Be Prepared to Share Your Crazy Animal Story
I've had numerous encounters with bears, elk, moose, snakes, tarantulas, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep, as well as a few cats. But it was a pack of coyotes at the Trailhead of Seven Falls Trail in Sabino Canyon that had me on the verge of paralysis. The trailhead is north of Tucson at the base of the Santa Catalina Mountains.
It was roughly 5 am when I embarked on the 8-hour there-and-back-again trail. I had just tossed the backpack around my shoulder and walked 50 paces from the car when a pack of six coyotes shot out of the desert brush and started circling me.
If that wasn't bad enough, they started howling at the top of their lungs - all six of them. Imagine someone blasting an air gun 2 inches from your eardrum. I'd never heard coyotes up close, and their combined howls were deafening.
Fortunately, I'd read some information online on how to handle intense animal encounters, including coyotes. The plan was simple enough. I scream at them at the top of my lungs, make massive looming gestures, and pick up rocks and throw them at them.
Four of them ran away. However, two of them were undaunted. They stood their ground, growling at me. It was the kind of canine growl that preceded an attack. I was convinced my time on earth had come.
As a final act of desperation, I stared them down and growled really low (God, I sounded silly). They slowly turned and walked away, as if to say, 'whatever 🙄'.
I spent the next 20 minutes arguing with myself whether to get on the trail or get back in the car. I chose the trail.
What's your crazy animal encounter?