Coyote

I've been under the weather for the past week. When I finally crawled off the couch this morning to do chores, I was running late (as always). It was just before 6am. No biggie, everyone is fine.


It's snowing so I debated if I would go in to the paying job but it wasn't snowing so bad that I couldn't see (not like the last time I tried driving in the snow and was in a complete whiteout). So as I was headed out the door 20 minutes after doing chores, I see at first what I think is Stocky our big black cat.


I looked again and thought it was one of our dogs but couldn't figure out how one of our dogs could be out as we always keep them penned for their safety (and it's snowing so they wouldn't be out). Usually everyone else's dogs stay away but then I realized it was a large coyote!


He or she was right at the barn door and when it saw me, started to make a run for it through the drylot but stopped the minute it saw the horses. So instead it turned around and hightailed it back the way it came.


In the twelve and a half years we have lived at this place, I have never seen a coyote come into the yard. We've had deer walk through, and a flock of turkeys once but never a coyote. I know they wander through the edge of the trees every once in a while. We've even had a fox on the place (found the fox den out in the pasture). But never have we seen a coyote so close. I knew they weren't far away but this was too close for comfort.


At least the coyote was smart enough to stay away from the big herd. Chaos does not like dogs and I would take a guess that he'd hate coyotes just as much. Maverick isn't as much "death on dogs" as he is curious and would go after the big bugger.


So fingers crossed that there will be no more coyotes in the yard. We have a new cat so maybe that's what drew the coyote to the barn but otherwise nothing has changed. Just to the east of us is public hunting ground so there's a bit of wildlife and I expect that's where all the coyotes hang out.


Luckily the ponies were in a different pen and it's very difficult for a coyote to get in or out. I'm not sure what the ponies would do if they encountered a coyote.


We'll be keeping a very close eye on everyone for the next little while. Oh the joys of country living.