One of the real joys of living on a small mountaintop in rural San Diego County is learning to appreciate sunsets. I normally grab a book, retire to a high point in my back yard and try to read a chapter or two as the sun retreats over Camp Pendleton and eventually sinks into the Pacific.
The sun had just set when I heard my buddy Mr. Perro come through his doggy door to join me. He's a relatively smart dog, even though his size puts him at a disadvantage in nature. Perro comes out the door, I see his nose twitch as he takes a couple of deep sniffs, then he rared up higher for a confirmatory sniff. I heard him sigh, saw him look around and then saw twitching tail feathers disappear back into the house.
I looked at the hill surrounding my backyard, noted two pair of yellowish eyes in the bushes next to the fence, put my book down, grabbed my monstrous, fully charged Super Soaker and walked over to the fence.
That's when I got charged bythe two aggressive young silly coyotes. Being fully prepared and quick as well as accurate with my trusty Super Soaker, I laid down some serious suppressive fire in three sweeping bursts, catching both coyotes in mid stride as their glaring pointy snouts reached the fence about three feet from me.
I"m definitely not afraid of coyotes and I've lived around wild things to know that basically they're very timid. That's why I was surprised when the bastards went back up the hill to glare and growl at me. What the coyotes don't know is that I have 115 pounds of water pressure on my back circuit and a four-inch long sweeping nozzle on the end of my fast coiled 100-foot hose.
I was ready for the second charge and caught both juveniles in the face with well aimed blasts from the nozzle, which sent them yipping back down the hill. Perro came out snarling to see if I needed defending, had a big sniff and peed on the fence where the coyotes had stopped.
I have to laugh at this little dog. He's proud, deeply attached to me and very protective. I just wished he'd never tell another coyote to "Bite Me" when he catches them in his back yard. The last time he did that, it cost me a couple of thousand dollars in vet bills and he ended up with 80 stitches and seven drains. Nevertheless, he still thinks he's a "Mighty Dog."
He makes me laugh, keeps me company and protects me from wild coyotes as only an 11-pound,near 10-year old, Chihuahua can. Who would havethought that in my late fifties, retired to a large plot in the San Diego sun,I'd find a furry soul mate that hates fish stealing seals when we're out in the boat and who stupidly taunts coyotes he thinks are threatening me.-- Jim Forbes on 07/23/2007
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