I am riding on the back side of the seven mile loop yesterday, one mile before the two mile cut-off to Bruce B. Downs Blvd., when a ranger signals me over. He says, "you want to see something really cool?" He tells me to look right, down the service road at Clay's Gulley. He says there's a big coyote sunning himself about one hundred yards down.
So I get to Clay's Gulley and look left down the service road where I see three deers grazing. And then I look right, and see the coyote, and he sees me. I've never seen a coyote this big in my life. He trotted a few feet in the opposite direction and turned back to look at me. He repeated this twice more and then trotted out of site.
I get that coyotes are skittish and encounters with humans are generally rare. But the sheer size of this one... If you walk, bike, jog or roller blade in the park, make sure you are aware of your surroundings.
Ironically, last week in this very section of the park I ran over a pygmy rattler. I usually cruise at 11mph, but for twenty seconds in the middle of a long bike ride, I get the notion to crank it up. I came around this one turn and was on the snake before I could make an adjustment. It slithered off.
Three deers
One big coyote
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