This was a morning of uniqueness. I woke feeling very congested from spending two full days in the lapidary shop and even though I wore a mask, my COPD is acting up. So, slept in, and then drove out to a wilderness desert area and walked (and picked up rocks, of course). After about an hour I headed back to the van. Got almost there when a coyote began yapping. So, I turned… tried to spot it… walked to the side a bit and finally caught a glimpse of it with the sun sparkling of it’s light tan coat. It keep yapping at me… so I yapped back. It yapped, I yapped. I imitated it. It imitated me. I began walking toward it in hopes of getting a better photo.
It kept glancing off to it’s right… as if talking or warning a youngster. “Stay there… stay hidden!” We kept yapping at each other and I kept getting closer. This went on for nearly 30 minutes. Finally, it turned and looked over it’s shoulder as if saying “I’ll be back, you stay put, stay hidden!” Then it slowly walked off to it’s left… and down along the wash. I kept walking to the spot it had been sitting all that time… and there was the youngster. Mind you, I didn’t get very close before it forgot about it’s parent’s instructions and lopped off in the opposite direction from the parent. So, I turned and walked back toward the van.
When I got to the same spot where I heard the first one… the second one began yapping at me. My dialog with the first one was long enough, that I could distinctly tell the difference in the way the second one sounded. I yapped back a couple times, but didn’t want to confuse it… so I became silent and kept going toward my van.
As if that experience wasn’t special enough, I then found this strange cactus. I don’t know what made this thing all rippled, but very odd indeed. What a special morning. It was noon by then and all I did today was “dance with coyotes” and admire a cactus (oh, and pick up rocks, of course).
Oh, though not a favorite topic for some… saw one more curious thing. I’ve seen this before, but can’t help wondering why they do it. Pooping on a rock!???
A volcanic rock with a bowl in it. And there it was.
In the bowl!