we get a lot of coyotes around these parts, even near my house in the burbs. Up in southern Washington where my family owns a place, Bald Eagles roost around the property. Its sad to hear, EMF, that you are scared of birds (I don't handle bees or centipedes very well, so all things being equal) because I've always loved birds. I'm taking ornithology (in addition to environmental science) as my senior science electives next year