you just might get it.  The photo here is of a coyote pulled from a Quiznos in downtown Chicago.  I guess he stopped in hoping to get a bite to eat.  Strangely enough, in all of the years I lived in Chicago I never once saw a coyote and Chicago is considered to have the highest population of coyotes in the nation.  Apparently there are more than 2,000 of these little guys wandering around waiting for a Quiznos to open.

I will say after moving to Altadena in 1996, I saw plenty coyote roaming about, particularly on trash days.  One evening I pulled into my driveway to find Wile E. Coyote in my yard nom noming on something he pulled from the neighbor’s trash.  Wile E. reluctantly walked away but I knew he would return and return he did to nom nom some more on his prized possession.

In the last couple of years I’ve not seen Wile E. and the gang roaming the streets and wondered where they went.  It was not uncommon for me to meet up with at least six to ten of them roaming the streets in the evening — sometimes in packs.  Unfortunately, I relaxed a bit thinking they all must have traveled to Long Beach where I hear they are having quite a coyote problem and then, one night, there he was.

I pulled into my driveway one evening and saw a rather sad little creature — probably a young pup — walking the streets alone.  He tried to hide from my headlights by stopping behind a neighbor’s hedge.  When he saw I wasn’t moving he ran to the next yard and another hedge.  Nope, wasn’t moving for that either.  Finally he took off running down the street and I watched closely as he moved on.  Whew, that was close.  I’ve heard stories of folks being nipped by coyotes and I didn’t want to meet up with those sharp teeth.

A few days later, another Wile E. Coyote and he looked a bit healthier than the last one but still, not much meat on those bones.  Thankfully, he knew a little something about cars and lights and thought it best to turn the corner and head down another street.

Yes, be careful what you ask for because you just might get it.  The two I saw were nothing like the packs I saw years ago and that might be a good thing.  On the other hand, they look so bad — as in starving — they could be quite dangerous.