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After last weeks humbling incident, I’m happy to report I’ve had no canine visitors since to test my hospitality.
There was one evening when the neighbors came by looking for wayward cattle, and that darn Border Collie was with them, but the boss made sure I was inside where I couldn’t assert my territorial dominance.
The weather has been near perfect – not too hot, not rainy or muddy and only a few frosty mornings. This time of year that means all sorts of critters are roaming about though.
Yesterday we had an incident in which I was certainly not interested in defending my domain; let me tell you what happened.
It was midday, me and the boss were outside working on some flowerbeds. That means the boss was digging, weed pulling, raking, planting.
I as foreman was overseeing the work from a nice shady spot.
Suddenly we heard a huge KER-SPLASH!! Down in the creek or pond, someone cannon-balled into the water!
Now mom thought it was me, as I often go down for a quick dip, but I was right there, on alert.
I stared down the menacing interloper, bravely going to the far edge of the yard. There I set up a decisive and combatant barking. The boss told me later it was a very different bark than usual.
Of course I knew that – this was a different and threatening situation and I had to let everyone know the Heeler was on top of it.
Remember my story about discretion and valor? This was one where I wisely chose not to chase and route out the intruder. I may or may not have seen it, I may know what it was, but I wasn’t going down there!
The boss thinks it was a bear – to make such an enormous splash and keep me in the yard. I’m not telling what I saw.
That splash was too big for a raccoon. Maybe it was Bigfoot. 
This got me wondering about what the wise Ladysmith would think.
Her experiences were mostly after dark, when the scary intruders get bigger and badder!
She says:
The Night Life
Now that I’m older, I prefer to stick closer to home when it gets dark; when I was younger, I did go exploring in the dark – there are all sorts of exciting critters out then – and got into a few tangles; read about one of them here: https://cowdogsadvice.com/2021/03/slippery-slopes-skunks-and-a-little-discernment/
Around here, the night reveals skunks, raccoons, bears and wild cats. I hear coyotes sometimes, and I do not like them at all! In winter, seems it’s dark all the time. I help mom feed, because she hates the darkness and we want to get chores done quick. She isn’t afraid when I’m there.
Chicken Dinner
Finally, we go into the safety of the house, but most at risk in the darkness is our chickens.
They have a good, safe coop and get locked up every night, but in the morning I go sniffing about, and know there have been visitors looking for a chicken dinner!
We Beat Back The Darkness
We have some nifty tools to help protect the coop and keep those critters with bad intentions at bay. Lots of people now are going “back to the land” and are in for a surprise at all the evil awaiting their livestock!
Best of all, is a weird little blinky light. Mom says it imitates the eyes of bigger predators, and , depending how high it is hung, can repel everything from ‘coons to coyotes. I notice after a rain, there are ‘coon tracks all over the road and creek bottoms, but NONE by the coop. We are the only ones around here that have been able to keep chickens, because of those lights. They can’t stop daytime killers, like eagles, but still keep the poor birds safe til the sun comes up. Mom’s secret weapon to scare away night killers: https://amzn.to/2PzYN6i
One repellent I think is funny is made from the urine of bigger, badder critters. Stands to reason I guess – I pee all around to make sure any visitors know there is a Heeler patrolling the grounds. Apparently the business of critter pee is quite an art, with different kinds used to repel and protect everything from coops to gardens. Who knew? And how do you collect pee from bobcats and coyotes? I am reluctant to add the illusion coyotes are nearby, but still this could help out a bit: https://amzn.to/3e86vhI
There is something restorative about the night, even if it it is also fearsome.
We have a fun way to look inside it, by checking out the trail camera. We can watch what animals pass through, although I can sniff them out in the morning and say just who has been visiting, too!
A man named John promises us that “The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness shall not overcome it” [John 1:5]. That is encouraging for sure. Someday, I hear, there will be no more night, like the song says. No more night, no more pain, no more tears… listen to it here: https://youtu.be/4iPIi7sunEU
I’ll take a big splash at high noon anytime, and stay safe inside when the sun sets. And I’m not saying what I saw out there!
