Coyotes in the Northtowns
Today I left work at lunch to head home for an afternoon appointment. As I was traveling west on the 290, I passed the Paddock Chevrolet golf dome. Just to the west of it is a driving range, followed by a small knoll that runs parallel to the 290 for a couple hundred yards. Much to my surprise, today I saw a decent sized coyote walking the length of the knoll! He was about 3/4s of the way to the top and had a bushy tale. As he walked, his front paw broke through the snow, but he seemed completely unconcerned about the passing traffic.
It surprised me quite a bit to see him in this area, but this isn’t the first time I’ve seen one in the Northtowns - the day before Valentine’s Day this year, I was arriving to work at the north campus at the University of Buffalo, just prior to 8:30 (I was actually on time that day!). The end of my route to work ends with the 990 UB exit, which runs into the outer traffic loop surrounding the campus. Where the two roads meet is a small triangular bowl, formed by the outer loop and the entrance and exit to the 990. Much to my surprise that day, a very big coyote was making his way through the area. I’ve seen plenty of deer & turkey in the area, so it made sense there’d be a coyote, but it was still hard to believe one would be so close to campus. I was going pretty slow around the entrance and was able to get a very good look at the coyote, but had there been no one behind me, I would have stopped to see where he went.