Jennifer Murphy's photos with the keyword: song dog

A terrible shot through the window, but the only one that really shows the beautiful coat on this coyote. The markings make me think it's possibly the bold pup from this summer, but their coats change so much season to season, there's no telling. When I caught this one out of the corner of my eye, I could have sworn someone's dog was out in my pasture, and very close to the mules. Mules naturally hate dogs, and will kill or seriously hurt any that get too close unless they've been raised with them. Even then, they will tolerate their dogs, but not strange ones. Both of my mules were standing not ten feet away, calming staring at the house trying to Jedi mind trick me into bringing out their breakfast. Maybe they lose that aggressive streak as they get older. Fargo is now 20 and Flea is 21. Or maybe they realized that a coyote alone, hunting mice in the long grass, is no real threat.

At first I thought this coyote was one of the pups, but now I'm not sure. This one has been coming in alone; it's half the size of The Beast, and I'm fairly certain it's an adult or perhaps one of last year's pups. And yet another interesting coat color and pattern; much darker and more rust colored than most average coyotes I've seen.

One of two pups belonging to The Beast. The pups are marked almost identically, so it's difficult to tell them apart.

I had spotted this creature twice at a distance, and couldn't understand what I was looking at. Canine, sure...but it was too big to be a coyote, we don't have wolves here, maybe someone was missing a white shepherd type dog? My neighbor soon solved the mystery with his game camera - a blonde coyote, and a big one. I'm not sure which parent it is, but it does have two pups and another adult that it travels with. How do I know? This shot is from my own game camera. I'm obsessed with this contraption! This is the first daytime photo I've captured of The Beast (my affectionate nickname) with the game camera. I've been lucky enough to snap some pictures with my DSLR through the window, and in all of them he/she looks more yellow than white. With the naked eye, it's a nearly white animal. Right now he/she is coming in nightly to eat the windfall mulberries under our tree. They don't bother the mules, and my mother's cat is smart enough to keep her distance. I have run them off in the mornings because I don't want them getting too comfortable and hanging around all day. As much as I love watching these clever song dogs, they are still wild, and comfortable wildlife always means trouble.