Whenever I mention the nocturnal creature that has been attacking animals in my part of the county, my colleagues look skeptical. If some rough beast has been slouching around the area eviscerating animals, they wonder, why haven't they heard about it?
If they spent some time out in my part of the county, they'd hear about it. The local newspapers have been full of reports about a series of vicious attacks on animals, all within a mile or two of my house. The death toll so far includes two pygmy goats, a golden retriever, and a 750-pound adult female donkey, which apparently fought pretty hard to protect her offspring but was still brought down by whatever is out there.
Local animal control officials are stymied, so they've brought in a predation expert (and how would you like that job description on your resume?) to examine the remains of the unfortunate animals. So far they've ruled out bears and coyotes, which are known to occasionally roam these woods, and they believe it's either a pack of wild dogs or one honking big vicious dog. (Dog vs. donkey: that's got to be a really big dog.)
Those of us who live in the affected area have been warned to stay in at night and carry protection, although what sort of protection will fend off something capable of bringing down a enraged mama donkey? Are vicious dog packs deterred by pepper spray? Will my tiny flashlight intimidate whatever is out there?
I'm certain that something is out there. Last night our dog, who rarely barks, joined the neighbors' hounds in barking frantically for five solid hours, starting at around 3 a.m. when the clamor woke me up. The dogs sometimes bark when deer are crossing the meadow or when raccoons get into the garden, but those incidents last 20 or 30 minutes and then stop, while last night's barking went on and on. I tried to get back to sleep but I kept being haunted by questions: what mysterious beast is out there riling up the dog population? Is it just a persistent herd of deer or has Sasquatch's cousin invaded our turf?
Whatever it is, I hope it moves on quickly. I've had about enough of Things that go Bark in the Night.
1 comment:
IT'S EL CHUPACABRA!!!
Seriously, look it up. It's name means "the Goat Sucker" in Spanish. A woman in Cuero, Texas claims to have caught two in 2007. http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,307576,00.html
I even wrote a poem about it in the style of Andrew Hudgins for Dr. Sullivan's poetry class.
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