Oct. 10, 2006 ~ She is gone
Little Sister died today. Yesterday, Husband said he didn't think she would make it through the night. When I came home after work, he was in the pasture, the gun leaning against the fence. He told me about the coyotes first, how they had stood at the edge of the woods and he had gone into the house for a gun, sneaked up on them, and shot the hated black coyote twice. Then he told me about Precious Little Sister.
Putting two and two together, I blurted out, "Do you think the coyotes got her?"
He started to speak, thought better of it, then said, "You don't want to know."
And of course I didn't. I walked away, sad for the loss of that sweet baby who had tried so hard, sad for the mother who would now cry for her calf, and sad for us. We should have known better... we just hate to give up. We've seen miracles before, have seen calves survive who shouldn't have. So we were hoping for maybe one more miracle, just a small one. I brushed away the tears and walked over to pet Meadow.
"We are low on cats," I said.
"Excuse me?"
"I wish we had a pregnant mama cat, or just a mama with a litter of kittens."
"Don't need any more cats," Husband mumbled. "We have PLENTY."
"Uh, no we don't." And I proceeded to list the cats we had lost this past year, at least five of them. I then explained that we had openings, and all we needed was a mama cat and four kittens and we'd be back in good shape.
Husband, to his credit, said I should take it up with Dr. Susan, see if she had any spare cat families to donate. It's just been so long since we've had kittens.
On the other hand, though, as long as there are coyotes, I worry about our cats. And even though Husband thinks he took out one coyote today, there are probably a dozen more in the woods. I certainly heard them in the hay meadow last night. And then there's Meadow, who has this really bad dog habit of chasing cats. If the cats hold their ground, she's fine. If they run, she gives chase. It doesn't seem to matter that she knows she will get in serious trouble, she still chases them.
If you are feeling sorry for the coyote that Husband shot today, don't. Don't feel sorry for it. It's a predator, and it or one just like it has killed a number of our cats and at least one of our calves, not counting Little Sister. Remember, I still don't know exactly what happened to Little Sis. If I'm lucky, Husband won't say another word about it.
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