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Fourth observation in five days of the same individual in the same location. I am starting to think that it's a "she" with a den nearby. All encounters have happened within a radius of about 100 m. The coyote follows us, but does not pursue after we leave the immediate area. So defensive rather than predatory?

This encounter with one coyote lasted from approximately 5:45 to 6:10 am along a path in Hyland Lake Park Reserve. I was walking with my 15-pound dog on a leash and a coyote crossed the path in front of us. It sat in a field and barked back to my dog. I howl at home with my dog, so I howled to the coyote, and it howled back. We continued on our way down the path from east to west and it followed us for about 3/4 of a mile, until we came to another path very nearby a road. It followed a distance that would sometimes make me uncomfortable. When I was uncomfortable, I would lunge at it, and it would go into the woods but continue to flank us from the side/rear then would come back out on the path. At one point I saw it squat, which led me to believe it was a female but I'm not sure if male coyotes lift their legs like dogs do. I took four videos of the coyote and captured these stills from the videos for the iNaturalist site. An unforgettable experience!

Trailcam image; video 1; video 2

Traveling north. Appears to be the same female photographed with several trailcam placements along this particular drainage since November 2019.

This is the first time she has appeared with youngsters, however. More evidence of a healthy breeding population in the Wildcat Hills.