The Moon Is Full and Zelda Is Back

Just before it became too dark to see, I had a strong urge to take some dog food out to feed the coyote that has been leaving scat messages for me to see over by the water barrel. So, I put on my jacket and pried open the door of the plastic pet-food shed, and scooped up about a quart of dog food from an old bag of a brand my dogs don't like. As I walked out the gate I couldn't help but see the little female coyote, Zelda that I have fed in the past from time to time. I haven't seen her around for at least two months, and I was afraid something bad had happened to her.I suspected she was the one leaving her scat by the water barrel, but it isn't like her not to let me see her once in a while.

Tonight she behaved exactly as she used to. She ran ahead of me about 30 yards away and led me to a spot where I used to feed her. It is a spot uphill, but in a little basin surrounded by sagebrush and wild buckwheat. It is located in the opposite direction from the water barrel, and there is a barbed wire fence that runs along the base of the hill giving her lots of possibilities for escape if she suddenly decides that I might turn on her.  I always talk to her in calm sweet tones, and after I had put the food down and she was no longer in sight, I called to her, "Zelda, let me see you." And she came out from behind some bushes still at least 20 yards away as if she understood me.

The fact that I had that sudden urge to feed coyotes makes me think maybe she is sending me telepathic messages. Do you think? Nah!

When I walked back down the hill the moon was just rising above some oak trees. Not just any moon, an enormous blazing golden orb of the sort I usually associate with a harvest moon. It was spectacular! When it is first rising, and you see it almost horizontally, it looks about eight times or more as large as it appears when overhead. Something to do with the atmosphere when you look at a moon through the surface air, I think.

I would like to have seen Zelda sitting on a rock silhouetted against that big moon, but that is not the way the land lies. That would make a scene like Darcey Down's former icon of kangaroos silhouetted against a huge setting sun. He has changed his icon to a picture of Ayer's Rock now called Aluru (I think), its aboriginal name. It is one of the most magical and mystical places on earth. Maybe Darcey will tell us about it someday. He told me a little about it tonight in a comment.

I'm hoping I can take advantage of one of the seasonal sales and buy a good camera with zoom lens so I can get a picture of Zelda to show you. She looks a lot like a small German Shepherd, but there is no mistaking her sharp upright ears, low following tail, and sharp nose. You can see at once that she is a coyote. It makes me feel good to know she picked me for her friend and continues to trust me. But she never appears when anyone else is around, and I can't prove that I have a half-tame coyote friend.

But of course I am making too much of it. She is probably just like all canines, and has a propensity to show less fear to anyone who feeds her regularly. I guess I'm a romantic.