A Chance Early-Morning Encounter

I begin almost every day before dawn by going outside to retrieve my newspaper, and to deliver my nextdoor neighbor's paper. This past Saturday, as I bent over to pick up the paper, I looked across the street and saw a coyote! I don't know which of us was more surprised.

Coyotes are not what one expects to see in Florida suburbia, but this coyote, or one like him, was seen in our neighborhood last year, too. Around that time, small neighborhood cats and dogs started mysteriously disappearing, and friends were reminded to keep their pets close, and on leashes.

When the coyote saw me, he darted through the neighbor's yard and into the area behind my house, seen above. Apparantly, he's been going great distances around our Pinellas County, which is surrounded by water. Every place he's been spotted has been near the water's edge.
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