THE COYOTE CALL

                                  By Jane DeJong                 April 2008

     It started out like any normal day, the sun came up, and the dogs outside kept guard of the farm as they always did. Day after day, night after night. However, today would be different. Today would be an emotional roller coaster of events.

     Kassie, my 8year old, and her son King David spend their days hunting rodents, and watching over the farm with remarkable skepticism. The one job they take seriously is their position on the farm. They are protectors of 100 acres of land, and all that dwell on it. That is their job, and they love it.

     In our neck of the woods, coyotes have become an increasing problem. With 37 of the nuisance canines being shot in the area this winter, our dogs are constantly chasing them off the property. These wild coyotes have become hungry this winter, and now seem to have lost all sense of fear. They are coming closer to the buildings and are stealing farm animals and pets for food.  We have always been spared the result of their hunger simply because the dogs are always ready and able, refusing to back away and show defeat. This is their farm and these are their animals.

     Wednesday afternoon was the first beautiful day we have had this spring. The sun was finally shining and the warmth felt good on the face. It was time to get the horses out of the barn and put them in the side pasture. I walked past the dogs who lay sprawled out on the laneway soaking up the sun. I decided I would not wake them and tip toed past the two and into the barn. 

     It took a lot longer then I suspected to remove the mountain of snow that prohibited me from opening the pasture door, but an hour later the job was done and the horses shot out into the field frolicking and kicking. I never tire from seeing such energy being released. Expecting the dogs to awaken from the commotion I looked forward to seeing them run the fence line with the horses in excitement. However, all was quiet.

Walking towards the house, I took a quick glance around and found nothing.  No sign of any dogs, just nothing. Strange, very eerily strange.

     Once in the house, my daughter told me she heard some ferocious barking going on out side just after they arrived off the school bus. This was between 3:30 and 4: 00.

     “ It was not our dogs… I am sure Mom, I know our dogs and that sounded nothing like them.”

       At this point, I assumed Kassie and David had spotted a Coon and chased it up a tree out in the back field, or something to that effect. They will be back. They never go far. They never stray away.

     That night I fully expected to find them both lying on the back porch as always. Coming home from Bible study, they were not here. I spent the next hour walking around the farm calling their names. Any second they were going to come bounding across the yard, right?  Nothing.  Coyotes started to come to mind. Could they have been called out? Could they have strayed so far from home after the coyotes that they cannot find their way back?

     My wonderful husband tried to reassure me they would be back by morning, but that did not help my fitful night. I kept getting up all night and checking the back porch.

No sign of them.

     When morning arrived and there was still no sign, I knew something was terribly wrong. These dogs do not leave home. If they are gone this long, something is preventing them from coming home. Terrible images revolved through my head and tormented my mind.  A mind can be a fascination of details and memories but it can also hold you captive to its insane negative thoughts and pictures.  Boy oh boy did I let it run wild.

     My first call was to our local dog catcher. I wanted him to know that the dogs were missing in case he got a call from anyone who saw them on their property. He was quick to tell me of the problems with coyotes and their sly maneuvers in order to find food. This did not calm my fears one small bit.

     Apparently, a pack of coyotes will send one of the animals out into a field alone while the others stay back. This lone coyote will call out the unaware farm dog and as it comes closer to investigate, the pack will pounce on the dog and kill it. It usually only happens with one dog, seldom two. There is safety in numbers. There you go Jane, something to think about.

     I searched the area for four hours. I called every neighbor within 5 miles. I prayed and I cried. All I could imagine was that the coyotes had gotten the best of both dogs and they were laying dead somewhere. In addition, to top it off, I would never find them dead or alive.  I imagined Kassie being hurt and David not wanting to leave her, or vise versa. I had to keep my senses, because this worrying was starting to make me feel sick to my stomach.

     One farmer I had stopped to ask about the dogs said he saw fresh coyote tracks out back so he knows they are close by. Another said she heard the same crazy barking my daughter heard, picked up through her monitor in the horse barn. She lives 3 kilometers down the road.  How far had they gone, and where could they be?

     I had all but given up hope when I was heading down a back road four kilometers from home when a neighbor coming in the opposite direction flagged me down with a big wave out the window. Coming to a crawling stop beside him, I braced myself for what he was about to say. I had left a message on his machine earlier in the day and his house settled back into a dense bush. Maybe he found my dogs. I didn’t want to know!

     “You looking for your big white dogs?” he asked. My heart sunk.  What does he know? What was he about to tell me?

     “I just saw them on your road heading home. I stopped and tried to get them into the back of the truck but they wanted no part of me. They were headed home and nothing was stopping them. They should be there right about now, except one of them is hurt.”

Hurt! Who, how bad, where?  After a quick, “Thanks, for your trouble’ I put my foot to the floor and kicked gravel and mud for 100 yards behind me.

      Again, I prayed.  “Thank -you, Lord, for bringing them home, but please don’t let them be hurt too bad.”  I had seen in pictures what a coyote could do to a calf or sheep; it would be no different with a dog, maybe worse.

     Pulling into the laneway I was welcomed by the site I had longed to see for the past 24 hours. Two big white dogs, sprawled out on the laneway, relaxed, and at home. Their heads popped up when they saw me pull into my spot.

     Kassie had been in a fight. Her paw was torn and bloody, her mouth has a deep cut across it and she had a chunk taken out of her  side. But she was fine. She was home, and she was fine. David strutted over to see what I was doing to his Mom and I could swear I heard him say, “It’s ok, I took good care of her.”  And he did. I am sure of it.

     I have my own ideas of what happened in those twenty-four hours they were gone. I know these dogs.

     When I went to the barn, the coyotes were already in the fence row. Of course I would not see them, and the dogs were sleeping. While I was in the barn Kassie got called out. She is always the first to chase a coyote or coon and she tore off into the field after the coyote. Kassie was attacked first because she was the first one there, and the older dog. David was not too far behind, and I believe when he got to the scene the coyotes backed off. Seldom will they take on two dogs, especially when one is a big stud. David and Kassie chased the pack back to the woods three kilometers down the road, and after the pack was finally no more threat to them and gone, Kassie was too tired and sore to make it back home again. Quite often a hurt dog will wonder off by themselves and lick their wounds for a day before returning home, and I am sure this is what happened. David and Kassie stayed in the bush for the night, and made the long walk home the following day.  David never left her side. How sweet is that?

     I have always known that ‘faithful’ is the Kuvaszok middle name, but now I have seen it displayed firsthand in my own two dogs.

     As she lay injured, her son lay beside her. I imagine it was a long cold night out there in the bush, in unfamiliar surroundings, scared and alone. They had each other and that was all they needed.

     The sun of a new day brought the pair to a new realization. They needed to get home to the farm, where they had a job to do. So they journeyed home, together.

     What an amazing breed of loyal friend, to the farm, to the animals, to our family, and to each other.