As I got out of my Silver Saturn 4 door sedan, loaded with my work for the day, I felt something wasn’t right. I even had the thought that I should take my thick walking stick I had found on another path. The stick had fallen from a big tree and was the right length and thickness for me. I didn’t even have to break off any twigs or branches. But, I left it in the car. I had my 50 pound, blue heeler, black shepherd mixed dog, Lily off leash.
Off we went on our walk to the top of the Auburn Confluence of the west and north forks of the American river. I hadn’t been out there for over a month so I was thrilled to be walking again.
It was early and I always had a concern for early morning predators…coyotes, bears, mountain lions….but anyway…here we went.
I had my blackberry earplug headset on and had called my friend and business partner Deborah when Lily suddenly stopped, shaking with the joy of a possible pursuit. I pulled out one of my earplugs. I couldn’t hear a thing, except Deb with them on. Lily stopped being interested and I didn’t hear anything so we carried on.
I kept one earplug out so I could listen. The fact that it was early morning had my attention. Then in about 500 feet in front of me a young coyote pranced out on the path and started trotting away from Lily and Lily took her stance, ready for pursuit.
Everything happened at once. I shouted “Sit!” at Lily. Lily instantly sat. Then I heard the bushes shaking up to my right about six feet up the hill behind me. I turned and looked as I saw a large alpha male looking straight at Lily. Lily and I were between the young pup and the alpha male, so as slowly and quickly as I could I got to Lily and put on her leash.
All this time I was shouting into the phone as loud as I could with Deb listening to me as I described what was happening.
When Liana, my daughter, was 13 years old, I wrote my clients and let them know that my daughter wanted to train with Bengal tigers. I was amazed at how many people wanted to contribute to her training. As it turned out, I got to train too. I was very glad for the training.
Four rules:
- Do not make any sudden moves
- Move Slowly
- Shout loudly
- Move toward the predator NOT away
The ploy was obvious having been with the tigers, which was to separate Lily from me. Draw the prey away from the human. The young coyote had trotted down the road to draw Lily into following her. However with my shout, Lily sat.
The coyotes’ plan was to get the prey between the young coyote and the pack. The young coyote was trotting toward Lily as I got to her. Keeping my body facing the hair raised alpha, I turned my head and shouted at the pup, “Stop!” The spindly young’un had not learned to be the aggressor yet so my shout stopped it in its tracks.
I instantly leashed Lily without stooping over by bending my knees, still facing the male. As I stared and shouted at the alpha male, I realized there was a female off to the left on the same side and two more that looked like coyotes, but also somewhat like dogs up in the bushes behind. That was when I realized we were in real trouble. We would have been in enough trouble if the father and son were out looking for prey for the young whelp to practice on…but a pack. A pack was serious business.
I knew I had to get Lily and I out from between the pup and the alpha. Lily was a pain because she was struggling against the leash to go play with the pup. I finally pulled her up against the back of my knees and started toward the male.
I went between describing everything to Deb loudly on the phone to, “You are not going to attack me. Do you understand? I am leaving now and you are not going to attack me!” to the pack.
It was easy to scare the young coyote away, but I knew not to be aggressive toward the pack. Nothing like an invitation to pounce.
It took me several minutes to edge past the pack staring at me from the hillside. As I passed them I turned so I was still facing them, backing up until I was out of their territory. At one point I picked up my pace when I was about 20 feet away from them and they immediately when into trot mode. Not a good thing!
I stopped and shouted, “See I’ve stopped!” I waited until they were stopped and started backing up at a snail’s pace again.
Finally they turned and left. I had officially left their territory.
I knew that it was over so I walked backward until I was around a hill and then I turned and went back to the car.
I am one of those people who is completely calm and calculating during an emergency and then everything hits after the emergency has passed.
I knew I shouldn’t try to go home, so I went to our lake and canal near where we live to walk until the adrenalin surge calmed down. We crossed the gorgeous full lake, brimming with light beams from the sun crisscrossing over geese and ducks as it highlighted their colors. The beauty of an adrenalin rush was that the senses became so heightened.
I had my blackberry playing my favorite radio station Pandora, tears were streaming down my eyes in the gratitude of having made it and being so present to the beauty of the day.
The shock wave finally hit full on. I dropped to my knees and gagged from the sudden terror roaring through me. Eventually it passed and I rolled over on my back, Lily licking me on the face, oblivious to what had happened as I waited until the aftershock passed.
Liana called me the minute she could and praised me for remembering what to do. She added, “Mama, always carry a few rocks if there aren’t rocks where you are going and sticks.” Throwing things is almost always a deterrent!
So I guess next time, I will wear my big pocket jeans full of rocks, carry a big stick, and keep Lily on a leash near me, especially if it is the dawn of the day.
edited by my beloved Sapphire
