed very little during August.  Only the plant nearest the bottom edge of the photo is still putting out new leaves.  It was chewed to a nub this spring and is still working to reestablish itself.  The other plants are darkening the color of their leaves as all are turned into the late afternoon sun.  Sunlight only strikes here during the afternoon and all of the leaves are positioned to take full advantage of that short bright window.

This tiny leaf is making its third appearance on the blog.  We hope that it is a from seed new arbutus plant.  Its slow growth supports our dream.  What weed grows that slowly?  Recent research revealed that an arbutus seed cluster resembles a raspberry fruit.  No structure like that has been seen here.  If this plant is from arbutus seed, the seed was already dropped when we transplanted the adjacent full sized plant.  Now that we know what a seed cluster looks like we will be looking for one next summer.

This picture will be updated every month until the old leaves do something.  The second pair of leaves from the top are old growth.  All of the other leaves in the picture sprouted this year.  The difference in color is becoming less apparent as the new leaves darken.  We know well the exact location of the old leaves and we are expecting them to drop from the plant.  How long an arbutus leaf lives is unknown to us.  So we watch hoping to learn.

This is a closeup of the plant that was chewed to the crown this spring.  Bright hairy new leaves are still emerging.  Some sign of a stem may have to wait for next year's growth.  For now it certainly looks like the plant is planning to return.  The chewed leaves are clearly marked so that we can watch and record their life cycle.

The remaining new growth for this season is the flower buds.  We know that arbutus sets its buds before winter but we would like to know exactly when.  So we will wait and watch.