Yeah, they are always near. They always worry me when I think about little kids straying from the house. How many kids disappear and are never found?
In the East and Central US ,the coyotes are way bigger.
On my way thru Indiana to Illinois one day I saw an Irish Setter-sized coyote and it stood there on the berm with no fear of the 4-lane traffic.
It was so tempting to hit him with the Aerostar...……...I hit the horn instead and it just stood there looked at the van coming . Probably should've hit it and took the damage.