Sitting in the embrace of the Armorer's Throne (the one in front of the TV) and chatting on the phone with Old Blue of Bill and Bob's Excellent Afghan Adventure when all hell breaks loose in the meadow across the street.
Coyotes. A lot of coyotes.
Dogs. Two of them in the assault, and one held back by the fence, guarding the goats. Otherwise Buffy the Coyote Slayer would have been in the fight, too.
The birds are out.
SWWBO drops what she's doing and moves out smartly to get the birds in.
I tell Old Blue, "Hate to cut you off, dude, but we're surrounded by coyotes and it sounds like they're heading for the birds: C-YA!"
I grab the Bushmaster O.R.C. of Argghhhh!, slap in the ready magazine, lock and load, put it on safe, turn on the sight and head out to hunt some coyotes.
SWWBO is taking care of the birds, the dogs are over by the hen houses, and the coyotes are on the run, over to the west, yippin' and yappin'.
Looks like things are under control. Darn. I was hoping to cull the coyote pack of the ones brave enough to make a move on the birds.
The birds are in, the dogs are alert, following SWWBO as she secures the birds and collects the eggs that were laid today. Looks like things are just fine.
Wrong.
We head into the house, and the dogs head for chow.
When they're done finishing up this morning's leftovers, SWWBO reaches down for the bowls to get them their dinner.
Heh. What's this?
There's blood in the bowl. Blood? What the heck?
There's blood in the other bowl.
Both Gunner and Kiki are now wounded combat veterans. Bite wounds on the face and neck. Paw-to-paw, jaw-to-jaw combat. Kiki looks like she got the worst of it.
And the birds probably don't appreciate it.
We do.
No whining, except from Gunner, because he wants to go back and get him some more coyote!
Kiki, the eld warrior, is just licking her wounds. There will be another day. No point in rushing out now. Leave that for the kids.
Indeed.
Buffy stands guard.
Update. Patience pays. I went out and checked on the goats and Buffy, and then just stood and watched from inside the barn. The window was open.
The O.R.C. has taken another scalp. But dang that thing is loud inside a building.
Give both Gunner and Kiki a big bear hug and I want to see the scalp pictures...
RG
Ahaha...good job to the Castle Guard, and good job to you, sir! I say instead of purple hearts...liver is purple, right? Dogs love liver, don't they?
Gunner took the salami and the cheese.
Both have gotten penicillin shots. SWWBO is living that never-chased-dream of being a vet.
Do most dogs like cheese? I know the Captain's dog on Enterprise was always eating cheese, but I thought that was just a quirk...
One of my cats has to take a thyroid suppressant pill every day, and I haven't been able to figure out a good way to get him to take it. I can't put it inside food because he'll just eat the food around it and leave the pill...so I tried rubbing butter on it, and he wouldn't even touch it. All I've been able to do is hold him down, drop it in his mouth, and hold it closed until he swallows, and it breaks my heart to do it...so I think somebody needs to come up with pills that animals actually enjoy taking...I mean they make chewable candy-flavored tablets for kids, right? Why not make chewable beef-flavored pills for animals?
At least you got one of the opportunists.
Bragging rights to the first to make the ghosted connection in there.
Good on the guard, John! I'm glad to hear they got shots. Who knows what Coyotes carry...
AFSis - I'll start to worry if they start carrying automatics.
Josh - yep. Major General Chamberlain is one of my heroes.
Though, IIRC, the decision to charge was made by the troops, with Chamberlain making a virtue of the vice caused by the confusion when McLaw's Alabamians culminated on their charge, and troops of the 20th moved on them on their own.
Sounds like a good idea. I haven't had any bacon grease around because I haven't had bacon in ages (I usually make Canadian bacon or ham), but I'll have to pick some up and try that.
I even have one of those George Foreman grills which is really good at draining off all the grease and fat, and it drips into this convenient little trough thing.
Pilling a cat is nearly impossible- greased or not.
It's not so much that it's impossible...I've figured out that I have hold him upside down with his face pointing up, put pressure on either side of his jaws until he opens his mouth, then drop them in...then I have to hold his mouth ALMOST closed, but not completely, and after a while he'll swallow it. I can make it work, but it's a pain in the ass, and he HATES it, and always makes me feel bad for doing it. I just want to find a way that he'll take the pills willingly.
"Gunner One is RedCon One, request QRF, over."
"One, Main, QRF rolling, time now, over."
"Main, QRF, PID is good, RedCon One, going Black and engaging, over."
"QRF, Main, roger."
"Main, QRF, enemy engaged, one probable enemy KIA at this time."
"Roger."
"Main, One, engaged enemy forces times five, we are Amber Amber Amber, one enemy KIA, RTB with two minor CF WIA, will Casevac to your pos, thanks for the assist, out."
"Roger One, go to Condition Amber upon ECP reentry, break, QRF maintain your pos until Hunter Three Five can sweep the AO, how copy?"
"Solid copy, Main. QRF standing by."
"Main out."
Sweeet...
Before you do that, you want to find out if the med is supposed to be time-released or not. That technique shouldn't be applied to a drug that is supposed to be slow release.
I can't really say...I seem to remember that in Michael Shaara's portrayal, Chamberlain was solidly in control of the situation, and gave the order to fix bayonets and prepare to charge because everybody was running out of ammo. Of course, that was at least a little bit fictionalized...
Oh and in the film adaptation, he captures a Confederate officer with his saber after the Rebel's pistol misfires. Badass, huh?
Or tuna...
Well. at least the coyotes waited until I was long gone. 'Magine you'd have had me digging holes and sharpening pikes for bodies and skulls.
And those who've never met Kiki have no idea what an effort it is for the girl to get her schwerve on since there's days she can't get up on the couch. But, dang, she's still got a huge heart. That's one tough dog.
Way to go, Exterior Guard. Sorry the dogs got wounded - but I bet they made the coyotes hurt too. And then John got to pick another off - yahoo!
Bravo Zulu to your pickets.
Good sum-up, Sergeant B.
SWEEET
And what do you use for 'yotes? Swift A-frames? Nosler ballistic tips?
And you should email Ms Boyda concerning your quite legitimate use of your 'assault weapon.' Just to remind her what a gigantic piece of idiocy that Land bill is.
Cheddar'll be easier on 'em until the wounds close up, though...
Counting Little Round Top, I can think of three occasions where a timely bayonet charge earned a Medal of Honor for the commander leading the charge. There was LTC Robert Cole of the 101st Abn in Normandy, and CPT Lewis Millet of the 27th Inf in Korea. Do any others come to mind?
Ammo? NATO-standard ball milsurp.
And Democrat Ms. Boyda no longer holds her seat. Republican Ms. Jenkins took it from her - and sits to the left of Boyda on gun issues.
And here's a one-man bayonet charge:
Unless my memory is failing me here, and it could be, in the film adaptation I was referring to of Michael Shaara's account, it's not a Confederate officer's sword but rather his own, which he draws before the charge and uses in a general flailing and waving-over-the-head manner to encourage his troops, and while barreling down the side of this hill, waving his saber over his head, he comes upon this Confederate officer and there ya go.
As for pilling cats, it is an art. Try pill pockets, gooey pockets you can put meds in, or have a compounding pharmacy make chews or a topical prep that can be smeared in the ear. Hope this is helpfull
The dead critter, shot in moonless darkness by the glow of a mercury vapor lamp, tumbled off a steep cliff and into the creek.
The days of the Armorer going wandering around rocky icy terrain at night with no illum looking for bodies and blood trails is long past. I shoot another one that has the courtesy to fall dead at my feet on the lawn, okay, I'll get the camera.
By yesterday morning, the Scavengers of Argghhh! would have left little to photograph that looked like a coyote. See note about wandering around rocky, icy terrain (though, admittedly, less ice now - which just makes crossing the creek more annoyingly icky), and doing it in daylight... except that at this time of year, daylight is also the time the Armorer heads off to the office. And sunset is the time he drives back from the office. And while the distance of the shot was about 30 meters, since the Armorer isn't going to go lumbering down the cliff (as that would likely turn into tumbling down the cliff) it's about a quarter mile to get to the location of the body.
So.... if there's anything left on Saturday, maybe I'll feel like taking a walk. Except it's likely to be raining...
That said, Gunner may scarf up a piece or two and bring it for show and tell. He's done that before. I collect guns, helmets and fire control devices. He collects dead stuff. Go figure.
What you are in need of is some experienced predator hunters or related intel. With the proper tools (predator caller, instruction, and heavy camouflage) you can bring those pesky varmints into your kill zone of choice and put them on the defensive.
My brother and I have been doing this for years, you should check out some electronic predator callers as an offensive tool in your defense of the castle's avian residents.
I'd say those dogs have earned a knighthood at a minimum!
Our vet also thinks that the may not actually be full-blood coyotes, but "codogs," hybrids that are mixes of coyotes and feral dogs. Apparently the only way to tell is to kill 'em and skin 'em and measure bones - but coyotes don't pack hunt, apparently codogs do.
I dunno. I just know we're doing our best to make the Castle a place they want to avoid. Even if it does look like a KFC take-out joint to canids.