Snakes on a Bridge

Shortly before 10:00 last night, #1 son calls, telling me to come down to the park. Oh yeah, and bring some iced tea and a tape measure.

Huh?

Nonetheless, I complied, possibly out of some macabre sense of curiosity. Something told me to also grab the camera. Arriving at the park, I found my son and some of his friends, with a new friend:

Stretched out, the snake honestly reached 72 inches.

I'm not as enthusiastic about this as the fish fishing (with catch and release). If the snake's not bothering me, I'm pretty much inclined to leave him alone.

This evening I had a business dinner in Dallas near Inwood & Forest. On the way home, waiting for the light at the SH 114 service road and Southlake Boulevard at about 9:30, I looked over to the grassy area between the frontage road and the highway below to see a tall, skinny dog.

Hey, that's not a dog, it's a coyote. And there's another one!

I rolled down the window and whistled at them, only about 6-7 feet from my car. They paid no mind, and scampered behind the car and across the service road toward one of the medical plaza buildings. I would've taken a picture, but my cellphone camera doesn't have a flash and my digital was at home.

As the light turned green for my turn lane, I had to move on. Though not a wildlife biologist, I'm told coyotes are monogamous. Maybe it's anthromorphism, the Joe Nichols song that was playing, or I'm just getting soft in my old age, but I felt a bit sad thinking of them being so close to civilization, and the likelihood that one or both would be run over, shot, or captured.

I hope they got away...