When the sun goes to bed,
the howling hordes raise their heads.
They call to each other across the valley,
as the sun paints portraits in the sky.
Woe to the creatures in the failing light,
the Lords of The Holler rule the night.
Howling.
Alert now, and watching.
Commencing the hunt.
At night at The Holler,
be cautious.
The shadows are alive.
Note: These night photos of Canis latrans were taken with a motion activated, night-vision camera.
I think we were looking at the same sunset at the same time…both with a camera in our hands! Love the moon shot and those coyotes look spooky with the white eyes on the night camera!
Yep. We live comparitively close to each other I think……if you can call The Holler close to anything!! I think you live in SD proper and we live in the rural, unicorporated, improper part!! lol!
Fantastic photos. I like the juxtaposition of the warm sunset colors and the black and white night-vision shots.
Thank you. Coyotes are so mysterious because their rather violent predation occurs at night. It is interesting to us, to see what they actually are doing, rather than just hear it.
Hauntingly beautiful. 😀
I am so glad. Thank you~
Beautiful images of the sky!
The images of the the coyotes – look Halloweenish – I LIKE 🙂
They are fascinating and intimidating wild creatures.
Wonderful set of images–each has its own story to share.
Such creatures of night and mystery and so hated. Like wolves I guess~
Love those images 🙂
So glad and appreciative~
Really nice shots, Cindy. And great story-telling!
Thank you my friend. You know how much I value your opinion. I’ve been looking at your photos for over a year now!
Has it really been more than a year? Time really flies!
Only when you’re having fun…….
Sweetened the words with the well-captured-and-positioned pics.
Ahhh. So nice~
Truly!
Cindy, the coyotes are savagely beautiful and the post is so perfectly poetic, I am thrilled with this. Thank you for sharing, your pictures are awe inspiring. Wow!
Savage beauty is exactly it! Coyote are wild animals that survive our human jungles and that is the ultimate poetry to me. Cheers to you~
I can hear the howling of those coyotes at the moon all the way down here. My goodness, they are a loud bunch of critters.
Oh yes indeed!! They move through the valleys in circuits, whooping over their kills. They serve a function, controlling the rodent populations. They are loud and mysterious creatures of the night.
Love the writng as much as the shots.
Awww. Very kind~
Let stunning sunsets lead to the story of the Night Terrors, how clever!
They are rather terrifying and it took me quite awhile to get accoustomed to them. The night is definitely theirs~
Wow! I love the night visions of coyotes! We saw one in the daytime the other day – that was scary enough. 🙂
Yes. They are so silent and have such keen hearing and sense of smell. They know you are there long before you do. Your dog should know when they come close though and they will usually alert you~
What a bedtime story, Cuz. How close to your house do these night prowlers come? Loved the sunset pics.
Paul
Close my friend. Very close. Quite frankly when we first moved in I was freaked out. I would get up in the middle of the night and walk to the kitchen for a glass of water and find one pressed against the french doors looking at me. I banged the door so hard with my hand, I nearly broke the glass. The ones that get kicked out of the pack, came right up to us, starving and desperate. Our first real job here was building a coyote proof fence around the acres near our house. They kill right up to the fence now and that is where the night camera is. They only breeched the fence once, when we first built it, and I found fur, skin and a bit of blood that snagged on the fence. The fence is over 6 feet and coyotes aren’t supposed to breach more than 5 1/2 feet. They have never jumped it since. Smart buggers~
Stunning images!
Unusual place to say the least! Thank you~
Tolle Fotos wünsche ein schönes glückliches weekend.Lieber Gruß Gislinde
Ich bin so froh, dass du wie Sie! Dann mein Freund!
Outstanding pictures ,they reflect the reaction of the images.Thank you Cindy for liking my post ( Kings…) Enjoy your weekend.Jalal
And you too Jalal! Mil grazi~
Amazing photographs,Cindy.
Remarkable place out here!! Thank you Ranu and happy weekend my friend~
Woe to the creatures in the failing light,
the Lords of The Holler rule the night…………….. neat picturization
with regards
Very kind! Thank you~
Scary, scary… I am wondering you can add a strobe light to go off with the night camera as well. That might be cool.
Yes! That is an excellent idea! I would love to see the effect on the coyotes!
WOW…that is all I can say right now!!! alright, I’ll add the photos are fabulous… 🙂
You’re just nice! Cheers to you~
Suhweet Lords of the Holler pics!!! I love all of them!! Happy wonderful Friday!! Hugz!!
Hugz back to you and happy Friday!
Your photos are stunning as ever…
So appreciated!
Beautiful sunset and night images; and scary images too, although the critters aren’t trying to scare us I know.
No they are just surviving, when most wild creatures are dying out.
They look to be in good condition. Is that so, do you think?
Oh yes! Thick healthy coats, no visible parasites, very active, very healthy. They must be evolutionary marvels of adaptation and survival~
Night terrors, indeed! Wow, I may have night mares. Great photos.
Sometimes the pack howls do enter into my dreams. Not often now, but more when we first moved here!
Cindy, I finally did a drawing from your photo. Ascuns — Hidden Thank you —- Bear
http://bearspawprint.wordpress.com/2013/08/10/ascuns-hidden/ the link didn’t post as a link, sorry
I am in awe of your talent and your compassion! Thank you for giving the voiceless dignity through your talented art! Hugs and admiration!
Thank you for sharing your photos and awareness.—– p.s. a few days ago I thought I saw the back 1/3 of a wet grey fox, with sorta long legs, but now, after viewing your photos, I think he was a coyote. They have been spotted around here, and we occasionally hear them. I was not looking for any coyotes so close (to me). Armadillos already tear up everything …. Your illustrated poem is amazing!
You are very kind. It is exciting to spot wildlife and a fox would be particularly so! Cheers to you and gratitude for your kindness!
1 word HW – WOW!
2 words- So kind! 🙂
All of your captures are wonderful. .. But the sunset ones took my breath away!
That makes me so happy! Merci beau coup!
“The Shadows Are Alive” – sounds like a good book!
Scary one huh!
Stay inside, stay alert, stay safe and lock the barn.
Don’t let the horse out, or the coyotes in!!! Yesterday our neighbor (what passes for a neighbor at The Holler) shot a 54 inch southern pacific rattler that was sunning by his pool. It is the rattlesnakes that inspire my repulsion. It’s a laugh a minute out here~
Wow! I haven’t been to the creek yet today. Working on the co-op veggies making, veggie stock, sauce base and soup. But I will have to get out there and mow the jungle maybe around 5 or 6pm. I read some where that the ‘Dog Days of Summer’ are over. It seems you’ve got ’em all year round with your ‘pack’. I hope you don’t have scorpions running a muck too. I watched a show once where a homeowner had a scorpion invasion. Spent quite a bit to make the house safe. But being a realtor…she pretty much is stuck with the place and it’s monthly extermination expense as she can’t sell it. The only real hope is to pretty much bulldoze everything and start from scratch. At least you can see the coyotes have learned not to climb your fence. We had a dog once – large enough – 50 pounds about – four foot fence didn’t mean anything. Be careful they don’t burrow under.
Thanks for your visits.
Yes the scorpions and black widow spiders are thankfully history. They are so creepy!! The coyotes can’t burrow under the fence because I designed our fence with 12 inches of heavey gage, small apeture, chicken wire under ground to keep out the rattlers mainly. The coyotes have tried, but given up digging under it. They could if they really wanted to, but I don’t give them anything to come after inside the fence~
Just a wonderful integration of word and image, Cindy.
Oh so nice! Thank you~
Gorgeous photos!! =)
Mil grazi!
Your words bring these fantastic photos to life with a special edge, the mysteries of the night! The thrill of the night and the call of the hunt resound within this post, and the motion photos of the Coyotes only adds further night chills and beauty to the wildness of the Holler night 🙂 Awesome!!
You are such a peach! Thank you! Now you see why I want you and Wolfie to come and visit! Check out this video of wolf v coyote in Yellowstone. Incredible~
We saw a wolf pack in Yellowstone a year ago, carry out a prolonged attack against a large herd of elk. The elk tried to shelter in The Yellowstone River. It was one of the most thrilling wildlife scenes I have ever wittnessed. I posted about it. The wolves were decimated in Yellostone but now they have been reintroduced. They used to sing me to sleep as a child. Wolves and coyotes share some common DNA, but they do not like each other.
Gorgeous. I love how their eyes light up. They’re very spooky landscape pictures, too!
Liebste Cindy das sind super Aufnahmen vom Sonnenuntergang tolle Bilder einfach schön einen guten Start in die neue Woche wünscht dir Klaus
Ich danke Ihnen fur Ihre freundlichen Worte! Danke~
Cindy, I’m fascinated by the idea of playing with a night camera and not only loved your photos but enjoyed all the comments. I pinned a couple of your sunsets and moon (with credit to you) because they really moved me.
Oh I am honored and most grateful! Thank you~ And, yes these night vision cameras always yield interesting animals which is quite fun to see! Cheers to you~
Great shots! Impressive as usual. I grew up out in the country and went to sleep many nights with my window open listening to coyotes. Thanks for the memories!
Oh yes than you know what it is like here! One becomes very accoustomed to it!! So glad you enjoyed the post~
Spectacular sunset photos! The glowing eyes on the coyotes remind me of devil dogs I’ve seen in movies, lol. I’m glad it was the motion cameras that took the photos this time and not you!
Yes it would be a scary to be out there when the packs are hunting!!
Love those night photos of the coyotes. We hear them howling often behind our houses, all the yipping and hooting and howls–sounds like they are having an orgy, or really ripping into a kill, and I always wonder what they are doing, and how many there are. Maybe they are just ‘singing” their joy at living. Wish I had a night camera see!
So you know what it’s like! You can get a night vision camera for under $100 through National Geographic Store online or at your local outfitters store like Bass Pro Shop. It can be set for movies or stills. This way you will know what they are doing!! 🙂 Cheers to you~
Fantastic Post, Cindy! These Night Vision shots are fascinating. Ghostly even.
They hunt in silence then howl their heads off, are they howls of celebration do you suppose?
We hear these critters all the time from their hang outs up on Burke Mountain.
Coyotes can be such pesky chatter boxes on some nights. I feel as if I am being taunted. “HAHAHA! He actually thinks he’s going to get some sleep tonight?” What sets them off, I wonder?
I am not an expert but I do notice that they call to each other after the sun goes down in some form of apparent conservation. The hysterical yapping, howling, baying is clearly when a kill has been made, and it does seem like celebration in a sort of hysterical way, kinda like teenyboppers at a bad concert!! Maybe similar IQ’s are operating!! lol!
Pawsome pics 🙂
I bet the coyotes would find themselves to be quite handsome! LOL~
It’s very Hope Indian to me–this post. You have told everything in your pictures–your “cave drawings”…day into dusk…I’d love to see this start at dawn!! (but know you are a late riser…:)
whoops–Hopi Indian–sorry about that typo..
You remember things don’t you!!! I can completely see the coyotes as ancient cave drawings! You paint pictures with words ma deah~
Wonderful animals and very stunning photos Cindy 🙂 !
So happy you liked them and mil grazi!