I left my cats out this afternoon when I got home from work. We only let them go outside when we are home. They are pretty well behaved and stay in the area. We do have a greenbelt area behind our house. It is a wetland area which borders on a small pond. It is also the street storm drain runoff area. The cats enjoy slipping under the fence and exploring.

Shortly after I left them out, one of them dashed back from the yard and up onto the deck. She sat on the corner looking intently out towards the back of the yard. She was slightly cowering so something had spooked her. I thought it might be the noisy crows.

I grabbed the water pot and walked out to water the peas. I went around by the greenhouses to check the tomatoes and I saw a coyote just on the other side of the fence. No wonder the cat was spooked. She must have also seen the coyote and ran back to the protection of the house.

I’ve never seen one in the neighborhood. I shouldn’t be surprised. I know there are coyotes in the Puget Sound region and there are stories of seeing them in Seattle. And we had a bear last year about a mile away. But this is the first coyote for us.

I’m not certain how to handle it. The cats love to go outside. I’ll probably need to make certain that I make my presence known and I don’t leave them out late at night.