Coyotes demonstrate we all need an ability to adapt to change

Have you ever heard coyotes howling? Well, I have.

My niece in suburban Denver took an amazing video of a mother coyote with five young pups strolling along the walkway behind her house in her backyard. Her house butts up against a wooded area. I suppose that's where they live!

A bit scary because this was on the walking path where she usually walks her two little dogs. She now walks them in the front of the house!

A couple days later she sent a video of coyotes yelping and howling from the woods, very loud and wild. Certainly it was those five pups romping and playing and chasing around. Yipes. She said they do it day and night, loud enough to wake her up.

Well, I have coyotes around here, too, although I've never seen a pack of young pups. But long ago I started carrying a stick and a whistle when out in the yard. I also have a big wooded area nearby and often see coyotes sauntering down the street in front of my house, or looking around my backyard.

After all, suburban growth has been steadily encroaching on wildlife habitat, displacing deer, coyotes and others. My neighborhood is not new but there is plenty of new residential construction out west of here - so many animals are moving in closer and closer, adapting to safer old suburban neighborhood living.

Sometimes I wonder what Baheej would think of all the changes in the areas west of here. He probably knows, and is amused by my defensive tactics with whistle and walking stick. But he would understand; we need to adapt, too!

I often wonder about many things. What would Baheej think of my kitties who were born two weeks after he died. I think he would love them.

I wonder what he would think of our Fourth of July parade, which is still fun but has devolved into fire trucks, red wagons and lawn mowers, and bikes - instead of horses and floats and tons of marching bands. Or the changes in weather. Things change.

It's nice the veterans still march with flags and the firetrucks are still part of our local parade. Candy is still thrown to the kids, and water guns are still squirting the bystanders.

The point is: Baheej embraced change as needed. He believed "the ability to adapt" is the definition of intelligence.

Just as the deer and coyotes can adapt, so can we. And we do. Enjoy the summer!

• Susan Anderson-Khleif of Sleepy Hollow has a doctorate in family sociology from Harvard, taught at Wellesley College and is a retired Motorola executive. Contact her at sakhleif@comcast.net or see her blog longtermgrief.tumblr.com. See previous columns at www.dailyherald.com/topics/Anderson-Kleif-Susan.