Is that a dog?

I got home from an event tonight at about 11pm, and after chatting with the babysitter, I let the dogs out and went back to chatting. The dogs were barking up a storm, and it was 11:30pm or so by then, and I immediately went to go shut them up so the neighbors wouldn't hate us.

I opened the door, and heard another dog barking back at them from the other side of the fence. It had a higher pitched bark, and sounded frantic, so I just assumed it must be little. I caught a glimpse of a lighter colored coat in the moonlight, and he was nose to nose with the dogs through the fence. I ran to get my shoes, thinking a lost little dog was out late at night, and I worry about the coyotes in our area. Last night, our cat slipped out unnoticed, and I practically gave myself a heart attack looking for him today, thinking of finding his collar in a pile of coyote poop somewhere - thankfully, he came stumbling home all by himself after a night out on the town*. Anyway, I digress. So I throw on my shoes and run outside, where I see the little dog trot off as I whistle. I'm trying to get the dogs to come inside, but they are not taking kindly to that little dog on the other side of the fence. I run back inside to grab a flashlight to see if I can track the dog down.

The sitter comes back outside with me, and I think we make somewhat of a gasp/choke noise in unison as I shine the flashlight to the other side of the fence to follow the flash of light colored coat as it dashes sideways, and a coyote is staring back at us a mere 8 feet away. It thinks for a moment, and then trots off behind the tree, then stops and thinks some more as it stares at us. I stupidly ask, "Is that a coyote that was barking at my dogs?" and she says, "I'm pretty sure that's a coyote." The dogs are still going crazy, and the dog/coyote trots off into the soccer field behind our house.

I usher the dogs inside, as it's now quarter to midnight, and I'm sure the neighbors are cussing a blue streak from their houses, and go back out to the fence. I stand there quietly for a moment, then turn the flashlight back on. That damn coyote is STARING at me from about 20 feet away. Not running, not hiding, but STARING at me, as if I interrupted his fun and he's pissed as all hell about it.

Now, my dogs aren't small, and there are three of them, but I also know that coyotes hunt in packs. Why the hell was this coyote right up against the fence yelling at my dogs? Was he trying to lure them out to where the other coyotes were? Was he rabid? Was he just simply unafraid of me because, well, he sees us bipeds just a wee bit too often these days? And why was one coyote willing to go up to three good sized dogs? Was he tame? Just a pup? What????

I'm sure I won't know the answers any time soon, or probably ever, but I will be sure to explain all the hubbub to the neighbors tomorrow. Especially the ones next door, in whose yard the coyote was standing in. They don't have a fence, and they have a bite-sized dog, so I think they will need to be most vigilant in keeping him on a leash in the dark.

I'm not one who thinks the coyotes should be shot at or punished for being forced out of their habitat and into ours. We hear coyotes all the time at night, as we live right down the road from a marsh preserve, and they often trot through the soccer fields in the middle of the night, and we pick up their chilling cries of the hunt on the baby monitor (there is nothing creepier than waking to the sound of a dozen coyotes in your bedroom!). But the fact that this one came up to our fence and had no problem with being nose to nose with our three dogs... well, that creeps me out.

Looks like it's time to install some lights in the the yard.


* Kitty is an indoor kitty, who is hell bent on going outside. Seems his former owners must have allowed it, and he has no respect for our rule that says kitties live inside only. He managed to push an entire screen from the frame to let himself out in the middle of the night, and we woke up to him missing this morning. I aged 10 years this morning, as I have NEVER lost a pet, and don't intend to start now. And I especially do not want him becoming a coyote snack.