Predators


As a farmer, one of the most important responsibilities I have is to make sure that our animals are protected from harmful, carnivorous predators. One of the most deadly and difficult predators to catch is a coyote. There is nothing a small lamb can do to protect himself from a coyote, so it is up to us to keep a watchful eye out for these ravenous intruders and to deal with them when they become a threat.

The other evening, just before dusk, Stephen (my 16 year old brother) and I were walking out to move the cows to fresh pastures. As we climbed over the fence behind our house, I looked out across the fields. To the average eye it may have seemed like a perfectly calm evening without a worry in the world, but as I scanned the rolling pasture lands something caught my eye. It was a light brown object slinking stealthily through the grass. I immediately knew it was a coyote.

"Stephen," I whispered, “head back to the house and grab the gun.” I waited as he went to retrieve the rifle and all the while kept my eyes on our stealthy enemy. A moment later Stephen returned with the gun and I gave him the “go-a-head” to flank the intruder. After a few minutes of silence, I heard the resounding report from his gun. Then the questions flew through my mind. “Did he hit it?” “Had it run off?” “Was the gun sited in properly?” I shifted from foot to foot looking back over the field and waiting to see my hunter brother appear. I soon saw him walking up out of a hollow with a victorious grin on his face dragging "Wiley Coyotey" himself.