Reader Robin Cornwell, who has a black dog (Kali) and two black cats (Artemis and Luna) sent me this story. I have to admit that my caninophobia is lessened by hearing this kind of stuff, at least by the notion that dogs can protect cats but not vice versa (although a cat did rescue a child from a vicious dog). Here’s the tail:
Generally, both my cats Luna and Artemis come in before dark. But on the other night, Luna – the youngest goddess – was determined to do make some night moves. She slipped through the door into the darkness. I called to her, but no luck. Kali and I went out a couple of times – but no Luna.
I would wake up during the night and check for her, but she was determined to be outside. Then, at about 4:30am, Kali, my 9 month old puppy, began to growl. Then she began to bark and we both ran to the window. Much to our horror, I heard a coyote yip and could see that he had Luna in his mouth…. Kali went a bit nuts and it caused the coyote to pause, which gave Luna the chance to get away. The coyote took off after her, Kali and I ran downstairs and outside – but I did not see either the coyote or Luna. Kali and I walked back and forth to see if we could find her – and I was sure she was a goner.
I didn’t sleep much, and about an hour later I went downstairs to make coffee – and there was Luna, looking very disheveled by the sliding glass door. I was so happy, and so was Kali… she was levitating off the floor as Luna walked in… I picked her up and checked for damages. The area around her eye was bruised, but she seemed to be in good shape.
Up until this time, Luna had been standoffish toward Kali – not letting Kali lick or fuss over her (Artemis, who was raised with dogs, was fine being with Kali). But as I held Luna, Kali licked her all over – sniffed her to check if everything was fine – and Luna just lay there.
Luna spent most of her time in the guest room – as cats are wont to do when not feeling great – but all through the evening and the night, Kali would go to check on her. Now that several days have passed, Luna seems quite fine with Kali’s attention.
On another note, I played a recording of some wolves howling for Kali – she didn’t pay much interest to it… but when I played a recording of coyotes yipping and howling, she became extremely agitated and started barking – running to the window and barking her little head off.
Luna doesn’t seem to have any interest in going outside now (for which I am glad) and she is certainly doing fine. The photo below shows her lying in my PJ drawer – and Kali is licking her head and especially her ears.
Happy ending for all, well, except perhaps for the coyote.
p.s. Kali has a superd*g cape now!
What a wonderful story!! Good Dog Kali!! So glad this ended so well and even thawed the chill between cat & d*g.
I love coyotes in their place, but their burgeoning populations (it’s not ALL our fault for moving into their territories–there’s incursion in the other direction as well) are becoming quite problematic.
Yes, it’s really something. Up until very recently,I had no idea their range was so wide.
By that I mean as a species, not eh range of one given individual.
They’re a species that arguably has benefitted from some sorts of human developments (of land).
I live in Chicago, about half a mile from Wrigley Field. I’ve seen them trotting down the street.
In NY they take the subway; in Chicago they visit sandwich shops.
I have lived with a number of dogs and cats who got along well and even shared affection in their distinctive cat-like and dog-like ways, when they and their human companions are all part of he same family and they have all come to accept this status then their interactions are a beauty to behold.
Glad the story has an happy ending. It’s but one of the many reasons why, when Baihu and I go hiking, he stays on a leash. We’ve seen a couple coyotes (and heard dozens) in South Mountain Park…beautiful animals, to be sure, but I’d much rather they ate the cottontails we also see there, and not Baihu.
b&
I’m ready to go out swinging and taking a coyote on myself if one every jumps the fence & starts a fight with my dog. I anticipate all of us getting stitched up!
I don’t expect to ever have to go at it with local wildlife…but, if I do, between Baihu and me, I’m pretty confident anything that looks for trouble will find it. There’re lots of easier meals out there than us.
b&
If finding the pets at night is a priority, then maybe a lighter colour would serve.
But that might also help that coyotes.
My dog has a Dogtra training collar which has a small blinking light that is easily visible at night from a distance. A click on the remote of the vibratory gizmo always brings her back from her foraging trips into the bush.
Great story – I’m glad it had a happy ending.
I’ve told the story here before of when our golden lab Hiram saved the life of our kitten Maclean. I won’t tell it again as the glory today belongs to Kali!
Caninophobia? Don’t mix Greek and Latin roots! 😉 Should be cynophobia.
In hexadecimal, that would be
63 79 6E 6F 70 68 6F 62 69 61
🙂
Nice story. There are a lot of coyotes here. When Deets hears them yipping and howling he goes nuts.
Phew!! I’m glad Kali was there to alert you to the coyotes & Luna!! Poor Luna – what a terrible experience!
There must be something with dogs & the sounds coyotes make as my dog doesn’t care about wolves howling but when she hears coyotes (even in the middle of the night), she barks angrily & runs to the door. My dog could easily overpower a small coyote and one day my dad came over & decided to take my dog & his smaller (ie: normal sized black lab down the back of my house). A big coyote came up on a hill and took a long look at my dad & his dog….until my gigantic dog came trotting up. The coyote decided that was way too many people to try anything weird & took off.
I also had a couple of dogs that used to look after birds we had rescued. My black lab, Ton who I had when I was a kid, used to guard a rescued starling from local cats. Unfortunately, the one day the bird was out without the dog is the day a cat got him; all that was left were his legs & a few feathers.
We also had a rescued robin who my yellow lab, Flint, used to allow to stand on his back. Cats didn’t really come in the yard but his presence made hawks decide not to come get the robin.
Nice stories!
Just how much experience with wolves has your dog had? 😀
Wow, that was close! Poor Luna. I hope she recovers her kitty-haughtiness quickly.
Coyotes are common around our neighborhood also. A while back a lone coyote chased our neighbors dog through our back yard. As soon as it saw the humans it broke off and dove back over the berm into the abandoned orange groves behind our property. They occasionally wake us at night. Sirens in particular set them off.
A couple of months ago one was hit by a car and killed nearby. My daughter wanted to take it home, bury it next to an ant colony and then reclaim the skeleton after natures disposal crew did their jobs. She had to settle for pictures. Local authorities had already been alerted and were on their way to collect it. They like to keep tabs on the condition of local wildlife.
This story is too close to my own experience nearly two years ago. We lost a cat to a coyote and I have been kicking myself since.
I must say that the coyote that nearly got Luna in this story must have been a young one or something because the coyote would normally have killed the cat in seconds. A hard bit and a shake – the cat is dead. Cat never knows what hit them.
Anyway, we always try to get Bumper in and the door blocked before dark. If not I go out with a flashlight and round him up so he does not end up like his mother almost two years ago.
That was my thought as well. Over 20 years ago, a 6 mos old silver tabby showed up at my back door crying… her back was ripped up of either side of her spine. The vet thought that she had been in the grips of a coyote, but perhaps another coyote had tried to take her… It was well over a $1,000 for her medical care, but after that she was never ill – and lived to be 23. Luna used up 8 of her 9 lives… we give thanks to Ceiling Cat. It is nice to hear other like-stories…. maybe we can convince Jerry that d*gs make good servants to our masters as well!
A very fortunate Luna. It is too bad the cat does not speak our language. The one thing I would like to tell them is about Coyotes.
Lovely story!
Let Wile E, eat someone else!
Coyotes do not necessarily eat the cats, although they would if hunger. But they kill them because that is what they do. They will also kill most any small dog as well.
Cats can defend dogs. Many years ago my friends had an old, blind German Shepherd and a very large cat called Murphy (think Maine Coon size although he would not have been a pedigree). Murphy used to lead the dog around the garden. One day they were outside in the front yard and a large dog came charging in to attack the blind shepherd. Murphy sprang to her rescue and chased the intruder down the street. I an well imagine that an enraged Murphy would be quite capable of sending off a dog!
When we were young my brother and I would mock wrestle on the floor in front of our cat. The cat would pounce on whichever one was on top. I guess it was worried the bottom guy would get hurt and was trying to break us up.
Isn’t brotherly wrestling known as wrastling?
Sister of Three Brothers
Now that you mention it, we didn’t know how to wrestle back then. So, ya, wrastling.
Thank you! I enjoyed the comments from your readers.. We will be off for a walk in just a bit, we’ve been having more T-storms and tornado warnings.
Luna is definitely feeling better – she is picking on Artemis. But, even though there are birds just outside on the deck…. Luna does not seem at all interested. I think she may decide to be a strictly indoor cat. I need to find ways to exercise her a bit more.
cheers! r
Artemis seems to be very empathic to the needs of the family. An excellent story!
We never let our current cats outside because coyotes right over the fence. Get them lots of puffballs and wands;-) I find they get more exercise when there are two of them.
A heartwarming story, for sure, but what’s with the * in “dog”? I know Jews often do that with “G*d” instead of “God” but is it still a rule when the (already translated to English name of Yahweh) word is spelled backwards?
See Da Roolz, No. 12.
It’s a local (site-based) shtick.