Coyotes are wild animals

Today we were driving our car on SW Multnomah Blvd and I saw a real coyote. Dad said that people have been feeding coyotes and that's bad. It's the same with all wild animals. You should never touch them or feed them or they will get used to coming to people for food. They could then hurt people or the pets. If one came near me, I would say "Dude, go away!" so he wouldn't get used to me. If they come near people, then wildlife officers might have to kill them. Here is a picture my mom took of a coyote that went through our backyard earlier this year.

For more information about coyotes in the city, check out http://audubonportland.org/backyardwildlife/brochures/coyote/urbancoyotes

Tryon Creek and Searching for Steelhead

On New Year's Day, we went to Tryon Creek to see the creek and try out my new binoculars that my friend Jack gave me for Christmas.

The water was running really fast. My dad told me that salmon and steelhead needed slow water to lay eggs, and I asked what steelhead were. Steelhead are a kind of trout, but they go to the Ocean like a salmon. Rainbow Trout stay in the fresh water. He said after this hike we could go try to see some steelhead where they fish for them. We didn't see many birds in the forest or animals in the creek. It was very cold and the ground was frozen. There were some frozen tracks in mud next to the creek- maybe coyote tracks. We had some hot chocolate.

Then we picked up my grandpa and went to Meldrum Bar to look for steelhead. Meldrum bar is where the Clackamas River goes into the Willamette river.

There were lots of fishermen but no steelhead were biting. You never know when they are going to bite. You think they might, but they are sneaky and will swim past the hook and pretend not to notice it. Animals can be sneaky so they can get away and last longer. Good day for the steelhead; bad day for the fisherman. For more information about steelhead, go to: http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/pr/species/fish/steelheadtrout.htm