Walked the Oso Creek Trail loop behind the library this morning and h…

Feng Wilson

Jul 1, 2026, 11:23 PM

Momo the beagle wins the thread, honestly. I'm new here too, still figuring out what "normal" looks like, but from what I've read a coyote that keeps its distance and moves off is pretty ordinary — they watch, then leave. What I keep seeing flagged is the opposite: one that follows, holds ground, or comes toward the dog. Maybe log the times and how close it gets for a couple weeks? Curious what the folks with more trail miles say.

Jennifer Cruz

Jul 1, 2026, 11:37 PM

Oso Creek behind the library is such a good stretch for that. I've seen the same trotting-along-the-bank thing there a couple times. They really do just have their own morning routine.

Roya Cho

Jul 2, 2026, 12:48 AM

Love this. That "going about its morning same as I was" is exactly it. Most of them want nothing to do with us, they're just crossing from A to B. Thanks for posting it as a nice thing and not a scare, Hui.

Xiu Nguyen

Jul 2, 2026, 1:51 AM

Okay genuine question because I never know — is one trotting along in full daylight normal? I always thought daytime meant something was off. Not panicking, just trying to learn.

Wesley Ahmed

Jul 2, 2026, 2:59 AM

Xiu, daytime alone is totally normal, especially early morning and evening when it's cooler. Summer they're up early to beat the heat, same as the rest of us. "Something's off" is more about behavior — if one's cornered, wobbly, or weirdly fixated on people. A calm one minding its own business on the far bank is just a coyote having a Tuesday.

Xiu Nguyen

Jul 2, 2026, 4:14 AM

That's reassuring, thank you Wesley. Makes sense with the heat.

Claire Nelson

Jul 2, 2026, 5:22 AM

Beautiful sighting. Only thing I'll gently add for anyone reading — if you've got a dog on that loop, keep it leashed through there. Not because the coyote's going to charge, just that an off-leash dog bounding at the brush is how you turn a calm morning into a bad one. The loop is narrow in spots.

Nicole Alvarez

Jul 2, 2026, 6:30 AM

Seconding the leash thing. And it's a good habit to log it in Coyote Cacher or the Access Irvine app if you're in an Irvine spot — MV has its own reporting but even a "calm, no issue" sighting helps the map. The data's more useful when it's not only the scary ones.

Reza Shah

Jul 2, 2026, 7:39 AM

This is the kind of encounter I wish more people had before they made up their minds. Nothing happened, nobody was in danger, an animal existed near you. They were on that creek corridor long before the library was. Thanks Hui.

Thao Anderson

Jul 2, 2026, 8:47 AM

I'll be honest, I'd have been a little rattled in the moment even with it staying across the water — I'm still working on that. But reading how you described it actually helps. Curious instead of scared. Noting the thick coat and all that.

Yuki Miller

Jul 2, 2026, 9:51 AM

Thao that's a really fair place to be, and honestly noticing the coat and the face instead of just "COYOTE" is already the shift. One small thing that helped me: knowing what to actually do if one ever did come closer — make yourself big, be loud, don't run. Having the plan took most of the fear out for me.

Bao Farahani

Jul 2, 2026, 11:04 AM

That Oso Creek greenbelt connects all the way down toward the golf course and the open space, so you're basically walking their commute corridor. Cool that it just paralleled you and cut back. Textbook "I see you, I'm going the other way."

Thao Anderson

Jul 2, 2026, 12:10 PM

Yuki that's genuinely helpful, thank you. Big and loud, don't run. Writing that down.

Sofia Okoro

Jul 2, 2026, 1:21 PM

Glad it stayed across the bank for you, but I'll be the one to say it — an animal that's "totally unbothered" by a person is not always the reassuring part. That's usually habituation, and habituation is how you eventually get the ones that don't keep their distance. I've got small grandkids who walk that library loop. I'd rather it had run.

Roya Cho

Jul 2, 2026, 2:26 PM

Sofia, I hear the grandkids worry, that's real. But unbothered isn't the same as bold — it kept its distance the whole time and left on its own. That's actually the outcome we want. The habituation problem comes from feeding and food-waste, not from a coyote calmly declining to sprint away across a creek. Teaching the kids the big-and-loud stuff does way more than hoping the last one ran off.

Jennifer Cruz

Jul 2, 2026, 3:32 PM

For what it's worth I called MV animal services once about a den near the same greenbelt and they were pretty matter-of-fact — leash pets, secure trash, remove fallen fruit, and report anything acting sick or aggressive. Nothing about a calm crossing. Nice morning, Hui, thanks for sharing the good version for once.