Darkness of night

by Ryan
(London, Ontario, Canada)

Late last night (March 14, 2012), around 1:30am I was doing the usual; letting my small she-poo out for a bathroom break. Seeing as how I live in a condominium complex I didn't have her on a leash as she just goes feet outside our gate; into the common area.

Just before she was finished I lit a cigarette, as I was taking a drag I noticed in the slightly lit common area, a large shape moving that caught my eye. As I was trying to focus, I realized that it was what appeared to be a grey and white dog similar looking to a German Shepherd walking around with no owner in sight.

Since I live in a condo I thought this very odd, that is until I looked a little closer as the animal entered under a lit area on a path behind our house. COYOTE!!!!!!

I immediately rushed the dog back into the backyard and into the house.

Now most people would ask "How did you know for sure?", well I can say, based on size, color, time of night and it's overall searching behavior that this was no dog just running loose. Besides, we have about one of the only last stands of actual wood lot in the city of London, no more than a couple hundred meters across the road from my complex.

Hopefully it won't want to return, as there are a lot of small children and dogs that live here, it could be a serious issue if these two collide.