I had trouble getting to sleep last night. Then there were coyotes at midnight, just as the drift of dreams was beginning to take hold. It went on for so long I had time to turn on the audio recorder and go outside.

Now you get to hear the sound of this ruckus, too:

At first I didn’t comprehend what it was. Coyotes generally don’t come this close to the house because of the dogs, and the dogs had been barking non-stop prior to this so they must have known they were creeping around out there.

I don’t lock our chickens up although they do have a coop to sleep in and nests for eggs. Rarely one is lost to a predator because we have an awesome team of guard dogs with Badger and Bobbie Sue. They did a great job last night, too. This morning they are all tuckered out from the barking they had to do all night long.

These dogs would not do well in an urban environment because of the barking. But they’re the only reason we have chickens at all because the coons, coyotes, foxes and bobcats would have eaten them all by now.