Coyote foiled again!

Hutchie almost got eaten by a coyote this morning. He's my silver toy poodle with the personality of either a nitwit or Pit Bull, at least when it comes to coyotes.

We live on two unfenced acres bordering a wilderness preserve and we get lots of wild animals, herds of deer mostly. In fact, a couple of weeks ago, we had a parade of eight bucks with crowns ranging from three years to the single points of a yearling. It was magnificent. Coyotes we see not as often but certainly not infrequently. Though I'm told they run in packs, I have never seen more than two or three at a time. Three tore through the property last week. In past years the coyotes have been small and scrawny with scruffy, matted, uneven fur. Sorry looking creatures. This year they look beautiful: big and brawny with thick coats. Though they unnerve me I feel it is a privilege to see them, as it would be to live near and see lions or any noble survivor of human imposition.

The coyote I see most often and the predator this morning is the colour of the landscape: gold and grey with patches of white. Though coyotes are usually smaller, he, (or maybe she) is the size of a German Shepherd. I don't know what they've been eating, but they're healthy. I'm assuming it's rabbits since I haven't seen any and normally we have dozens hopping around. And I haven't even seen any footprints.

I've been really cavalier about letting Gracie, (my white toy poodle) and Hutch out. I just open the front door and away they go. For awhile, the did their business, sniffed around the house and came in. Lately they've been staying out longer and going farther afield. If they catch sight or scent of something they take off down to the edge of the marsh or over to the line of the forest. Hutchie has even been bravely, (or foolishly) disappearing into the woods for a bit, barking his head off at some wild thing.

Since I am a major hand-wringer it has surprised both my husband and me that I have been as relaxed, (irresponsible) as I have been. Aren't I afraid of the coyotes? Well, I am but I've sort of been leaving it up to fate, believing that all the stories I hear of coyotes snatching little dogs are apocryphal or at least, will never happen to me. Besides, it is such a treat to simply let the dogs out and not have to pile on the winter gear and go with them on a leash. We all love the freedom.

I guess I knew it would have to change. The coyotes are too wily and we've seen them too often this year for them not to know there's a delicious meal racing around for them. This morning the poodles did their now-usual disappearing act with me watching out our living room windows hoping to keep sight of them. But they were nowhere. Then I heard Gracie barking at the front door. She was very hyped-up and I let her in and she kept barking, frantically. That was new and a signal of something amiss. Normally she races right to her dish for her breakfast. I went around to the patio doors at the side deck to see if I could spot Hutch and saw a reflection, a flash of fur. Out of the corner of his eye, on the other side of the room, my husband had seen the same flash. Gracie was still barking...hysterically really. Then Terry said, "It's a coyote!" And right at the edge of the back deck where he had Hutchie either cornered or defiant, stood the great beast. Hutchie was neither cowering nor retreating. He was in a face-off!

Terry immediately opened the door and got Hutchie and the coyote hesitated, contemplating who knows what options, then turned and walked off, not high-tailed it, simply trotted away. And we looked at each other, wide-eyed.

That's ends the possiblity of a free lunch for the coyotes.

PS A word about the novel I'm working on. It has absorbed me completely, not only the writing but the research. I may have mentioned it's inspired by true events...the brutal sex slaying of a close friend of one of my daughters when she was 11-years-old. Recently, I hit a glitch and I realized I'm going to have to combine two of my characters into one...for the murderer. That means a whole lot of re-writing but it is the right thing to do. I miss this blog and will post whenever there's excitement or I need a break from the horrors of pedophelia and the recovery of a family who have been the victims of such violent perversity.