Fab Five

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In the summer of 2003 I was fortunate to have three coyote pups born in the neighborhood that found my front and back yard the perfect place to play on hot summer afternoons. I certainly enjoyed their brief visit.

In June, 2004, I had five coyote pups decide my front and back yards were an ideal location to romp, cause havoc, hunt, nap and wait for mom and pop to arrive for their night time hunt. As cute as these coyote pups were, I had to assume they would have a tough time surviving. The coyote parents were both afflicted with mange, the male nearly void of hair and I have to assume the young pups would get the mites that cause the mange. The young coyotes certainly had their fair share of cactus needles sticking from their fur and seemed to have a constant urge to scratch.

No attempt was made to feed the young coyotes or to come in contact with them in any way. I do have four watering dishes on my property for the benefit of any wildlife that is in search of a drink of fresh water. During the summer the water holding containers are cleaned and filled on a daily basis.

Many of the photos were taken through house windows at awkward angles so there are some aberrations in the pictures and many or not as sharp as they should be. The young pups seldom sat still for long and were vary wary of sudden noise or movement. I saw all five pups together only once, and on one occasion with both parents. Usually I saw the pups one or two at a time. In late afternoon they'd gather in the shade of a mesquite or palo verde tree in my front yard and wait for the adults to arrive.

It's a little difficult to tell the size of the pups from the photos since there's nothing to offer a sense of scale. The pups stood about a foot tall when they were first spotted playing under a mesquite next to my back yard ramada.

Although the pups chewed or removed quite a bit of my drip irrigation, broke or chewed several of my plants, defecated at will, wounded or killed quite a few lizards and generally terrorized the birds and rabbits they were a joy to watch and a welcome temporary addition to my Tucson garden.

First Contact.		Up the dry river or down?
It's lonely in the real world.		A painful encounter.
Up the hill.		There's a lizard in here somewhere.
Three for the shade under a Palo Verde.		Lizard!
It's a race.		My teeth are bigger than yours.
Follow the leader.		A drip irrigation destroyer.
	Nothing tastes better than a cool drink of water on a hot summer's day.

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