Coyote Problems

I have recently found out there are coyotes on my mountain.  I am now very scared to workout on the mountain like I normally do.  It has finally cooled off enough that I could have gotten up early last weekend to run around the mountain, but my fear of coyotes kept me from doing that.  This weekend is no different. I am not ready to face a coyote again, so I don't think I am ready to get back on the mountain this weekend.

Background
This past June when I was running around the mountain I encountered a coyote not that far from me.  I started to panic and freak out internally.  I did my best to keep my cool as I did not know what to do.  Do coyotes attack people?  Should I be afraid of this coyote?  Is it really not that big of a deal?  I really had no idea, so at first I hid behind a large boulder.  Realizing that would not protect me I took off running in the opposite direction and took the long way back down the mountain heading towards home.  Once I got home I filled Andy in on my adventure on the mountain and asked him how a coyote could be on Look Out Mountain which is surrounded by homes.  Of course he laughed at me and said it was probably just a dog that got away from its owner.  I swear I did not see a dog.  He proceeded to laugh at me and so I just let it go.  That was the last time I was able to workout on the mountain.

Up to Date
Andy read an article recently in the news about coyotes in our area for the past few months eating people's pets.  What?  He mistakenly shared this information with me, so I initially started to panic and then I remembered my coyote from back in June.  I started to play the "I told you so" game.  Yup, full force I am singing that song loud and proud.  Andy was not amused, but then again, neither was I.  I started to research coyotes on Look Out Mountain and found it is very common to see a coyote on that mountain even though it is surrounded by homes.  I have just been very lucky to only see the one in the past five years.  I learned that it is more common to spot a coyote at dusk and at dawn.  Well, that just heightened my coyote fear by a ton!  I also learned that they do not attack people unless they are crazy (aka have rabies).  I read up on what to do if I ever see a coyote and apparently my behavior back in June was everything you should NOT do if you see a coyote.  Well, glad I survived that one.

Even though I am now more knowledgeable of coyotes and what to do if I ever do see one, I am still not ready for that 6am run this weekend.  Maybe next weekend I will get back at it...once I become fearless...sort of!