Coyotes and the Food Chain

Last night about 9 PM, the dog started barking loud and pretty mean sounding.  I got my flashlight and went out on the deck.  When I flashed my light into the trees right below the dog pen, they gleaming eyes of a coyote shined right back at me.  By the time I got my shotgun and explained to the wife what I was up to, the dog quit barking and the coyote went away.  This morning we discussed the shooting of wild animals here at Rabbit Run.  Barb is totally against my shooting any animal and she wants me to shoot only to protect myself.   "If a coyote is truing to eat you, you may shoot him."    Seeing as how I don't carry either open or concealed most of the time I'm not sure how that will happen.

Coyote on the Trail Cam

Well, I like to think of myself as a benevolent member of the food chain and by the grace of me, animals that eat other animals live.  If the coyote leaves the dog alone, I probably won't hunt him down.  A few more night raids on the farm and he will be toast.  

Today, KU will play its last non-conference basketball game over in Lawrence.   They have been on a roll lately and we sure enjoy an uptempo game where they get to run and gun.  They have a bunch of talented players and a Center that is playing up to his potential this year.  They probably have a bunch on the bench that will all be starters next year or so.  We probably could field the number one and at l;east the number three team in the BIG XII right now.   There are three players that should be somewhere in DIV II basketball but their dads are  linked to KU.  Niko Roberts, Evan manning and Bill Self's son have been able to slip in the last couple of minutes in the last few games.  I don't see much of that being the case during conference season.   We have tickets to a couple of games in January and March but nothing in February.  The good news is that the local TV stations and ESPN pick up most of the KU games locally.  I get to see most of the games on TV if we don't have tickets.

I guess my efforts early in the mouse hunt of 2012 paid off.  I haven't had a mouse for a couple of weeks.  I probably will go out and re-bait the traps this week to make sure.  Last year I got about 43 and this year only 14.  I didn't count the one I found on the floor dead near the traps.  I think he got hit and managed to escape the trap but died of his wounds.

Speaking of wounds, I have read that many of my combat veteran buddies are celebrating their Alive Day.  The anniversary of when they were hit and survived.  I have been rocketed, mortared, ambushed shot at and shit on but I managed to come home without the enemy getting lucky.  This about the time of the year I got to come home from Vietnam and I think I am going to set our anniversary as my Alive Day.  My celebration is to mark that I was able to return home to a life with the wife.  February 11th will be our 45th anniversary.  We don't even compare with Barb's parents record of 70 years and I'm not sure I will.  My mother and her second husband Bill had been married over 100 years (Combined) to other people when they married.  I am sure that I don't want to even try to match that.   

Oh well, moving on....

MUD

     

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