Animal lover goes postal on the local wildlife

This afternoon it was lovely warm sunny and I was in my office putting the finishing touches on my latest blog and listening to some music when I heard something odd outside. I turned the music off and listened..it sounded like a dog whining to be let in. I went to the French doors and all three dogs were inside content and not whining. I went outside and was greeted by the most frightening sight. On the lawn was a strange looking huge coyote and he was trying to get something under the shrub by the rock wall. I had Bobby with me and I screamed "Coyote Coyote"! She knows what one is but she turned her attention to the bluff where it's more natural to see coyotes.

This beast was maybe 30 feet from me yet he didn't react as a coyote would to my screams. He didn't seem all that afraid of me! He did move to the meadow and I gave chase while I screamed like a banshee to keep him moving, which he was reluctant to go till Bobby spotted him and started barking. For the first time for many years, I ran (fake ankle). All I knew was my chickens and the two ducks were in the garden somewhere and he was after them.

At the other end of the lawn, under Foxsun's apple tree was Jet Lag our rooster, all alone, which was strange. I really went nuts then because the beast had to run near Jet Lag to get to the cottonwoods where he was heading.

Bobby stopped when she got to the end of the lawn because she's not a risk taker. She barked at him and he stood by the cottonwoods looking at her. I walked back to check my birds and to my horror this is what I saw;


I didn't go close to see who the victim was. I knew there were not red hen feathers so I thought it must be dear old Max or one of my two darling mallard ducks. I went around to the kitchen door and got my gun and a handful of bullets.

Brad showed up as I was loading. He'd seen the beast with me in pursuit. I told him, "there's been a killing" and he loaded my gun for me. I went off to revenge my pets and Brad went off to study the remains and look for more victims.

The beast wasn't under the cottonwoods any more but then I saw him right on the top of the bluff looking at me. I stood in my two hand stance, went squinty eyed and shot him! Brad materialized pretty fast when he heard that. "I dropped the bastard" I told him. He told me there's no way I could have got him at that distance with a .22. I said, "Well he ain't looking at me any more". Brad said the boom made him run off. The Beast Lives!

Brad told me that the feathers were Jet Lags which really confused me because I saw him alive by the apple tree. He convinced me there were no gruesome body parts in the pile of feathers and to look for myself. Sure enough they were the roosters feathers.


The ducks came out of hiding all ducky and healthy. Jet Lag ran into the hen house and sat on the perch looking a bit shocky and thread bare. Max was in the house having a snooze.

We did some crime scene investigating. Close to Jet Lags feathers were a clump of red hen feathers.


There were more hen feathers going up the steps under my office window. This is what must have happened; the brazen beast grabbed a hen and Jet Lag came to her rescue like he did when Blondie chased a hen that time. He distracted the beast long enough for the chicken to run away up the steps and he went one on one with the beast loosing many feathers in the process. Somehow he ended up the other side of the house and lawn under the apple tree. The beast was trying to get the hen who was hiding under a shrub when I came on the scene.

It's a mystery how Jet Lag ended up where he did because whenever there's a scare like a hawk, the birds all hide under the shrubs near the house...he had to run across a wide open stretch of lawn to get where I saw him! Also it's the other side of the garden from the hen house and he doesn't go there normally.

I called the hens and Jet Lag came out and did the cockle doodle doo which must have sounded the 'call clear' because all the hens came out of hiding...everyone accounted for. Our rooster, Jet Lag is a hero!

There was something very fishy about the strange looking coyote. For a start he wasn't as nervous like a regular coyote. Our coyotes around here are not like the more suburban ones, they are very shy and have a lot of natural prey to eat so they don't bother us. This beast was a different color than a coyote, he looked more grey also he appeared not as long and maybe taller. I might be wrong about his size because I'm used to seeing them in their natural setting and not on my lawn. Brad said he looked darker to him as well. He had the same bushy tail. We are wondering if he was a wolf or a wolf coyote cross. I know they do interbreed.

We cannot have him hanging about in the garden snacking on our pets and so Brad is going to bring the big guns out to surprise him with. I love coyotes and love to watch them in the wild but there's something not right with this fella.

Here's a re-enactment. I'm holding the camera in this picture, but when I turned killer I had both hands on the gun.


Apparently my six shooter is next to useless for revenge killing at long distances.


When I went in for the night I was hurting very bad but had a wonderful feeling of exhilaration from my little run.