When I think of coyotes, the word that comes to mind is not "playful". Maybe I should reconsider after a lady shared a video of a wild coyote really trying to play with her dog.

This happened just a few weeks ago. Here's how it was described on the YouTube share:

A coyote watched from a distance, blocking their path from the woods. When the dog played, the coyote became more animated, and behaved as if wanting to engage. The woman yells "go away" every time the coyote approaches. There is a pattern of approach and retreat, with what looks like play behavior. The woman slowly leaves the area with her dog on a leash. The coyote stops at the main trail and watches as the woman and dog leave.

Here's the dog/coyote encounter from start to finish:

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Is this normal? Not in my world, but I decided to do some research and found some interesting facts about how dogs and coyotes interact. The Bark had some typical coyote and dog interactions. After studying over 35 videos of dogs and coyotes meeting each other, they noticed the following:

Researchers found that members of both species directed playful behavior to members of the other species, leading to play bouts. The play behavior between the two species generally involved chasing behavior with reversals being common.

There's a legend that coyotes try to lure dogs away from their homes so they can attack and kill them. 12 News shared an article last year about how that there really isn't any proof that is a common tactic of coyotes.

There was yet another coyote playing with dog encounter that happened in Washington state, too.

It's yet another example of how we're seeing more wildlife and domestic animal interactions that we didn't see as much before thanks to practically every phone having a camera.

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