Coyote taking cats near Ferncliff and High School Road.

artbeco

Actually seen off Byron. A friend of mine who lives on Byron let her cat out into her backyard in the morning, and sat down to drink her tea, looked out and saw a coyote run across her yard with her cat in its mouth. She dashed out and screamed thinking she could startle it into dropping the cat, but the coyote just kept going. Later she heard that coyotes do kill immediately when they pick an animal up. This was a beloved kitty (I think about 5 years old, so not old, slow or sick), who will be much missed. So, if you live in that area, think twice about letting your cats be outside at all.

It’s interesting to me how in the same month, the island can support a dog spa that advocates, “Every pet is a unique individual who deserves to look their best” yet we can’t afford this same right to the native animals, even if it does mean letting them feast on a few cats here and there. Here’s an idea. Keep your cats inside. There’s a reason animal shelters request keeping indoor cats after you rescue or adopt them. We don’t need a cat infestation here, thats disgusting. Luckily there are coyotes out there for population control. You should be proud that you and your pet are doing their part to sustain the island’s natural ecosystem by feeding these important keystone species. I also don’t think that you could consider a five year old cat a kitten. But I like how you tried to cover your bases for all of the other self absorbed out there who would think “My cat is not old, sick, or slow so surely this doesn’t pertain to me and as such I couldn’t possibly be affected by it.”

Couhousing community maintained trail.

There’s a neighborhood trail that we pass every day on our walks into town, and every day our six year old asks if this is going to be the day we take it. On our way to get ice cream last night we decided to take that trail. The community maintained path meandered for a few blocks through the natural habitat left between two parcels of land. It eventually led to a co-housing community of cottages sharing common areas and a community garden. The pedestrian neighborhood connected each home with walkways set in a flourishing wild garden. Like most landscapes on the island the flora and fauna blended with it’s natural surroundings. It often feels as if I have come upon an alpine meadow in the Cascades. The co-housing community immediately reminded me of In Watermelon Sugar. I imagined community dinners, a garden, and meeting hall. As the trail wound through the neighborhood we came through such a garden. Well maintained produced was planted in nearly every available space. Asparagus shot up to eye level yearning for the July sun. “Does the trail go through the garden?” I asked one of the residence who was maintaining the grounds. “Oh sure!” The trail ended on the other side of the garden at a gated fence a few blocks away from where we had ventured in.
It didn’t take long to find the Co-housing’s home page once I got home and it seemed most of my instincts of the place had been right. As for the In Watermelon Sugar thing, despite the coyotes moving into the surrounding area, I doubt there will ever be the same problem with tigers. Which also makes me think that I may be living in the land of forgotten things.

Semi related reading:
Winslow Cohousing Group
Richard Brautigan
In Watermelon Sugar
The ins and outs of Richard Brautigan, and his novel In Watermelon Sugar
Two new coyote sightings, and another “coexistence” chat.