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Coyotes in Cambridge

By adamg - 9/11/08 - 11:44 pm

Bill Phillips files this report via e-mail from the wilds of Montana Central Square:

For the last three nights, I have heard the most outlandish noise at some point - it didn't last very long, and I didn't note the time (i think I was - uncharacteristically - in bed each time - pretty drowsy in any case).

The first time I thought it was some very strange sort of dog someone might have been walking very early in the morning.

The second time I thought pretty much the same.

Last night, it was louder and closer, and much more like a series of high-pitched howls, more or less in groups of two (howl ... howl ... longish pause ... repeat), and at first I thought of some sort of large bird - a huge owl? - but it was similar enough to the other nights that I also thought "dog", but strange, which led me to think "coyote".

I looked up coyote howls on the web just now, and am virtually certain that was what it was (a quite weird sound if you care to look it up, btw).

It was quite nearby, could even have been in the side yard of our apartment building.

Coyotes in:
Somerville | Watertown | Allston | The North End | East Boston

Comments

In Brighton too?

By JD - 9/12/08 - 8:37 am

I swear I heard the same thing in Brighton Center the other night (Wed). I didn't know what the heck it was until I heard the audio file posted here. I've never heard anything like it and didn't even think of coyotes as a possibility.

I wonder how many are

By OldProfessorBear - 9/12/08 - 9:06 am

I wonder how many are wandering around these parts ...

At any rate, there were no howls last night. I was actually a bit disappointed.

-Bill Phillips

They live in Mt. Auburn Cemetary

By Biggie_Robs - 9/12/08 - 11:36 am

At least, one pack does.

By no means impossible that

By OldProfessorBear - 9/12/08 - 12:25 pm

By no means impossible that one or more might wander this far (what? 2 miles?) afield.

Noisy critters

By Eighthman - 9/12/08 - 11:38 am

Wouldn't discount coyotes, but facing-off raccoons can make some weird noises too (as I heard in my backyard last year). Curiously, I noted that the Lowell line commuter rail was tooting their horns last night, seemingly at different areas. Either there was someone walking along the tracks, or they were scaring off the coyotes heading back to Medford.

Pretty definitely the same

By OldProfessorBear - 9/12/08 - 12:28 pm

Pretty definitely the same sound I linked above, fairly high-pitched howl dropping a bit.

Are we so inundated with coyotes that they need scaring off? Or did they just not want to squash them on the tracks?

A few weeks back...

By dla - 9/12/08 - 2:11 pm

I took this photo in Mt Auburn Cemetery...

http://bprivett.smugmug.com/gallery/5822697_6NL3w#360956591_yeKLS-L-LB

He was a pretty big coyote, right out in the open in broad daylight. It was surprising to see to say the least.

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