Dear editor:

As far as coyote encounters go, the one I had in my backyard literally beat the odds.

Gus, my 14-pound, 13-year-old wonder dog, ventured into the dense hydrangea garden in my backyard.

Seconds later, a coyote popped out of the garden with Gus in hot pursuit. The coyote ran down a dead-end walk at the side of the house, with Gus on his tail, followed by me screaming my head off. I was sure Gus was a goner.

I caught up to them at the end of the walkway, scooped Gus up (he wasn’t the least bit afraid), and the terrified coyote bolted passed both of us and disappeared into the garden.

I was afraid he might still be lingering somewhere so called Niagara Animal Control. The young woman who came couldn’t have been kinder or more thorough. She checked every part of the property and declared the coyote gone.

My garden is well fenced, so the mystery is how the coyote got in and how he left. And the lingering fear was, would he be back?

No, she told me, once they have a human encounter, they won’t return. I hope she’s right …

Nancy Smith
Old Town