A question Bostonians once wouldn't have had to ask

Magoo would start running around in a circle yelling “woop woop woop” and then Magoo would say to mr coyote “wise guy eh?” And proceed to poke mr coyote in the eyes. Magoo.

With all the interbreeding between coyotes, dogs, and wolves, at what point do you look at a giant like that and call it a wolf?

We moved out of our old place in Arlington a few months back. It was across from a large wooded area that, from the sound of it, was home to a den complete with pups and a mating pair. On warm days when we had our windows open, we'd generally be treated to about 1-2 minutes of yips, barks, howls, etc. from the entire family unit, usually between about 10:30 p.m. and midnight.

Will all that, I almost never saw them. Once, when walking back from Arlington Center on the Minuteman late at night, we saw the shadows of two large coyotes cross the path about 25 yards in front of us. It was back to the sidewalk/streetlights for us at that point.

After wanting to get a good look at these guys for a couple of years with no luck, we signed a lease for a new place and moved. On the very last trip we made to what was soon to become our old place, I was loading the car with a couple final boxes around dusk when a large, dark-colored coyote (almost black in parts) emerged leisurely from the woods, crossed a street, trotted right down the middle of a major thoroughfare, and gave no f#$%s whatsoever before disappearing into the brush around the Minuteman. I yelled at it to see if I could get its attention and it just trotted past me, 50 feet away, like I wasn't there.

I suspect that the bountiful bunny buffet in recent years is keeping them fat, healthy, and happy. Nearly every coyote photographed in the area that I have seen, and every coyote I have seen in my area are quite substantial and beautiful these last couple of years.

Also note that they look bigger in winter because their coats puff up to trap a layer of air near their bodies to hold off the cold, just like any other winter adapted animal will.

Now for the "what to do" part: Make Some Noise! Carry one of those airhorn things, a loud police whistle, or even more cowbell. They hate that racket and move along.

More about Hazing Coyotes.

A few years back, I stepped out of my house in West Roxbury and walked onto the sidewalk. Then I saw a coyote staring at me from the middle of the street. Probably only twenty feet away, if that. I was so surprised I looked straight at it for a moment and he/she kept staring at me.

Finally, I actually said out loud "I'll make a deal with you. You go your way and I'll go mine." So I took a right and walked down the sidewalk away from the coyote - and away from the direction the coyote was headed. Couldn't resist a peek back and he/she had kept our deal by continuing to walk in his/her direction - away from mine.

Someone smarter than me probably would have turned around and walked back thru their house door and closed it behind them. But ain't many doors in the Arboretum.

BB guns are legal in Massachusetts as long as you do not discharge one across a road. Your average coyote does not come back into a yard where it knows a copper BB is waiting to meet its ass at 500 feet per second.

Asking for a friend.

Don't leave food sources available, and they won't hang around. And realize that "food sources" includes cats and any but the largest dogs.