Coyote Attack

~I've got a gun. I know how to shoot it. 

When the time's right, I'm gonna use it.~

~gtyyup, 2011~

This is not what I wanted to blog about today...or on any other day for that matter.

It started out just like all our other mornings. Get up, drink a cup or two of coffee waiting for it to get light outside to go feed. Cindy Sue sleeps in every morning...My Man and I jokingly say she's in Denio. Denio is a lil' bit of a town on the Oregon/Nevada boarder. It sounds so much like 'denial' that we just say that something's in Denio when they don't want to face up to reality...like Cindy Sue, who waits until the last possible moment to get out of her cozy bed.

We bundle up for the morning air. Cindy Sue always wears her barn coat since she doesn't have enough hair to keep her warm.

The dogs scampered off out through the alfalfa field toward the neighbor's driveway...the usual routine. I head into the barn to get the first load of hay and pushed the wheelbarrow out to Colt 'n Gus then headed back to the barn for another load for Whiskey 'n Toby.

I had just got inside the barn and heard Cindy Sue screaming...literally. I ran out the closest door and see two coyotes and her about an 1/8 of a mile away in the neighbor's field. Bella Jo, Cowboy and Abby are all with me in the barn.

I begin screaming like a mad woman to leave my dog alone; leaped over the rail fence and ducked under the barbed wire fence. I screamed the whole way across the alfalfa field as I ran as fast as I could...which isn't fast enough with rubber winter boots on.

Bella Jo 'n Cowboy were running ahead of me, and I told them to 'get 'um.' I couldn't tell if Cindy Sue was alive or not; the coyotes had her down on the ground. I was preparing for the worst...still screaming...and those coyotes didn't pay any attention to me.

Bella Jo 'n Cowboy finally reached Cindy Sue, and the coyotes backed off of her just enough for her to get up, and then they got her down again. Somehow Bella Jo 'n Cowboy got them away from her again, and Cindy Sue came running toward me...with one of the damn coyotes right on her tail.

I was at the fence line. There were two fences in front of me with the neighbor's driveway between the fences. Cindy Sue made it under the first fence and I thought the coyote was going to get her again (he was that close), but the coyote finally saw me and turned around. I could see blood and looked at Cindy Sue's belly and saw a big gaping hole. I gently grabbed her up and started walking as fast as I could back to the house. I could see blood dripping down my pants and onto my boot.

I called back to Cowboy 'n Bella Jo...both coyotes and my dogs were right there where Cindy Sue had been attacked. I kept calling them to come...Bella Jo did, but Cowboy didn't.

Into the front seat of the truck went Cindy Sue, who was obviously in shock by this time. I got a phone message to My Man to call the vet office and tell them I would be there ASAP. Cowboy finally got to the house and I locked the dogs up in the yard...and drove 75 mph all the way to town.

Cindy Sue was moaning slightly, her eyes were looking glassy, but she was staying quiet. I talked to her the whole way to town telling her that all would be OK and that she needed to be a tough lil' Rattie Ranch Dog. She'd survived the Great Horned owl attack, the rattlesnake attack...and she wasn't gonna let two lousy, stinkin' coyotes get the best of her.

We arrived at the vet office at 8:20, and My Man was there waiting for us. We took her straight into the surgery room, and they took off her coat and had a look. The Dr. said that it looked like they had just ripped the skin on the underside in the flank area and that no organs had been damaged. She had a couple of bite marks on her neck and a whole bunch of bites on her hips. She would have been a lot worse...maybe dead...if she hadn't had her coat on. Poor lil' Cindy Sue was covered in blood, shaking and totally in shock.

The vet will be putting her under anesthesia to get her all cleaned up and stitched up. They may take x-rays if they suspect any internal damage had happened. She will have a tube for drainage and there will be lots of antibiotics and pain meds. They put her on fluids and whether she still needs those fluids overnight will determine if she comes home this evening or tomorrow.

Ironically, yesterday was Cindy Sue's "Gotcha Day." We got her from a rescue down in Nevada in 2007. We pray that she'll live a long life here with us.

Coyotes are not beautiful wild animals...they are nasty wild animals...who love to take easy prey.

It's 11:45 AM right now, and am anxiously waiting for a call from the vet. So, I don't know how she is at this time. Please keep Cindy Sue in your thoughts and prayers. We appreciate it.

I'm a tough Rattie Ranch Dog...I'm gonna make it just fine.