Living out in the country has so many advantages, at least in my estimation. But there are also some drawbacks.

One of the beauties of living in the country, especially the mountains is the abundance of wildlife that lives in the same area. But the downside of that is we do have predators; coyotes, cougars, bears, owls (yes, those are predators to small creatures like puppies and cats), coyotes and wolves.

And that’s why we choose to always have a couple of big dogs on the property to patrol and keep the predators away from other animals. It’s best to have at least a couple big dogs so they can back each other up in a fight.

The other morning I let all the Cavaliers and Poodles out for their morning potty break and exercise in their fenced-in yards. I stayed out in the yard to finish outdoor chores and noticed they were extra noisy and wouldn’t stop barking.

I could hear big Ben down the hill with his powerful bark warning something to get off his territory. Cajsa was not in the yard so I assumed she must’ve been with him (as a not so brave “back up”).

Suddenly, hubby hollered at me to get True (the Reba/Sundae son who also climbs fences and wander the property like his parents) and then hubby grabbed some protection and headed down the hill. He had seen the rascally coyote! (And not the ding-batted one from our childhood cartoon days).

He came back shortly to report the coyote had disappeared into the woods. Good.

We continued on with our morning and were pleased when our youngest stopped by for a visit after getting off his weekend shift at the local EMS. We were all standing around chatting in the garage when Cajsa walked up to greet our son.

He then commented, “What happened to Cajsa’s leg? She’s bleeding.”

Of course, I immediately went over to check her out. Apparently, she must’ve made an attempt to retreat back home and Wylie Coyote snagged her as she exited the scene.

One leg had just a couple small abrasions.

The other leg had a couple of slits sliced into her skin side-by-side like a couple of razor-sharp teeth had made contact with it.

We got her cleaned up and bandaged and talked with our vet. She should be just fine, but I’m keeping her inside to keep the area clean and dry and so I can monitor her for swelling or infection.

Aww…just one of the risks of living where we do!