Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Coyote Calls

Cold as Ice
Keeping the Coals Hot
Hiding From the Scary Monsters
Nary a Track This Way...
...Or That
No Coyote Trails
Just a Clear Day Dawning Over Elmira
Temperatures dip low enough for me to recall what Minnesota cold is like. Reaching for the door handle, my bare hand is stung by the metal, reminding me that I need to wear gloves to gather fire wood from the porch at 3 a.m. For two nights in a row, I've roused myself from the layers of warm blankets and sleep so I can keep the coals burning.

It's pitch black and the dogs balk at the darkness which makes me wary. What is out there, unseen? Todd teases me that Elmira has night monsters. A former Army Ranger, he trudges out into the darkness, flashlight in hand, scanning the fields and forests for monster eyes. Sometimes he glimpses a cat or startles a deer. Once he walk right past a moose. From the pile of droppings it left so near his boot tracks, suffice to say Todd scared the moose.

But Todd is working down in Moses Lake and I'm all alone fighting what my weather report calls, "frigid weather." Bobo dashes off the porch to pee by the garage and I think, "no monsters," so I follow down the steps with Grendel on a leash. He lifts his leg on a bushy pine and banshees begin to wail.

Bobo freezes mid-squat and Grenny turns off his stream. My heart skips and I'm ready to levitate back to the porch, I'm so scared. It screams again and Bobo gives off a low growl. Fear turns to protectiveness, as I realize it's a coyote and very close. Bobo is off leash. "Come here," I rumble. I'm worried about BoBo.

She trots to me, but the ki-yi-ing kicks into full production. It's only one coyote and they call for many reasons--marking territory, calling in the pack and baiting dogs. The first few calls that were so eerie sounds as if the coyote is injured. Even I want to go see if he's okay.

But coyote is a trickster. And the hair standing up on the back of my neck is a good indicator that I need to not go off investigating like my Ranger husband would do. The coyote may be trying to lure my dogs, so I grasp the leash tightly and hold onto Bobo until we get into the house.

Grendel continues to bark although Bobo decides that the freshly stoked fire is a good place to settle near. Even in the house I can hear the eerie cries. I swear the coyote is in my front yard.

Come morning, I rise early to fan the coals once more. I'm curious to track our nighttime trickster but see nothing but smooth snow. Not a single track, trail or hint of any presence but our own. I look to the abandoned schoolhouse beyond our northern pasture and still see no sign.

The monsters all dissolved with the rising sun, having only teased me with howls of coyote calls.


8 comments:

  1. It's breeding season for coyotes. I find that they get even more vocal this time of year. The coyotes come very close to my house. I often see them even in the daytime while out walking. Somehow, I don't fear them. They seem quite happy to run off. Toby is very uneasy after dark. He doesn't want to be outdoors. When I see his fear, I am reminded to be more cautious.

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    1. That it's breeding season makes sense as to why they've been more vocal lately. I'm a huge chicken in the dark! By daylight, I'm most brave. This one was so close, but I'm mystified as to the lack of tracks...

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  2. When I read stories such as this it makes me almost happy to be living in the city. Note I said almost :)

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    1. Todd calls me the "Cowardly Cowgirl." I always thought it might make a fun title for a collection of stories about me scared in the scared in the country...at night...or around bears...I'm cool with birds.

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  3. While not a real 'city girl', I'm not real versed in country living, especially in wilder areas like Elmira Pond. I prefer my small town 'people-populated' living away from predators both human and animal. :)

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    1. Having grown up in the mountainous logging camps (summer) and a tiny mining town the rest of the year, you'd think I'd be seasoned. It's my overactive imagination, I suppose.

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  4. You are certainly braver than I am! I would never have opened the door to begin with and my pups would have had to suffer through the long night. Yeah! Sure am glad the sun is up now!

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    1. I don't think I am any braver than you! It was just the thought that Grendel would pee on my office chair that truly compelled me to go outside.

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