Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Hey Coyote, My Kitty is Not Your Kibble!

I was running late for work this morning (because I'd been working!), just about ready to walk out the door, when Shasta started barking furiously (or as furiously as an uber-friendly Golden Retriever can bark, anyway). I looked outside and noticed a coyote in our front yard! I opened the door, thinking the coyote would run away, but it just looked at me, like, "Whaaaaat?" So I ran outside, shooing him away. Instead of running, it slowly mozied out of our yard and onto the street, looking back every few seconds, presumably to see if I'd given up the chase yet.

I had to chase the dang dog all the way across the street and up the hill before I was sure it was headed away.

At that point, my biggest concern was for Boo and Bailey, who were outside somewhere. We keep them in at night because we know coyotes are around then, but never thought we had to worry in broad daylight!

I called both of them.

Nothing.

Called some more.

Nothing.

Then finally I saw a gray and white puff-ball out of the corner of my eye. It was Bailey -- five times her normal size and with every hair on her hide pointing straight out! She was terrified... and apparently paralyzed! I called her to come to me, but she scattered under the deck. After a bit of a game of cat and... mom, I finally grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and brought her into the house, closing the open window so she couldn't get out again.

And now, for Boo.

"Boooooooooo?" I called.

Nothing.

"Boooooo! Kitty-kitty!"

And there he was, mozying to me with not a care in the world.

Whaaaaaaat? You woke me up...

I grabbed him, too, and put him into the house with l'il ol' Puffball.

It'll be a while before we let Boo and Bailey out again because those coyote are on the prowl! Local cat lovers, take note!

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8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Too bad the local bird population doesn't have someone to save them from predators (outdoor cats) like you are saving the cats from coyotes. If you want to let your cats out to be part of the natural order, then let them be part of the natural order and allow nature to take its course with the coyotes.

Carol said...

Dear anonymous,

Please sign your comment. You obviously read my blog faithfully (and yes, you have a distinct "voice," so I know it's you), so how about introducing yourself?

Carol

Anonymous said...

Fantastic photos!

Glad the cats are okay.

Anonymous said...

Carol, you're much more "charitable" with anonymous than I hanker to be!

Blythe said...

Oh no! Bloggers are being stalked by the coyotes!

(And that's one of the funniest trolls I've ever read - trying to make an argument for letting the wild animals eat your house pets.)

Anonymous said...

Yikes, that old "cat eats bird" argument again. I don't know about your cats, Carol, but ours are much too fat to catch a bird and they have collars with bells and tags on them to announce themselves. To my knowledge, they have never been able to get close enough to birds to catch any. If I were anonymous, I would worry much more about the cats that people have abandoned and, consequently, turn feral. Those poor animals usually have not been neutered either, so they reproduce and make more feral cats. It's those cats that catch and eat most birds.

Anonymous said...

Your cats really are living on borrowed time if they're outside at all in this area. The cat we eventually adopted was chomped by a coyote or bobcat in the bright sunlight in July. Kristen heard it happen- she was in the woods with her friend looking for HER cat (who was never seen again.)

Those darned coyotes are hungry ALL the time. LOL

Lynn

Anonymous said...

Scary that they are so bold! (can you please chase them *down* the hill, away from us, next time though???)

When my cats were indoor/outdoor all they caught were earthworms and pinecones. I think the birds just laughed at them.

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