wiley coyote, engarde

I saw it this morning, at dawn, in my front yard. I watched from the second floor as the coyote ran from the yard, across the field, and disappeared in the morning fog. Rosie, the big adult poodle, has been on the lookout every morning for a week. We've been hearing them at night, a whole lot of sharp, high-pitched barks. This morning Rosie sounded her rarely-used, guard bark, deep, loud, menacing. The two younger poodles cowered and whined. They would have liked to back up Rosie but were truly terrified. I'm never seen Rosie be scared of anything, she's fearless. She's come out the victor in every fight she's been goaded into but I really hope she doesn't have occasion to test herself with a coyote. The cats, usually far-ranging have been dedicated lap cats lately, barely going out at all. One morning about a week ago, one of the cats came roaring into the house in a panic, at top speed and insisted on sitting on me till he had calmed down.

I have fond memories of hearing and seeing coyotes when I lived in the forests of eastern Washington state, 1970. I thought them beautiful, exotic, wild. I had dogs and cats there, and now that I think of it, they stayed very close to our cabin. The local paper carried a report of a small dog carried off by a coyote recently, in broad daylight with the owners nearby. I'm sorry for their loss. I still find the coyotes charming, I believe they have a place in our ecosystem and I'm glad they survive. I truly hope they do not become more of a menace. I will keep a close eye on my pets, after all there are many rabbits and deer for the coyotes.

Later this morning, Rosie sounded her usual, less serious, alarm that meant, "Let me out, so I can chase those deer." Ah, that smaller threat now controlled by deer fence. But that's another story.