Wild Kingdom

Today I was at work. In suburbia. And while on the phone with Jeff, something in the wetlands outside the Lee's house caught my eye. It was a coyote. A big one. It crept closer and closer and I narrated this experience to Jeff on the phone. "Oh, my God, he's coming to where I play with the girls.......oh, wow, he just pounced on something......eww it was a RAT!" then on to "he's right behind the fence in the yard. If I was out there I could reach through the fence and touch him! He's pouncing again, eww.....it's a mouse!" When the coyote actually walked right on the fenceline at their backyard, I decided to go outside and see if he would run or not (I know, stupid - what if he decided "not"?). He was startled by the sound of the door opening and skittered off, but only far enough to look back at me, then saunter on his way. Wow. I have never seen a coyote that close before. I mean, coyote encounters around here are not THAT rare - I saw one in our playground just a couple of years ago, and earlier this year another one was on the playground and actually swiped on of our dogs' toys. Nearby, I once had one run across the street in front of my car. But to see this animal up close and SO close to the house where I care for two small children was a little bit scary. I'll be keeping close tabs on them for sure when we're outside! As I was relaying the "coyote incident" to Julie, she spotted a pair of bald eagles soaring over the house. They continued to circle, occasionally being "dive bombed" by a hawk. The house backs up to a large wetland area and the wildlife is always distracting and entertaining to me. Mostly I see ducks, geese and red-winged blackbirds. But today was Wild Kingdom! Cool!