Ears and eyes

Shyla and I are racing out each morning, trying to catch the magic sunrise light while it's still at an hour that I can handle.

She has a favorite boulder. The odd thing is that it's one of the only boulders that K never stood on. So, this one is "Shyla's Boulder". 

This year, I've learned that the sunrise light hits this boulder around the winter solstice and then again around the spring equinox. It was cold and windy this morning, so we both sought sunny spots.

Shyla woke up in the middle of the night pawing at one ear. She wasn't her usual bundle of energy this morning...

Indeed, a trip to the vet told us that she had an ear infection. She was a superstar - so very courageous - at the vet, giving everyone kisses who came near her!

My vet mentioned again how happy she was that Shyla is spayed now. Apparently, many bitches around here go into heat at about the spring equinox (March 21).

I'm glad that Shyla never went into heat in the midst of the coyotes who live all around us. Here's a goofball youngster playing  for the camera in our clearing.

And, here's an adult who I believe has something wrong with his left eye. Notice the lack of eye shine in it.

Here is the same adult, with his right eye showing. It does have eye shine.

I believe that I've captured photos of this same individual near our house. Look at how little eye shine he has even in a bright white camera flash.

By contrast, here's a youngster with very shiny eyes.

Long time readers might remember that our alpha male coyote had a wound near his left eye last winter. It looked serious and perhaps infected. I wonder if he lost the sight in that eye, and now we are seeing his dull eye in my photos.

I think that he also lost his alpha status in our coyote pack. Last year, he always traveled right next to a female, and I believed that they were the breeding pair in our coyote pack. Only one pair per pack breeds, and the other coyotes help raise the pups. I'm betting that there's a new alpha male, and our coyote with the damaged eye is now a "helper".

As for my health, I found out the hospital's computer system crashed badly last week, and they do not know when it will be fixed (but it won't be soon). I'm quitting worrying about the biopsy (because the pathology report is lost in the computer someplace). There's no point in ruining perfectly good days over something out of my control.