Margaret had trouble sleeping last night because of a sound she described as a cross between a squeaky toy and the death scream of a Borrower. She currently thinks it must have been this. Now she’s sitting beside me in bed, checking out sound clips of various sorts of owls. . . .
Update: Actually, it sounded more this way — Margaret had doubted that it was possible, but evidently it was a Great Horned Owl (judge for yourself — she’s confident that she heard a sound such as this). That would actually be a tremendous blessing, because they eat skunks, one or more of which inhabit Seabury’s block.
Posted by AKMA at June 22, 2004 07:42 AM | TrackBackWe've been having coyotes behind us make noise at night. They make a cry that is freakily similar to children. A couple nights ago, my wife Michele leapt out of bed only to figure out that it was the coyotes and not our daughters.
Posted by: Michael at June 22, 2004 07:06 PMMargaret has seen a coyote in Evanston, too. I just wish the predatoprs would do their job relative to the obnoxious wildlife, and pledge to leave the domesticated creatures alone. It’s getting tough to let Beatrice out in the back yard after dark, even if getting skunk-sprayed isn’t as bad as being swooped away by an Great Horned Owl or gobbled by a coyote.
Posted by: AKMA at June 23, 2004 05:23 PMThere are reliable reports of coyotes in Central Park. J. Frank Dobie, http://www.tsha.utexas.edu/handbook/online/articles/view/DD/fdo2.html,
Voice of the Coyote is the first "grownup" book I remember reading, probably in 1958 at my grandfather's. I was six.
Stanley Park has a nifty urban coyote page:
http://www.vcn.bc.ca/spes/urbanwildlife/coyrsrch.htm
And, coyotes in Illinois? Right this way:
http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu/chf/pub/surveyreports/jul-aug95/coyote.html
BTW, I've been living in plenty o' coyote country for the past 24 years. No kitty or small dog deaths.
http://www.library.swt.edu/swwc/archives/writers/dobie.html
Posted by: liz at June 23, 2004 07:24 PM