When is a Coyote NOT a Coyote?

When it is a FAKE.

Below are two pictures of the kids' soccer field, and it looks like there are three coyotes lounging around.  They were there last year, too.

one coyote

two coyotes

Here's one a little closer.  

note the stake and tail

And closer.

doesn't look much like a coyote this close

first we were tricked - we thought these were goose scat

Here's the deal.  Parks, athletic fields and cemeteries near Denver have a difficult time with geese leaving a mess.  So someone taking a page out of the fake-owl book decided to try fake coyotes to keep the geese from landing at the soccer field. 

We drive by this field often, and the population of geese eating the grass and making a mess is down considerably.  This year, they added a strip of black cloth on the southside of the northbound fake coyote.  This waves in the wind to further focus the geese's attention.

The last picture fooled me as I walked over to get a shot of the fake coyote.  At first it looked like the geese had been there by the hundreds.  But as some first impressions are wrong, it was the grounds crew running the aerator.  On second thought, goose scat is smaller, slimier and greener.