Coyote
Zvi A.
Sesling
The man was mowing his lawn with an old-fashioned rotary
blade mower that he had to push manually. He was half finished when the coyote
came out of the woods bordering his property. He saw it because the coyote came
out directly in front of him. He gave the mower a push with all his strength
toward the coyote forcing it to move sideways allowing the man a few seconds to
bolt toward the backdoor into his house.
The coyote stood staring as the man shut the door and
locked it. The disgruntled canine sniffed around then went back into the woods
to search for food, perhaps a rabbit or mouse, though he would have settled for
a cat or small dog. The coyote did not want to encounter a large, fierce dog, a
cougar or a bear, all of which were co-inhabitants of the woods.
The man went to the second floor of his house and out onto
the back deck. He had not built a porch or deck on the ground floor precisely
because of the animals in the area.
The second story deck afforded him a pleasing view, and
safety from the dangerous creatures that lurked in the woods and liked to come
on to his land. The squirrels and birds that often came to the deck when he was
not there did not annoy him, even when there were nuts or droppings on the
floor. He had noticed the squirrel population had decreased since the coyote’s
arrival.
The next day when he went out to finish the mowing the
coyote reappeared and once again the man ran into his house. He wondered if the
coyote was trying to make friends with him, if it had rabies or if it viewed
him as a meal. After all, he was short and rather thin and perhaps the coyote
was gauging whether it could take the man and sate its hunger. The man chose to
believe the last option.
Staring at the coyote that was staring at him, the man
devised a plan and went downstairs. One of the attractions of the house was an
attached work shed which he could enter through the kitchen and again through
the shed to the garage. He did not have to be outside anytime.
Once in the work shed, he took a two-by-four and drilled a
hole at one end and plugged it with a metal cap from which a thin metal chain
hung. After securing and testing it for strength, he drilled two small holes in
the opposite end and took the two-by-four to the second floor deck. Carefully
placing the board on the deck railing he fit the two-by-four so that the
drilled holes were on the railing and that the chain was over the lawn which
extended out and away from the house and deck. He then used screws to fasten
the board to the railing, but allowed for the two-by-four to swing back so as
to allow him to get the chain which he estimated hung a good seven or eight
feet off the ground.
His next move was to take a half chicken he had bought at
the local supermarket and run the chain through it and swing the end back out
over the lawn. He went into the kitchen,
made a sandwich of sliced turkey and lettuce with a dab of mayo, poured an iced
tea and returned to the deck where he placed the food and drink on a small
table. He sat in a rocker and waited.
Sure enough the coyote emerged from the woods, probably
attracted by the scent of the half chicken. It paced around and looked at the
food. The animal jumped, but came up short of the target. It leapt a couple
more times, but never close enough, failing to nab the tempting meal.
In the meantime the man munched on his sandwich, sipped on
the ice tea and chuckled to see the coyote tray and fail to get the half chicken
above him.
Tthat’ll teach you Mr. Wiley Coyote, the man
thought. Don’t want to shoot or poison you, just a bit of torture will do,
as he continued chuckling.
The taunting continued for two days and on the third the
chicken was gone.
Can’t be, the man thought, no way the damn coyote
can jump that high.
Perplexed,
he swung the two-by-four back to the deck and got another chicken from the
freezer and attached it to the chain as he had the first one swinging the
two-by-four back over the lawn. Then he sat in his rocker with a glass of iced
tea.
Again the coyote exited the woods and attempted to get the
chicken, but failed. The man laughed loudly and made clucking noises.
“Puck, puck, puck,” he imitated a chicken and laughed ever
more loudly. The frustrated canine retreated to the woods and the man re-entered
his house settling in his favorite over-stuffed chair and turning on the
television to watch a baseball game.
The next morning the chicken was gone again and the man was
beside himself wondering how the coyote got it. There was no way that miserable
coyote could get on the deck or out on the two-by-four. Squirrels are not
carnivores, so he ruled them out. Birds pecking away would take days to consume
the chicken and he was certain there were no eagles or hawks. Black bears were
not tall enough, even standing on their hind legs.
Just then he heard a low growl from the other end of the
deck. He turned to see a cougar, large black eyes and bared teeth. He saw the
coyote was looking up and he then realized he could not get to the door and had
no place to go.
XXX
