Canis Latrans

“Oh where, oh where has my little dog gone? Oh where, oh where can he be? With his ears cut short and his tail cut long. Oh where, oh where can he be?”

One summer night a few years ago I was jolted out of a sound sleep by loud screaming in the back yard. It took several moments for my brain to engage, but when it did I recognized the sound as that of a rabbit that had become fatally trapped in the jaws of a coyote. The sound was identical to the sound made by the predator calls that I use for hunting coyotes.

Since I moved to Rochester Hills, a northerly Detroit suburb 16 years ago, I have seen just about every kind of wild animal that used to live in the wild. Now it seems they live in my neighborhood.

It’s quite normal to see as many as 10 deer in our yard at one time, day or night. We’ve pretty much given up planting flowers. We haven’t found any yet the deer won’t eat. We’ve seen bucks fighting over does and does giving birth. One fawn was born right next to our patio. They are so common that Jake (our dog) completely ignores them. And they ignore us when we try to shoo them away.

Part of the animal problem is the “green belts” that exist in place of fences between the houses. These “mini-forests” make great places for the animals to live. They are virtually infested with deer, squirrels, rabbits, woodchucks, raccoons, opossums, skunks, chipmunks, hawks, owls, and who knows what else. So far, the only critters I haven’t seen in our yard are black bear, bobcat, wolf, and coyote. But, I may have to scratch coyote off that list before long.

A big part of the problem is the misguided neighbor that feeds wild animals “cause they look hungry”. Why should an animal scrounge around in the woods looking for food like they’ve been doing for millions of years when they can just go to someone’s back porch and get all they want. Before long, instead of one squirrel outside your window you’ll have twenty of them demanding a meal. Most of these will have been born within 200 feet of this neighborhood restaurant. Folks like this should be publicly flogged, or at least educated.

There is one animal that benefits greatly from this nouveau hodge-podge of critteria in the neighborhood. Mr. Coyote has come to town and brought his family with him. Why should he work hard in the wild to catch the occasional animal to eat when he has a smorgasbord to choose from in our backyards?

The coyote (Canis Latrans) is a fascinating creature. It’s highly intelligent, clever, resourceful, and adaptable. Nose to end of tail, the average size is about 3 ½ to 4 feet in length for an adult and will weigh 25-45 lbs. They are supreme opportunists and will eat anything from mice to deer to carrion. Coyotes can be found almost anywhere in North America. Because they are nocturnal and so elusive, you may never actually see one in your neighborhood, but if you know what to look for you’ll know they’ve been around.

Occasionally after a fresh snow I’ll see coyote tracks where they’ve wandered through my yard on their nightly forays. While raking out the greenbelts around my yard I’ve found the remains of small animals and the telltale coyote scat (feces).

One day last fall my next-door neighbor told me he saw a wolf trotting across the back of his yard with a rabbit or something in it’s mouth. Knowing his idea of spending an afternoon in the great outdoors was going to a baseball game, I knew he had no idea what he was talking about. The nearest wolf was probably 200 miles north of us. I asked him if perhaps it could have been a fox. He said no, he had seen a fox at the zoo and this was much larger. Besides the fox he saw was reddish colored and this was kind of a gray/tan color with a long bushy tail. What he described to me was a large healthy coyote.

In most suburban areas hunting is not allowed within the city limits. Because of that there is nothing to keep the coyotes in check. With the abundance of small animals around they prosper in this type of environment. They also provide a service by keeping the small animals from overpopulating. But, they’ve also developed a taste for domestic animals as well.

Not long ago there was a story on the local evening news about a woman whose small dog was snatched by a coyote. As usual each evening she let her dog out to do his business while she stood at the door and watched him. The dog became agitated and began to bark at something in the bushes. When the dog darted in to investigate the lady heard one loud yelp and then silence. She got her flashlight and went looking for him. There was no trace of her little dog to be found.

In the spring when the coyotes have lots of little mouths to feed they become especially active in their hunting. One of their favorite prey is the deer fawn. It is easy to catch and provides a substantial meal for their family.

The coyote is here to stay and caution should be observed when letting pets out at night. Even a large dog can easily be taken down by a pack of coyotes and smaller pets are just a quick snack.

We’ve all seen those signs tacked to utility poles offering a $25.00 reward for finding their Fluffy the dog or Boots the cat. As sad as it may be, if they’ve been missing for more than a day a car has probably hit them or they are now just a hairball in some coyotes scat pile out in the woods.

The Z Lives!

In 1969 Datsun (later Nissan) brought the 240Z to our shores. Less than a year later demand for this little sports car was so high that even used ones were selling for more that the stickers on the new ones. Since then the Z’s have worked their way into our hearts and into racing legend.

I was in love with that first Z car and have been fascinated by the evolution it has gone through over the last 40 years. I couldn’t begin to mention all of the stages of that evolution or the accomplishments it has achieved, so I’ll just fast forward to the latest offering.

The Nissan 370Z is the 4th generation Z and it’s what’s new for 2009. Under the bonnet is a 3.7-liter V6 with 332 H.P. and 270 lbs of low-end grunt. To quote Kramer, “That’s a lot of giddy-up”! Even without all that growl it looks like “sex on wheels”!

It’s also got some cool stuff going on with the tranny. According to Nissan’s hyperbole it’s got the “World’s first SynchroRev Match manual transmission technology, available on the Sport Package, monitors the 6 speed’s clutch pedal operation, shift lever movement, and vehicle speed. Shifting to a lower gear automatically “blips” the throttle to the ideal engine rpm for a smooth downshift. Smoother shifts help keep the chassis balanced, meaning this transmission delivers handling and power.”

Anyone that’s ever done some slalom racing and downshifted a gear too low going into a tight turn can appreciate that. Not only can the mis-shift slow you down too much, it can throw off your concentration trying to regain a productive balance between engine, transmission, speed, and handling. It can also be pretty hard on the car.

I confess I want one. I want one real bad. If I go to test-drive one I will have to take my wife, Christine with me. She knows I will be like a 4 year old in a candy store. She will remind me of the last time I tried it on my own and came home with a new sports car.

It wasn’t totally my fault though. The dealer had it parked out on the grass in front of the store knowing some fool like me would drive by and become void of any ability to resist. I was just driving by, minding my own business when I spotted it. I swear, it called to me like a siren of the deep. I stopped, jumped out of my car and walked briskly over to it. After inspecting it for a full 3 or 4 seconds, I wiped the drool off my chin, put on my toughest negotiator look and walked nonchalantly into the dealership. The salesman had been watching me. He already knew the questions and had the answers.

“May I help you, sir”, said the spider to the fly. But, I tricked him. I had no questions. Not wanting to look eager I just smiled and gazed intently at the ugly sedan parked in the showroom. He persisted, “You really like that MX-5 parked out front don’t you? You know we’ve only got two of those M-Editions and we won’t be getting anymore. I expect both will be gone by 5:00 p.m. today.”

I was trapped! Mustering all my strength, I said, “I’ll take it! Right now”! “But, don’t you want to take it for a test drive? Don’t you want to know how much it cost”? he said with a sly grin on his face. “No” I said. “I want to buy it right now and drive it home”! I thrust my Amex card into his hand and before I knew it I was power-shifting down the road with the wind in my hair and bugs in my teeth. At last, I was BMOC!

Once I got it safely into the garage, I quickly set up rules for the family to observe. For Christine the rules stated she might drive it, but only on sunny dry days and never on a gravel road. If she took it to the mall, it had to be parked at least 100 feet away from any other cars.

For my teenage sons the list was a bit longer. It went; don’t ask if you can drive it, don’t sit in it, in fact just stay out of the garage unless you have a good reason to be there. But, the most hated was the “3-foot rule”. If you have to walk through the garage, stay at least 3 feet away from the car. With their backpacks, hockey sticks, and other things they might accidentally scratch it. Our youngest son, David, came to hate the car.

I sold it almost ten years later, sight unseen, to some guy out in Las Vegas. When it was backed off the truck the guy couldn’t believe his eyes. It was immaculate. You could have parked it in a showroom and people would have mistaken it for a new vehicle. With only 37k on the odometer and at least 50 coats of wax on the paint it literally sparkled. The guy called me at midnight to tell me he was just ecstatic with it. I had successfully passed the curse on to someone else.

Back to the Z. I do digress, don’t I? The new 370Z can be had for a paltry $30k for the base model and about $38k for the gussied-up model. That’s a lot of bang for the buck these days. It ain’t gonna beat a Lambo, Ferrari, Vette Z06, or a Viper in the straight-away, but it won’t limp home in shame either.