Wild night.... (blog by Dan :-))

It was a wild time in the country last night. A couple of hours after we went to bed, I heard a dog barking nearby. This is not too unusual since the neighbor a half mile away has four or five dogs who often bark. Sound travels pretty well around here as quiet as it normally is. In this case, the barking was really close, and there was other noise like metal dragging. The horse next door was restless as well, so I knew something was up. I got up, dressed in my robe, flashlight in hand and wandered into the night thinking one of the dogs had somehow gotten into trouble.



After the shop/shed construction, we had some leftover siding and downspouts that we stacked on the backside of the building before disposal. A number of animals, including bunnies, have immediately taken up residence. It turns out that a cottontail had taken refuge in one of the unused downspouts laying on the ground. A local coyote had noticed this and dragged the downspout (with bunny inside) away from the pile and into the driveway. The coyote couldn't get to him, but sat at the opening, barking and trying to drive the bunny out. The amazing part was that the coyote had a partner who was silently sitting a few feet away from the other end just waiting for the bunny to make a run for freedom. Very devious, but a great strategy.

Fortunately for the bunny, when I showed up, the 'yotes ran off. As I was examining the teeth marks on the downspout, I noticed the bunny was still inside. I lifted the tube and the bunny slowly slid out, and then ran for safety under the tack room where an entire community of bunnies reside. So everything ended well, except for the coyotes who went hungry.

After this excitement, Emma started having nightmares, presumably about coyotes, which she dislikes. In any case, she kept everyone awake. We are all a little bleary and cranky this morning.