Animals

1 That Is Not A Stray Dog!

At 11:30 this morning I looked out my window & thought I saw a skinny stray dog trotting down the middle of the road in front of my house. Then my brain kicked in & said something doesn't look right. My 2nd thought was that looks like a skinny coyote with mange. I was a bit shocked because I live in a suburban neighborhood with no woods or creeks, fields or ponds anywhere near by. And it was the middle of the day with full sunlight. It was trotting quickly in the middle of the road & I doubted I could get out there with a camera in time to get any kind of shot. But I tried. Grabbed the camera, fumbled to get flip flops on my bare feet and out the door. Ran into the road & could see it way down the road, still in the middle. Cannot run with my heavy camera around my neck but walked as fast as I could. It was gaining on me so I stopped and took 2 quick shots hoping to get something good enough for an id. I have a medium reach on my camera & this was the first shot straight out of the camera with no editing. It was starting to get closer to one side of the street at this point. I was still halfway convinced it was a stray dog.
Coyote (Canis latrans)

coyoteCanis latransmammalpredatorcarnivoregarland texasstreetmiddayfull sunlightskinnymangetrottingunhealthyfastunusual behaviorsuburbiaurban wildlife