Happy Monday!
Yesterday I spent some awesome QT with my fam and my fam’s food. We barbequed a bunch of meat for the guys, but my mom wanted ceviche so that was part of the feast too.
Plus watermelon, obviously.
And I want to wish a Happy Father’s Day to my dad and my brother who is a new dad too!
Running
10 miles. Done and done. I felt great!!! I think I was burnt out a bit last month and just had a lot of personal stuff going on. Suddenly today I just felt like I was back!
I wore my Garmin AND Fitbit because I have a fun new project coming up.
This morning I ran one of my usual routes near my place and was just in my own world when I saw ANOTHER COYOTE run across the sidewalk, cross the street and head for the hills behind some houses.
Yes, there are coyotes in California – but I have NEVER seen one on a run until Friday in San Francisco. And then today I saw another one today in Orange County. Do you think it was the same one that followed me home?!
Seriously though, isn’t that weird that in all my years of running I hadn’t seen a coyote (I saw one on a walk one time) and I just saw two in one week?!
So of course your Monican had to google the crap out of this to see if coyotes attack runners.
Q. What should I do if I encounter a coyote?
A. Coyotes are usually afraid of humans but if you encounter one while hiking, etc. you should attempt to leave the area calmly (do not run) and make loud noises. If a coyote is in your yard, let the coyote know that it is not welcome by making loud noises (like banging pots and pans together), spray it with hose, toss tennis balls near the animal – you want to scare her away, not hurt her. And NEVER attempt to touch, tame or feed a wild animal. For more information on how to avoid conflicts with coyotes, see The Humane Society’s coyote hazing guidelines. Source: MSPCA
The good news is it’s super rare. The bad news is apparently more people die from getting hit by a champagne cork than from a coyote attack!?!?!?!?!!!
I am around champagne a hell of a lot more than coyotes so now I’m really scared.
“Coyote attacks on people are very rare. More people are killed by errant golf balls and flying champagne corks each year than are bitten by coyotes.” – Human Society
So now I have a whole new set of problems to worry about. Wish me luck.
Question: Do you see wild animals in your neighborhood? What?
One time when I first lived in MD (for a hot minute) I saw a HUGE HUGE DOG and got so scared. Then, I realized it was a deer. That shit would not happen in SoCal.
Hi Monica and followers! Thanks for sharing our coyote tips! Please join us for a free coyote seminar in Orange County (at the City of Orange Public Library) on July 14!
http://action.humanesociety.org/site/Calendar?id=112861&view=RSVP
Best,
Lynsey (with The Humane Society of the United States)
Here in Ga I have seen a fox on my run and lots of armadillo’s, no coyotes thank goodness.
I always wear my fitbit and gps watch on my runs, glad to see I’m not the only one now!
I live in a populated area of southern CA & I have seen way too many coyotes on my weekend runs!!! So scary BUT sad they have to come into the populated area to survive…
Lol yes, I grew up in MD, and there are a TON of deer. My boyfriend grew up in Queens, NY, and the first time he saw one while driving he totally freaked out. Hehe.
Now we live in Arlington right outside of DC (actually a block down from Anne – she’s a great running buddy!) and we just have squirrels and bunnies. Much more tame!
I live in a small town, but it’s pretty suburban. However, I have seen a few deer right in the middle of town while out running. I always wonder if they’re lost? Go back to the woods!
Did you come across this in your googling? Seen on Runner’s World yesterday. I would be TOTALLY freaked out if a bear were following me while I was running!
http://www.runnersworld.com/general-interest/watch-bear-trails-canadian-runners
I see too many dogs off-leash and a bunch of deer, but nothing else really.
I get the rural Australian staple – kangaroos (not really that cute, and they make a mess of your car if you it one). There’s also a resident echidna in my street (very cute).
Other than that it’s mostly birds. Wedge tail eagles look majestic from a distance but they’re huge – they’ve been known to take sheep when there isn’t much to hunt!
Npoez…thank god! Closest was a snake lying in the middle of the road on one of our group run route.
Tons of animals on my morning runs! I live near a river trail and park so I see animals all the time. Last week I saw baby racoons and a Mama Duck with her fluffy babies. I’ve even seen a beaver before.
We have the occasional coyote, copperhead, or chicken in our neighborhood. In the city. That’s Georgia for ya’ll. Fortunately, none have chased me 🙂
I have spotted coyotes on a few of my runs lately and one ran in front of my car the other day. I actually saw two together when I was running the other day and they stopped and watched me. They were far away but I think they wanted to make sure that I was not running towards them. Scary!
I can’t believe it! Another coyote?? Actually there is a pack living in the wooded areas of one of my favorite hiking trails. The signs by the trail say the same things, stick to the path, make lots of noise if coming across one, and avoiding hiking at dusk. After they put up those signs, I never returned to that trail again.
I just moved to VA and we live slightly out in the country so we have all sorts of odd little creatures running around. Always makes for an interesting run to see what will pop up!
Ha! We have deer in our neighborhood but the most Ive seen on a run were some cute bunnies!
There are deer, turtles, geese, and squirrels where I run. So far nothing too dangerous. When I used to live in Alaska I had to worry about brown bears. I’d rather see deer.
I live in pennsylvania so there is everything from angry geese to bears. I find all of that much less worrisome than people, however.
To this day I have never opened a champagne bottle. I am terrified…like when you go to open those Pilsbury Grands tubes…am I right??
I run at 5 am and see foxes and deer mostly. When I lived in Colorado I was running at dusk (okay, night) by the mountains and I saw a LARGE animal run across the street in the distance. I think it was either a mountain lion or coyote. I was nervous!
I grew up in the sticks in Colorado- we got Elk, coyotes, foxes, and black bears in my backyard. My favorite was the neighborhood bobcat, though. I live in Seattle now, and I don’t get any wildlife…unless you count my obnoxious downstairs neighbors. I miss seeing critters!
I have totally been beaned right in the eye by a champagne cork. I was trying to demonstrate how to saber open a bottle and cased my own face. Most embarrassing bruise ever.
When someone is popping a cork off I try to always stay as far away as possible. We do not have coyotes where I live but we do have foxes. I saw one just walking down the sidewalk.
I’ve seen turtles, rabbits, coyotes, snakes, gators, a red fox, a deer, possums, armadillos, hawks, owls, eagles, storks, herons, manatees and a ferel hog. but I see peacocks on the reg in my neighborhood and there was that one time the Emu chased me down the road…..and no, I don’t live at the zoo. Sometimes it feels like it though and I kind of like it 😉
I see coyotes sometimes too and I am scared of them. The #1 thing I’m scared of on runs (and plan my routes and times accordingly) is SNAKES! EWwwww
Haha…in AZ we have all kinds of crazy wildlife to dodge when hitting the road. Rattlesnakes, tarantulas, helomonsters, lizards, bobcats, javelinas. It’s a jungle out there. Not to mention you have people. Once a lady followed me home and jumped out of her truck claiming I said she was “white trash when I was running by.” And no, I never and would never do that. Some people forget to take their meds is my point and you need to be on the watch.
I’m checking in from Maryland.
I see deer, rabbit, squirrel, geese, duck, turtles, frogs, lots of different birds. There’s also fox, but I don’t see them. Occasionally, I’ll see something I can’t identify <- yep, that's scary!
Also, the geese can get mean. Everything else either runs away, or just looks at you while you pass them by.
There’s a coyote in our neighborhood right now (very rare). I saw it twice. I didn’t react well.
We have deer, wild turkeys, marmots, quail, coyotes… oh and the occasional moose. And I live IN the city limits! That’s Spokane, Washington for you.
Are you friending people on fitbit? I have one!
I used to live on a farm so I have seen a ton of coyotes in my day. I am way more fearful of those champagne bottles. Next new years, I may hide in another room! What a bad way to go.
There are coyotes near my home. I think they might try to eat my little outdoor dog (more than attack me). Good thing our fence is pretty high.
I heard that you should be more scared if they look really disheveled/mangy than if they have a nice, glossy coat (the former means they are hungry and haven’t eaten well in a while).
I saw a baby copperhead a few weeks ago and I’m still mentally quite scarred from the situation. Twas not pretty.
Well this is bad news for me. I drink champagne on the REG.
My favorite park is along the river. Lots of wildlife (coyotes, moose, deer) follow the river into the city and end up at the park.
The pigeons in my neighborhood are out to get me and THEYRE ORGANIZED.
If I see anything, it’s usually deer. Sometimes they surprise me and come out of no where which gives me a slight heart attack. I don’t see anything that could really hurt me, thankfully.
Any number of things here in SC. I’ve seen lots of snakes obviously. The occasional turtle, deer, racoon and beaver. Oh and one night I went running as it got dark and the path I was on was over run with all manner of toads….literally thousands…must have been mating time, it was a bizarre experience!
iPhones are not conducive to posting comments. I split my life between Maryland and Texas. In Texas I see these evil swans and geese that hiss at me by the river I run along. In Maryland I see deer, bunnies, turtles, and a ton of birds! I haven’t seen any crazy wild animals though.
I’ve been hit by a cork before! I popped the bottle and the cork hit a beam in the ceiling and bounced back in my face!
I split
Beautiful ohana chica!…Ummmm…coyotes, snakes, bunnies, bobcats, prairie dogs, ground squirrels, hawks, and crows. …not to deter you from an AZ run…lol. Just text me if you happen to be here and need a body guard to run with.
I live in the middle of nowhere, so I have seen turkeys, deer, snakes, groundhogs, and skunks. Also the occasional unfenced dog, which is a bit problematic if they feel like chasing my slow behind!
You crack me up! Watch out for the bottles of bubbly. I totally have seen a coyote, but on a walk, not a run. In Chicago, they actually bring coyotes IN to the city for rat control. Pretty crazy!
Funny that you should mention seeing wild animals during a run – I just viewed this video today. It happened here in Canada a few weeks ago and I thought the two guys handled it very calmly – of course, you can see at the end how terrified they really were. I’m always nervous about bears when I go walking/running alone. http://globalnews.ca/news/1395362/watch-2-men-followed-by-black-bear-while-jogging-in-northern-alberta/
Here on Staten Island we have mean wild turkeys!!!! They are Cray Cray! Usually though I see the usual, bunnies and the occasional garden snake.
Interesting cork death statistic….I love Google and the Internet!
Glad to hear you’re feeling that running mojo is back.
We have possums, coyotes, bunnies and raccoons. And we are only half a mile from a busy interstate.
My husband and I were celebrating our one year anniversary at midnight on Saturday. Naturally, I wanted to open up some champagne. I swear, I think that cork came out at 100+ mph. It hit our textured ceiling so hard it knocked some of the paint/spackle stuff off. I’m glad no one was in the firing line for that one!
I see wild animals in Bowling Green, Ky., while running pretty frequently, and I live in a pretty suburban area. I’ll see rabbits and squirrels all the time, but the occasional deer, coyote, beaver and groundhog have come across my path!