Beautiful but dangerous! I love and respect nature but would never turn my back on it. We live very close to the woods and all the creatures that dwell within. If only they would stick to their habitats and not invade ours but there is always a crossover, on both sides.
I have four small dogs and late night pees are always concerning. I usually go out ahead of them and search the area with my flashlight, looking for eyes that illuminate like sparkling diamonds in the beam. I used to feel confident when I saw deer on the back hill and along the tree line in our backyard, but I was told that’s when the predators are near, watching for the chance to pick off the young, the old and the weak.
Two white diamonds in the night mean deer, fox,r racoons and porcupine while yellowy glows mean coyote. The back hill is teaming with nightime activity and I see pairs of glowing, floating eyes everywhere, peeking out from bushes and under trees. You would think that daytime would be less of a concern but I’m not relaxed in the light either. I’m forever searching the surrounding bushes, on alert for movement, and keep one eye on the sky for flying scavengers large enough to carry away a small animal. Some of my guys are no bigger than a rabbit, easy pickings and the perfect weight for the strong legs and talons of a hawk. My friend Mary told me of a bunny that got snatched by a hawk and how the cries faded away as they flew out of sight...a horror story that has haunted me ever since. Being the worry wart my father so proudly molded, I never let down my guard when it concerns my precious babies.
Last night we had nighttime visitors, the evidence of torn up grass and feces were proof that at least two were involved although there could have been more, others that didn’t share the same elimination schedule. Generally coyotes hunt in packs so any number could have been in the yard. I’m assuming they were coyotes as the poop was very dog like, and slight larger than my miniature’s normal load. They also dug up the ground like dogs do, leaving small holes the size of their muzzles, around a dozen or so of them. It looked as if they rolled around in the grass, maybe rubbing over where my dogs had peed, their scent would have been all over that area. If the coyote didn’t already know four small animals frequent here, they do now, maybe thinking it’s worth scouting out in hopes an easy meal will present itself. I’ll be extra vigilant for a while and if I have any doubts, I’ll take my pups out one at time. I’ll carry my metal bat and load fresh batteries in the flashlight to search for those pairs of yellow eyes. If any dare approach I’d go all Walking Tall on them, swing my bat to hit a home run, them running home that is, with their tails between their legs! The worst thing anyone can do is turn your back and run away so I’d advance in a menacing way and swing that bat like a helicopter blade. Make my day!!!
I haven’t seen a coyote for some time. Once that jogger was attacked and killed and the news reported several close encounters, panic set it and there was a movement to kill them off. For a while you heard of encounters frequently but nothing much lately. Before the panic we were frequently spying them on the back hill, one night waking to the cries of a kill and the yelping and baying at the moon to celebrate. The next day I called the department of Lands & Forests and they told me to be careful, they could be hiding behind the wood pile and one of my pups would walk that way and just disappear. More than a little concerning. I don’t take my eyes off the wooded area for a second and I keep the pups corralled together at all times after dark. Once word from me and they would run to the door. They are domesticated and no longer have to worry about something larger or higher on the food chain visualizing them on a plate, but they are weary at night, they smell what’s out there and instinct tells them to stick close to big, bat brandishing momma.
I’m not deluded in thinking the coyotes wouldn’t attack because of me. Their boldness could depend on the length of time since their last meal and how their numbers compare to us. I was told I could hire trappers to come out and kill them but that thought would never occur to me but it must have gone on as the population is almost non-existent around my area. Killing an animal for being an animal doesn’t sit well with me. Even if they got one of my pups I would be devastated but wouldn’t seek revenge and understand it was just a normal cycle of life in the wild. I would move the heck out of here though, get as far away from this place as possible, and then spend the rest of my life on a psychiatrist couch trying to get over the grief and the images that would haunt me!
I understand that four legged animals follow a code, they don’t kill for the sake of killing, nor do they seek pleasure in it, unlike the more evolved human. They are only hunting to eat and to feed their young and you can’t fault them for that. It’s the law of the land, survival of the fastest and the fittest. Thankfully as humans, we have crawled our way to the top of the food chain so we are no longer viewed as the food. We have enough to worry about with the trials of life, mortgages, taxes and health than have to watch our necks every time we go outside.
So my property has been coyote free for a long time. I realize they are nomadic and move around a lot but almost two years have passed without sightings on the back hill so I think they might have succumbed to a more ominous end. I’ll admit my worries had relaxed a smidgen but now I’m back on high alert and packing heat. Flashlight, air horn and baseball bat, armed and dangerous baby!
I have four small dogs and late night pees are always concerning. I usually go out ahead of them and search the area with my flashlight, looking for eyes that illuminate like sparkling diamonds in the beam. I used to feel confident when I saw deer on the back hill and along the tree line in our backyard, but I was told that’s when the predators are near, watching for the chance to pick off the young, the old and the weak.
Two white diamonds in the night mean deer, fox,r racoons and porcupine while yellowy glows mean coyote. The back hill is teaming with nightime activity and I see pairs of glowing, floating eyes everywhere, peeking out from bushes and under trees. You would think that daytime would be less of a concern but I’m not relaxed in the light either. I’m forever searching the surrounding bushes, on alert for movement, and keep one eye on the sky for flying scavengers large enough to carry away a small animal. Some of my guys are no bigger than a rabbit, easy pickings and the perfect weight for the strong legs and talons of a hawk. My friend Mary told me of a bunny that got snatched by a hawk and how the cries faded away as they flew out of sight...a horror story that has haunted me ever since. Being the worry wart my father so proudly molded, I never let down my guard when it concerns my precious babies.
Last night we had nighttime visitors, the evidence of torn up grass and feces were proof that at least two were involved although there could have been more, others that didn’t share the same elimination schedule. Generally coyotes hunt in packs so any number could have been in the yard. I’m assuming they were coyotes as the poop was very dog like, and slight larger than my miniature’s normal load. They also dug up the ground like dogs do, leaving small holes the size of their muzzles, around a dozen or so of them. It looked as if they rolled around in the grass, maybe rubbing over where my dogs had peed, their scent would have been all over that area. If the coyote didn’t already know four small animals frequent here, they do now, maybe thinking it’s worth scouting out in hopes an easy meal will present itself. I’ll be extra vigilant for a while and if I have any doubts, I’ll take my pups out one at time. I’ll carry my metal bat and load fresh batteries in the flashlight to search for those pairs of yellow eyes. If any dare approach I’d go all Walking Tall on them, swing my bat to hit a home run, them running home that is, with their tails between their legs! The worst thing anyone can do is turn your back and run away so I’d advance in a menacing way and swing that bat like a helicopter blade. Make my day!!!
I haven’t seen a coyote for some time. Once that jogger was attacked and killed and the news reported several close encounters, panic set it and there was a movement to kill them off. For a while you heard of encounters frequently but nothing much lately. Before the panic we were frequently spying them on the back hill, one night waking to the cries of a kill and the yelping and baying at the moon to celebrate. The next day I called the department of Lands & Forests and they told me to be careful, they could be hiding behind the wood pile and one of my pups would walk that way and just disappear. More than a little concerning. I don’t take my eyes off the wooded area for a second and I keep the pups corralled together at all times after dark. Once word from me and they would run to the door. They are domesticated and no longer have to worry about something larger or higher on the food chain visualizing them on a plate, but they are weary at night, they smell what’s out there and instinct tells them to stick close to big, bat brandishing momma.
I’m not deluded in thinking the coyotes wouldn’t attack because of me. Their boldness could depend on the length of time since their last meal and how their numbers compare to us. I was told I could hire trappers to come out and kill them but that thought would never occur to me but it must have gone on as the population is almost non-existent around my area. Killing an animal for being an animal doesn’t sit well with me. Even if they got one of my pups I would be devastated but wouldn’t seek revenge and understand it was just a normal cycle of life in the wild. I would move the heck out of here though, get as far away from this place as possible, and then spend the rest of my life on a psychiatrist couch trying to get over the grief and the images that would haunt me!
I understand that four legged animals follow a code, they don’t kill for the sake of killing, nor do they seek pleasure in it, unlike the more evolved human. They are only hunting to eat and to feed their young and you can’t fault them for that. It’s the law of the land, survival of the fastest and the fittest. Thankfully as humans, we have crawled our way to the top of the food chain so we are no longer viewed as the food. We have enough to worry about with the trials of life, mortgages, taxes and health than have to watch our necks every time we go outside.
So my property has been coyote free for a long time. I realize they are nomadic and move around a lot but almost two years have passed without sightings on the back hill so I think they might have succumbed to a more ominous end. I’ll admit my worries had relaxed a smidgen but now I’m back on high alert and packing heat. Flashlight, air horn and baseball bat, armed and dangerous baby!
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