Cat or coyote?
Monday, March 11, 2024
The big question this morning: Cat or coyote?
I caught another rat out back. I thought something was up when I noticed the motion-activated light behind the house went on at 5:30 am.
The things that unexpectedly hide behind neat and respectable facades innocently seen from the street. I shudder when I think about the inside of that garage from my rear-windowesque view over the fence. The ADU’s patio is a bit of a mess. That’s the short version.
I set traps to do what I can about the ADU’s additional tenants. I won’t use poisons. No. No. No. There are owls to consider. There are also coyotes.
I know the coyotes come around looking to help because I sometimes find their scat. And the occasional half eaten snack. Don’t ask. Rat is thankfully high on their menu.
I found the rat when I went out to investigate the mystery of the light.
I thought it odd that the trap was askew but didn’t think much of it as I was disposing of its catch. Until I noticed fresh paw prints pushed into the new mulch near the trap. They’re indistinct so it’s hard to tell exactly what made them
The rat’s probably too small to have set off the light on its own. At first I thought a cat had come around. The indentations seem bigger than that, though.
Now my money’s on Wiley E. Coyote. I think he got frightened off when he heard the door. He’s welcome to help himself to meals but not that I’d want to come face-to-face with him in the dark.
I really need a fuchsia-cam to keep track of the comings and goings in my garden in the dark.