Coyotes

I used to hear the coyotes howl every night. It was startling and scary at first, but it soon became a comforting bedtime ritual. My house backs up to the mountains, so I have seen bobcats, hundreds of rabbits, and packs of coyotes. One time, my father and I witnessed a lone coyote climbing our peach tree. He stopped climbing and just stared at us. On a separate occasion, the pack of coyotes was loud during the day, so my dog and I ventured out to see what the ruckus was about. I own a big dog, but he has the mentality of a small puppy. The pack had migrated to the edge of my gate, probably feasting on one of the many rabbits in our yard. One of the coyotes came very close to the gate and stared at us, and my dog hid behind me, then the coyote scampered away. These memories are from several years ago. Now, I hardly ever hear the coyotes cry out at night. My neighbors have started spraying their lemon crops with pesticides, which has affected the wildlife as a whole. Coyotes are highly adaptive, but urban development and chemicals spread, are forcing them to quickly disappear. Due to the constantly developing city, coyotes are forced to roam into streets and neighborhoods. The coyotes that are left, are very vulnerable at this time. Either they will keep learning to adapt, or we will need to contain our developments in order to preserve this animal.