A quiet Sunday, a quiet weekend. Just ramping up through the start of spring, spreading a little grass seed, a little bug deterrent, spraying the seams of the house. We picked a tick off one of the dogs last night. Just a couple days after we gave them their monthly flea and tick medicine, so she'd have to have picked it up just a few minutes before we found it on her.

So my chore today was to broadcast the granules and get the little boogers before they can get too well established this year. It's a constant fight, given that we're on the edge, between waterways and farm fields and subdivisions, the meeting ground for all sorts of beasties.

When we first moved in, I made a habit of taking our boxer for a walk first thing in the morning. She's more than a bit excitable, if you've ever owned a boxer you know what I'm talking about, so the only time I could guarantee she'd be able to have a nice quiet walk where she didn't get overwhelmed with joy every time a new peoples walked by was to get out there at five in the morning.

That came to a halt for a variety of reasons, but one of them was that the coyotes also make most of their movements, denning back up for the day, right at the same time. One coyote, a female boxer bigger than many male boxers, not much of an issue. Two or more, problem. And while the thought of more vigorous protection measures is logical under those conditions, the true strategy there is just to change the times we make walkabout.

Then, the coyotes can carry on about their business without the two of us sticking our noses into trouble for all of us.

If you're thinking I've left my neighbors in a lurch, understand that I also went to my HOA meetings, I said my piece and told them about the coyotes, among other issues I feel responsible for warning them about. They know they're there, and so far as I know, everyone else is being responsible as well. We've got a hundred or so houses in our little neihborhood, and we haven't lost any cats or dogs or kids to our four-footed neighbors.

It sort of puts the idea of them into perspective. Coyote is dangerous, do not mistake me, but he's also happy to mind his own business, if he's got the room to do so and plenty of places to hide. We've got a construction project coming down, though, the city's running a road through the farm land a hundred yards or so outside of our neighborhood.

The odds are that Coyote will move on, shift his patterns and his denning places as needed. They're "Wile E.", after all. But he's a nervous neighbor, and I may need to start making my walks again, not to protect my neighborhood, but to keep an eye on Coyote. Gauge how he's doing as things progress. And if necessary, be in a position to call the state and local animal control way before someone accidentally puts themselves or Coyote in a position to do unnecessary harm to either or both or innocent bystanders.