My Journey

ITTOG

Well-known member
Yes Jerry has gone beyond the call of duty with the human waste. What an example for all of us. But I do hope you are current on your Tetanus. If the staff of the area was smart they would always have a dumpster or large trash cans delivered nearby and I bet Jerry would fill them up.

Also, I enjoyed seeing all the different rigs. I have never been a fan of the Airstreams given I don't like the unpainted look. I guess I can add the Kimbo's to that list. I bet that bus gets horrible gas mileage. Talk about a brick moving down the road.
 
Ace / jgaz / mekcanix / ITTOG.....I'm just a nothing special guy that loves nature and enjoys sharing my short stories.....my goals are to make my short stories about things other than me (therefore you will rarely actually see me). The only things that are extraordinary here are the dogs that I have chosen & choose to make my stories come true.....



Without a doubt the most special moments spent along the western shoreline of Lake Mead are when the coyote that walks on three legs comes for a visit.....I swear that's one sweet little coyote.....

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I've decided that the coyote that walks on three legs is a female due to her diminutive size and her submissive behavior. I can't help but wonder how long she can survive here as I see no opportunity to hunt with only three legs. I know of several campers that have fed her and I'll admit that more than once I've forgotten Tanners filled food dish next to the campfire ring. The food dish is always empty the following morning.....

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There are three packs of coyotes that live in the general vicinity of my campsite. I've named the packs based on their geographical locations relative to our campsite location. So there's the South Pack which I'd guess by their sounds that they are the closet to our campsite. And I'd also guess that this is the pack that wanders through our campsite.....

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Then there's the North Pack.....they live further away and they are easily the most vocal (possibly the largest pack ?). I'd guess that the coyotes that I see when I walk to the north of my campsite come from the North Pack.....

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And the third pack I've named the East Pack.....they are located across the lakes inlet.....located the furthest away and I only know them when they choose to howl & bark with the South & North Packs.....

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The howling & barking of the coyotes has the ability to stop Tanner and I right in our tracks. Often at night and early in the morning while I'm still in bed, one pack will howl & bark and shortly thereafter the other two packs will chime in.....I open the skylight and lie there in my bed as the sweet sounds flow into my heart.....

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Like the sound of the Loon on a remote Canadian lake, like the the bugling of the elk in the rugged Montana mountains.....this is a sound that speaks to me and goes deep into my heart.....

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We have only left here once in nearly an entire month.....and while we were out we crossed paths with seven Big Horn Sheep.....

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They're such a beautiful animal and I certainly felt blessed to encounter the small herd.....

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I guess this is why I do what I do.....

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beanco

Member
Jerry, you remind me a lot of my dad. He always picked up trash wherever we went. He always made us kids ( 5 of us) pick up trash at whatever campground we were at. The contest was to see who could pick up the most pull tabs ( yes, I'm old ) only later on when we were older that I found out he did that so he could set up the tent without us being in the way.:)
I still pick up trash everywhere I go. Makes me sad that people don't care at all.
Keep up the good work, looking forward to more reports once you are able to move on to your next adventure.
Hug Tanner for all of us.
Stay safe.
Ben
 
Alan.....?

Beanco.....it's definitely not a "fools errand" but it definitely is never ending.....thanks.....

tgil.....I've been reading articles about coyotes as my curiosity grows.....a researcher plays a soundtrack of howling & yelping coyotes and asks listeners to guess the numbers involved.....listeners consistently guessed 2 to 3 times more than the number of coyotes that actually made the sounds.....

SJois.....thank you.....welcome to XP & here.....




It had been a good month since Tanner & I had hiked anywhere other than our walks along the gravel roads that led to the lakes shoreline. So a few days ago I decided it was time for us to head out and explore (muscle pull not yet healed). Our first hike would be to the lands of the North Pack coyotes. While they weren't the closet to our campsite, it was without a doubt the easiest to achieve. We first encountered a coyote when we were along the shoreline hiking in the dense underbrush and along a trash lined road.....

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For the sake of a good story, I'm going to make some assumptions about the coyotes as I tell this coyote story.....

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The first coyote that we encountered appeared to be a decoy and he seemed to want to lead us away from the lands where I frequently heard the coyotes howl & yelp. He would constantly stop and wait for me to follow, and as I got nearer he would move further on.....

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Eventually we ceased following him and we then headed further into their lands.....deeper into the thick grasses. Our next encounter, not that far along, was with this coyote high up on a ledge and this coyote appeared to be the sentry.....

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I think he certainly saw us long before we saw him. As we approached the rock rim which overlooked the lakes shoreline, he began to howl & yelp.....I thought it was almost at a frantic level.....

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My goal of course was not to harm or stress the coyotes in any way.....I was simply curious. Below the sentry, in the somewhat dense brush, was a third coyote and he too began to howl & yelp the same. He had an added sound to the howls & yelps that we commonly heard.....this was a huffing sound that seemed to come from deep down in his lungs.....it was a serious sound for sure.....

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It seemed as though this one was the first line of defense as he stood his ground and refused to give up a single inch. It was interesting to see how each coyote that we encountered seemed to fill a special role.....the decoy, the sentry and now the foot soldier.....

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We kept our distance and just continued to be casual observers.....doing our best to become invisible to the North Pack.....

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And as we held steady and refused to enter further into their lands, astonishingly the North Pack began to show themselves.....slowly.....one by one.....

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ITTOG

Well-known member
What an awesome experience. I love the coyotes we hear at night at our property in the woods. I always want to see them but never have. You are very lucky.

So did Tanner freeze or were you having to hold him? I guess my real questions is how does he act when coyotes are around? Does he sense the danger and stay by you on his own?

You guys stay safe.
 
ITTOG.....I have to restrain Tanner.....he wants to play.....

mekcanix.....?

jgaz.....I love them.....





We just got back to our campsite minutes ago from our early morning walk. Every morning we take the same route which goes up to what I had determined was the southern limits of the North Pack. This morning I was surprised to see the entire North Pack hunting at the lake.....

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Two of these guys were definitely enforcers.....they held their ground, howled & yelped, and also threw in the huffing sound.....the others wandered off to higher ground.....

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Several of the coyotes appeared to be hunting the ducks that are literally everywhere.....

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The remaining pack of coyotes were in the tall grass so here I assume that they are hunting for rodents & rabbits.....

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Once again I counted 9 in the pack so I'll assume that 9 coyotes makes up the entire North Pack.....

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Pacific Northwest yetti

Expedition Medic
Coyotes are well known to draw domestic dogs out, it does not usually turn out well for the domestic critter.

The ranch I grew up on was 4k acres, we had specific packs out there as well. All very territorial, Complex social structures, and smart.

The chuffing is used as a warning to other critters, bears and tigers also do the same thing.
 

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