Coyote Kill
It's getting dark fairly early now, what it being presque-winter, but we were still surprised to hear the howling before we'd even considered going to bed. It was a coyote kill, a blood-curdling event that occurs from time to time in the hills around our house. But usually it's in the middle of the night, when people are in their beds the dark forces of nature play out their hidden schemes. What happens is that a pack of coyotes trap an animal, and then start howling. Sometimes, the victim gets a chance to scream for its life, briefly, then the coyotes howl again during the kill.
This time, we weren't long home in returning from our Thanksgiving trip. Plunked down in the living room with a fire going, quickly catching up on a coupla days of seasonally ad-ladened newspapers, and getting ready to zone before the television. Not only was the kill early, but it was close by; a quick check confirmed that none of our critters had been caught. Coyotes are wily creatures. Not only do they hunt together, but they have been known to pretend to catch a rabbit, and with their howling, lure dogs to their site; dogs that are the true prey.
Normally, living where we do out in the wilds, we recognize that nature is nature and so it goes, but because of the time and proximity -- and because it sounded like more than a dozen coyotes -- I went outside and unloaded a half-a-clip from my .22 pistol in the direction of the sounds. Not that I expected to hit anything, or even to discourage any future such behavior, but merely to underscore that the further they stayed away from Casa Linda, the less danger they would encounter.
Also, there is a certain sound to gunshots. Not the whistling through the air or the smacking into trees. I couldn't imagine the bullets zinging anywhere near what might be targets. But there is something about the crack of the shot that most animals don't like -- Buster hides in the house whenever I shoot cans -- which probably has something to do with the decibels or a particular audio characteristic that is uncomfortable to canine ears. Good.
We have lights at each end of the house that operate on motion detectors, but I wouldn't want coyotes to get anywhere near so near. Still, the lights are set off by Buster when he goes out to relieve himself at night, and they can be seen from some distance. Also, Howard and Blue will turn them on during their after-dark perambulations. The kitties are the ones about whom I have concern. They are wonderfully friendly critters, but who knows whether they know enough to climb a tree in time. And even that may not be enough to escape the mountain lions in the area. Though they are pretty smart.
Part of living where we do is that the rules are different. We don't have the freedom to go anywhere at any time; we don't go for walks at night. We don't step next to logs or lift rocks when the weather has been warm. I found the skin of a five-foot rattle snake near the wood pile. We're very careful on the fringes.
And that's SetonnoteS...I'm Tony Seton.
.