Pepe’s wild side

The coyote (Canis latrans), also known as the American jackal

The Pepe (Canis Pepes), also known as Malibuan Pomeranian

I’ve heard horror stories from pet owners in Malibu about encounters with coyotes: From little dogs getting attacked by aggressive packs of coyotes in the mountains behind Big Rock to chickens being snatched from properties on Point Dume. A particular gruesome story -which I dont know how much is local legend and how much is true- involves a deer that somehow managed to get itself stuck in a gate on a property on Morning View by Zuma beach. The deer had apparently spent the night with its entire head almost through the bars on the gate while its body stuck out. When the property owner found it in the morning he realized the deer’s back side had been partly chewed off by coyotes during the night while the animal was still alive. When I used to live in Pt. Dume, I would occasionally hear “feedings”: Pack of coyotes that had picked off a small domestic animal. I’ve only had one close encounter with a coyote. It was scary but actually quite magical. A few months ago, I decided to go on a full moon walk in Malibu Canyon at about 11 pm. It was a beautiful night, the moon was bright enough that I could see everything around me pretty well. As I walked into the canyon I started hearing sounds that I had never heard on previous daytime hikes: insects, leaves rusting, underbrush movement. The Canyon was alive! About a mile into the hike I saw a shape right on the trail about fifty feet in front of me. It was a coyote. We stared at each other for about five minutes without moving. I didn’t know what to do, whether I should start running, praying or stay still. After the impasse, I decided to calmly walk back along the trail and get the hell out of the canyon. The coyote jumped into the brush, rushed past me and came out back on the trail in front of me. It kept walking in front of me as long as I moved and would stop if I stopped. It escorted me all the way out of the trail and quickly ran away. I took the experience to mean that the coyote decided to protect the naive human and graciously took time from his full moon extravaganza to make sure I got out of there OK. I love the fact that all this can happen just 30 minutes away form downtown Santa Monica.

Pepe loves to hike. It might be that going into the mountains for a little while allows him to connect with his wild side. We’ll keep hiking… As long as it’s during the day. Coyotes beware!

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