I have a kitchen window that seems to be THE window onto my local wildlife. Yesterday when making breakfast I locked eyes with what thought was a wolf and her youngster, maybe 50 feet away. “ED!” I yelled, and he actually made it in time to see the back end of the younger one as Mama and pup loped into the junipers off to the side.

But Ed convinced me they were just good sized coyotes. (The size of the tail is what threw me) He reminded me that at several Native American dances we’ve attended the men wore coyote tails that were indeed pretty darn big. Then I checked online and no reports of wolves in our county. At any rate, they were a pair of large, healthy coyotes.

I took a photo of their paw prints a little later, and found they trailed a set of deer prints. Apparently there are reports of coyote actually hunting deer, but mostly in areas where deer are slowed down a bit by snow. We did have an inch or 2 of snow a couple weeks ago, but the first New Mexico blazing sunny day took care of that. Just muddy clay soil left, perfect for making animal prints.

I would prefer the coyotes would roam elsewhere, only because of our outdoorsy kitties. We keep them in at night and whenever we’re not on the property, but they are true country cats and go stir crazy being kept inside.

For both days this weekend our family has had things to do in Albuquerque. But since I also found coyote prints just outside the cabin door, I figured for their own good the cats better hang around inside.

Firework, the fluffy one who doesn’t mind eating kitty kibble and napping all day was pretty mellow about it. But athletic Willow stared at me longingly then hopped up and tried to turn the doorknob with her kitty paws. It was kind of endearing, and I found my self explaining to her about the coyotes.

Speaking of local wild life, I still have one lone hummingbird hanging around. All his compadres have moved off to points south, but this little guy seems not to have gotten the memo. My hummingbird feeders froze a few days ago, and once they thawed I was ready to clean them and put them away for spring.

Two days ago, they thawed and I saw this little fellow dipping his beak in for a frosty sip. I told him it was time to move on, but he ignored me.

Do you talk to animals, even when you know they can’t hear or understand you? I grew up with a mom who always communicated with turtles, cats, birds, dogs and even bugs. So I guess it’s an old habit. Comment below and let me know if you share this idiosyncrasy!