Kevin said:
We were walking in the town forest in the town next to ours a few years back. As we came down the dirt road on the way back out of the woods, I froze in my tracks. There, crossing the road about a hundred feet in front of us was the biggest coyote I had ever seen. It's coat was beautiful as though it had just been groomed. I thought for a moment, this must be somebody's pet. He stared at us for a moment, then disappeared into the woods without a trace. I thought to myself, "That is the best fed and well groomed coyote in New Hampshire." Then I started thinking, trying to imprint what I had just seen. This was no coyote. It was easily as big as my neighbors German Shepherd. I would guess it had to weigh 75-90 lbs. It was 36-40 inches at the shoulder, and it's head was nearly as big as our 20lb dog.
We like to think it was a wolf, though we have no proof. We never told anyone. No one would believe us.
KDT
I certainly don't doubt what you saw for a minute. In October of 2006 in Jefferson 6 of us saw what in no way could have been a coyote or just a loose dog. It was incredibly barrel chested, larger and thicker than a coyote, and did not have a long narrow snout. It was obviously hunting rodents with a trained skill that no domestic dog could who may have just broken its chain and was on the loose for the day.
Am I correct in the feeling that one of the unique features of growing up in NH (or even VT or ME)is the comfort zone you gain from being around animals that freak out most people? Nose to nose with a big bull moose while walking in thick fog to my bus stop, a bear sleeping in the sand under our porch on hot summer nights, and so on? We raised chickens in the middle of the woods, and mister man, every predator in creation was coming by. Coyotes, raccoons, weasels, hawks, and a great horned owl which flew in through a glass pane window of the coop one winter. My brother had to take him out with a bow, when the Game Warden came the next day he asked "Why didn't you reach in and grab him or shoo him out?" We held up his talons and said "You've got to be kidding me?" He's now on display in a natural life museum in the southern part of the state. My point is, there is inherent risk when predators exist near us, but it is what it is. I now live in a state where anything with pointy teeth is feared and, the feeling is, should be exterminated. As a result there are really no dominant predators at all. Is that right? Case in point, we run a janitorial business, and one late afternoon came in when the manager was leaving, she asked "Did we see IT?" she meant a fox that had been in the parking lot, which we saw often. She said they called animal control who they told her to stay away, its probably rabid. The fox looked stressed, but not ill. There was construction going on on a hillside nearby and I surmised it was being pushed out by all the work. I waited an extra hour and a quarter that night from inside watching the lot from a window, and lo and behold at dusk, I saw her again, this time carrying a kit, she did it three times, and it became evident she was being forced to relocate her den. For the sake of future generations I hope we never lose our touch with the natural arrangement, both human, prey, and predator. That would be a sad day.
I for one, and glad to see the return of the wolf, the cougar, and whatever else should be there naturally. The opposite seems the least desireable option. I know what its like to suffer the loss of livestock and have sympathy for those who do.(I also hunt, 1750's era blackpowder flintlock only). It certainly also causes a heightened sense of awareness when hiking, but again, it is what it is. I think of what life is like for some on other continents, like Africa, or a country like India, where there is an annual and larger loss of human and stock life, where you could be trampled by an elephant, eaten by a tiger or crocodile, or be bitten by a great and vast collection of snakes. Certainly the most chronic offenders are hunted out, yet there is also an acceptance of the order of things too, and we as humans fit in there as well, or at least, I hope that's the way to view it.
