Banshee Wails

We have had several relatively warm days so our snow is almost all gone–which is good because the car we are borrowing from our friend doesn’t have 4-wheel drive and couldn’t make it up the driveway in the snow. The car got stuck the first time EJ drove it home and for several days afterward EJ had to park it at the bottom of the driveway and walk to/from it. We noticed that several of our neighbors were also parking at the bottom of their driveways.

Last week we talked to the people at the auto shop about our truck problems and asked for an estimate of how much it might cost to get it repaired. They estimated it might cost around $5,000. Yikes. EJ and I have spent the last few days discussing our options, which aren’t many. I can’t remember the exact year of the truck, but it’s approaching 20 years old. In many ways, it’s not worth the expense of repairing it, but used vehicles are so expensive right now that we could easily spend $5,000 and get a vehicle with more problems than the one we have. So we are probably going to have to get it fixed. Sigh.

I’ve been moving our trail camera around, trying to find a good location for it. I define “a good location” as a place where there’s a good chance I’ll capture wildlife. A few days ago I finally decided to place it where it focuses on the large boulders in the foreground, which are surrounded by apple trees, and the driveway and forest in the background. I’ve been making slight adjustments in the height and angle in an attempt to catch any wildlife on either the rock or the ground. I’ve been changing the settings for the length of the videos so they are long enough but not too long.

Deer often come through this area. In fact, I saw a deer headed that way this morning when I took Hannah outside, but we spooked it and it ran off. Bummer. So far I haven’t gotten any deer, but I have gotten two opossums, an opossum and a mouse, and a crow, who flew away with an egg I had left for it. I’m still trying to make friends with the crow nation so I occasionally put a dirty or thin-shelled egg out on the rocks for them. I’m having fun with the trail cam.

Yesterday morning I was looking out the window and saw two animals running full speed through the yard. At first, I thought they were deer but then I noticed that the second animal had a scruffy, feral face. You know how you see something that you don’t expect to see and for a moment you feel confused? The animal had long legs and a face so feral that it reminded me of a dingo or hyena. I thought in brief confusion, “What is a dingo/hyena doing in Michigan?” before I realized it must be a coyote. Because EJ has traveled to or from work in the early mornings, depending on the shift he worked, he has seen numerous coyotes over the years. However, I’ve never seen a coyote this close. The only other time I saw a coyote it was quite far away within the forest. I don’t know if the first animal I saw yesterday was also a coyote or a deer that the coyote was chasing. They were running so fast that by the time I realized they weren’t deer, they were already passing by.

The animals ran near the boulders where my trail cam is located and I was hoping it would capture them so I could study what I had seen–and show EJ. I waited a few minutes and then went outside to see what the camera had caught. I have to be quite close to the trail cam to activate its app on my phone. As soon as I stepped out the door, I heard coyotes yipping in the ravine which dips down just inside the forest. I couldn’t see the coyotes, but I captured their wails with my phone camera. Coyotes sound really spine-chillingly spooky–like the wail of banshees.

I returned to the house and waited for a while longer before I went back out to check my cam for photos/videos. Turns out it had completely missed all the drama. Bummer!

Meanwhile, there was Theo, our outside cat, who is very lovable but also a bit of a dunderhead. As soon as the two animals ran passed, he ran out onto the rocks and peered after them! Apparently, he’s never heard that “curiosity killed the cat.” Of course, as I walked toward the ravine where the predatory coyotes wailed, I did think about those movies in which someone hears a strange noise and walks toward it to investigate, not suspecting–as we the audience do–that a killer, monster, or alien is lurking in the shadows to ambush them. Maybe I am just as much a curious dunderhead as Theo. Maybe we can’t help being drawn toward strange noises.

I caught Theo and put him in the garage. I didn’t shut the pet door that exits into the fenced-in garden because I thought he’d be smart enough to stay in where it was safe. I should have known better. I looked out the window and saw him running toward the ravine. When I stepped outside and heard the coyotes yipping, I was afraid they had gotten Theo. I started to call for him, but then decided to go through the garage and into the garden so if he responded to my call, he’d be running into a safe enclosure. However, when I opened the garage door, he was already inside so I shut the pet door and kept him in the garage for several hours–until I figured the coyotes were long gone. I’ve only ever heard coyotes at night–and not very often–which is why we lock all the outside animals safely in the coop in the evenings. Having a coyote run through the yard in the daytime is a very odd occurrence.

I just discovered that I can create several different channels at my Rumble account so I’m working on creating two: One for trail camera videos and the other for everything else. I will post links if I get it set up.