It's nice to see.  Otis goes into an almost hibernation-like state.  He does
a lot of yawning and moving around slowly and curling up in a cat disc.
Except yesterday, when the boredom finally overcame him.  He spent a good
few hours running around looking slightly alarmed as if he were being
stalked.  It was pretty entertaining and ultimately futile ...  so he curled
back up and went back to sleep.  Chester is as unpreturbed as usual.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Yes, but in June you get to say "Nyah nyah nyah" to almost all of us. :)

Joyce

Yes - you can top that!  I do love the light in the summer though :-)  I'm a
big fan of winter too though.

The coyotoes come closer in the winter.  In the summer, we periodically hear
them in the wee hours, 2 - 3 AM, since its light past 10 PM and there are
tons of people around in the park.  They don't come up until late late at
night.  We have a 6 foot chain link fence all around the neighbourhood and
they're not so motivated that they try to break in.  There are jack rabbits
and all kinds of wildlife everywhere in the park (and in our neighbourhood -
cute till they eat your plants) so they are not desperate in the summer like
they seem to get in the winter.  That's why we are fanatical about getting
the boys in before dusk in the summer - we get them good and hungry and then
feed them inside at dusk.  They'd rather be out on those warm summer nights
but its obviously a very stupid idea to be out there - Otis still climbs the
window screens to express his displeasure though.  So, our cats have lived
for 10 years here ok - they don't go out in the park either and always come
from the neighbourhood when we call.  Our neighbours around the corner each
have cats close to 20 who've stayed close to home as well.

My parents neighbours kicked their cats out at night and didn't spend much
time with them to socialize them - the last one particularly broke
everyone's hearts.  He was a gorgeous Siamese called Willow who visited
everyone's houses and adopted another family part time around the corner.
He just didn't get enough human attention and bonding and was partly wild.
He used to go out into the park hunting all the time - we'd see him way out
in the park a mile away from his home and in the open.  One night he never
came home.  The adoptive family was heartbroken.  The original family was
clueless.  They've opted for a dog now instead, which is a very good thing.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

I guess there are a bunch of reasons to open the window:

First, its a popular walking path so the first thought was to make sure that
everyone was ok - lots of people walk small dogs through there or have their
dogs off leash.

It's irrestible when you hear it.  Wild animals *right there* and a really
primal sound.

We couldn't actually pinpoint where the noise was coming from
without opening the window too and we really wanted to know where they were.
They *sounded* like they might be in the backyard next door so we needed to
know if there was a fence problem.  We could hear them fade away as they ran
off down the path though.

And yes, I like to scare the sh&t out of the cats
with the sounds of coyotes in the park to reinforce the idea of danger with
park wandering.  It scares them (they hid in my own house) which is a very
good thing.  They just don't go out in the park and that is good.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Me, too, although I don't think I've ever heard it in person. I've heard
it in films and on TV, though, and think the sound is haunting and
evocative. Of course, if they were almost outside my door and salivating
for my cats, the sound might evoke something other than the romance of
nighttime on the desert.

Joyce

I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  Our neighbourhood borders a huge
natural park that runs west directly into the mountains.  Through the land
runs a river so the area becomes a wildlife corridor.  We live in a city of
1,000,000 people but have coyotes, deer, jack rabbits, skunk, racoon, and
the odd black bear.  I really noticed the difference between here and
Switzerland, where we saw about three different kinds of birds.  The
weaselhead area, which we border, www.weaselhead.org boasts an astonishing
number of species of birds, animals, plant life and insects.  Lots more
biodiversity here since there haven't been hundreds and hundreds of years of
people here.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Or perhaps *several* fewer chickens killed! :-/

Joyce

While I admire the coyotes to survive through all four seasons here and I
love all animals, I can't say I haven't felt the same way about coyotes as
you do about foxes.  I practically won't kill a mosquito but could be driven
to be quite violent where my cats are concerned.

Susan M
Otis and Chester

Kayla does that when something spooks her.  We've had hawks circling near
the playground lately and she does the whole crouch and raised hackles think
when they are overhead.  Its freaky to see my baby turn into something that
very nearly resembles a white and black wolf.

Jo

LOL, you've pretty much described Susan's Otis when he is in that mood.