Set Trail

It was snowing this morning, so of course I had to find a trail to enjoy it! I chose a park close to home and broke trail as the snow softy fell around me. So peaceful!

But the most magical part came as I was watching a squirrel forage for his breakfast. As he sat on a branch nibbling on some leftover wax currants, I heard the sound of an animal running towards me. Immediately, I thought it was one of the many mule deer that browse that part of the park during the day. Wrong! I could see animal much smaller than a mulie running through the brush towards me and I thought it was an off-leash dog. Wrong again! Well, kind of...

It was a beautiful coyote! He was making a beeline for the squirrel, now frozen in fear with a mouthful of berries probably thinking it would be it's last, when all of a sudden the coyote noticed me watching him, turned tail, and ran off the way he came.

But that's not all! As I continued my walk, I found several sets of fresh tracks and heard the whole pack yipping in the distance. We are in the height of mating season, so I am extremely grateful I was out and about in the late morning hours. They can get aggressive protecting their territory.