coyotes

We woke this morning to the sound of a panicked teenager shouting (in a whisper) "get up!!! get up now... look out the window, hurry". When my bleary eyes finally focused enough to see, I peered through the bedroom window and saw movement out in the pasture behind the house. I hadn't yet put on my glasses so I couldn't tell exactly what I was looking at. Taylor informed us that the house was surrounded by coyotes. They were in the front pasture and behind the house. After a lot of running around, from window to door to window, looking and gasping at the situation...Rodney showed up with the gun. There were 3 of them about 50 yards from the front door, and he shot one. 

We have been hearing them at night and it always sounds like they are really close but I didn't know that they were that close!! The fact that they were this close during the day is quite an audacious act of a pack of coyotes. Taylor said that Buddy was posted in front of the pen where the calves are and fearlessly barking and protecting the two helpless calves. This, I'm sure is what has lured them in. They are pretty much sitting bait, penned in without their mothers and coyotes are smart enough to know this. We estimated that there were 10 to 12 in the pack, enough to take down a calf. The Barrett family is on the defensive now, watching and waiting for predators lurking about.