| COYOTE UGLY By: Nick Denigris * This story was written in the Summer of 2001 |
| Two weeks later at the same forest preserve, we were walking down the same trail. Our dogs had been busy “marking” the area. Suddenly we were startled by the barking sound of an angry coyote. This guy was coming up to us at a trot making all kinds of noises. He would stop at about 10 yards from us. We kept walking away (this was no easy feat since both our dogs were highly excited and wanted very badly to give chase). We had our dogs on leash, we always do. This is a safety precaution since we live in a well-populated area. The coyote continued his performance of barking, growling and snarling. He would follow at a fast pace, but he remained at about 10 yards away. We didn’t know what his motivation was. Was he angry because our dogs were leaving their “’marks” in his territory? Was he starving and perhaps used to eating dogs? My wife kept urging me to move on, she was concerned about rabies. Our two Filas were becoming very hard to control. They were furious. They wanted to go after that audacious cousin of theirs. We did our best to walk away as quickly as we could. However the coyote started to gain on us. He was getting closer and showed no signs of stopping. He was now, only a few yards away from us and acting aggressively. I’m not sure what the legal ramifications of dealing with such wildlife might be in the state of Illinois. I’m not sure where that thin red line between legal and illegal lies. Therefore, I’m not able to describe in detail what happened next. I can only tell you that it was over very quickly. That coyote never got close to my wife, or me. In fact, it’s safe to say that he is not likely to get close to anybody anymore... |
| My dogs have always been up to date with their rabies vaccinations, so that issue didn’t really worry me. My female, Xena, was pregnant at the time. However, that didn’t seem to hamper her spirit or her performance. My male dog, Apache is built like a tank. He is loving and puppy -like to us but has a short fuse for anything else.
Both of our dogs are excellent watchdogs around our property, but I had never really seen them in action. I now have a whole lot more respect for the Fila breed and a lot more appreciation for the love and devotion that our Xena and Apache have for us. They do not hesitate to put their lives on the line in order to protect us. |
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| My wife Mireya and I accompanied by our 2 black Filas Xena and Apache, like nothing better than to walk the trails of the forest preserves in the early morning hours. We were doing just that, a few Sundays ago when my wife noticed that something was following us: “What’s that? She asked” Is it a German Shepherd?”
I was able to spot a coyote trailing us. He was keeping a distance of about 50 yards and never got any closer. He followed us the entire time we were there, but never approached us and no incident took place. |
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| Coyotes are becoming almost commonplace in the areas surrounding Chicago. Some have even been seen in the heart of the city. In some suburbs this is becoming such a problem that people are being warned to take special care of their small dogs and cats since coyotes will look for any animal that they can overpower in order to make a meal out of them. |
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| We still walk the trails of the forest preserves near our home. We now do so without any worry what so ever for. As we walk through the valley of darkness we fear no evil, we have Filas at our side. |
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| Mireya, Nick and Puma in Oct 2003 |
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