Cats!

No I don't have a cat but I was glad to see one or two last night and this morning.

Backtracking...last night I was alerted by phone about 9:00 PM that our sheep were disturbed, acting like they were being chased. There have been two kills in the past couple of weeks so there is concern that a local coyote pack is getting even more dangerous, and/or that a domestic dog is getting into the field somehow. So even though it was late I drove over to the field to see what I could see. What greeted me in the headlights was an unconcerned tabby cat sitting calmly near the buildings. I let Coal out to go find the sheep in the darkness and we brought them in and counted them. All present and accounted for. No predator to be seen.

This morning I went back to feed in the daylight. All the sheep were still there. Two cats greeted me this time at the field. I have to think that had a coyote or dog been in with the sheep last night that the cats would not have been so calm, since they could be prey too. The only thing that makes sense at this point is that the cats' eyes glinted in the darkness and made the sheep think there was a fox or coyote in the field and that's why they started running last night. It's easy to understand why the sheep would be jumpy.

We're hoping that's all it is for now. If the cats are there and calm, it must mean that no dog or coyote has been by lately. Let's hope.