I read a short article in the Hub about protecting pets from wandering coyotes. They will snatch up small dogs, cats and other pets. Leaving small pets outside if there are coyotes is not a good idea.
My growing up family didn’t deal with coyotes when we lived in Wyoming. However when Dad was called to a church in rural northwest Kansas, coyotes were part of the environment. Their howl can send shivers through the bravest person.
But for all the warnings, the article brought back memories of the little mutt we brought with us from Wyoming to Kansas. Cutie was a scraggly little mutt with curly black and white fur. He was a sweet dog, but didn’t seem real intelligent.
At first Cutie listened to the nightly howls, but never seemed afraid. He also didn’t like having to stay on the ample 160 acres of land around the parsonage that the church members farmed and that allowed us to have a milk cow and a horse. Cutie began wondering off. It worried us for a time. Then we began getting calls from farmers, some 30 miles away. “Hey, we have this little dog here. Someone said he belonged to you.”
At first Dad would go pick up Cutie who, we discovered, loved riding back in the car. Cutie got so well known, for the most part, we stopped getting phone calls. Instead, whenever the farmer was headed our way, he or she simply dropped Cutie off at the road near our drive and opened the door. Cutie would come running back to us on his little legs. One farm family called us to pick up Cutie because he wouldn’t go home. Dad discovered they had tied him to a dog house and fed him. (My guess is they wanted to keep him, but Cutie didn’t do well tied up.)
One of our concerns were the coyotes and other varmints that stalked the night. Cutie seemed to lead a pretty charmed life considering he was little more than a small fur ball without a mean bone in his body. Then we heard him howl. Our little Cutie howled with the best of those coyotes. He almost seemed to communicate with them. It was a hoot to hear that scary sound emanate from his small form. When I got sick, his wriggly body hugging close made me smile in my pain.
Why he was left alone is only speculation, but when dad was called to a church in Iowa, Cutie was still making his excursions. He could do that in Kansas, but not in Iowa. Reluctantly we gave him to a farm family who would allow him to roam at will. For a time we kept in touch and for that time, Cutie was still roaming.
Who knew the mutt we thought not too bright would make so many friends and brighten so many lives by simply being himself. If one little mutt could reach out and brighten lives by his presence, licks, and doggie smile, what stops us from reaching out to brighten the day for someone who needs a lift?
By Carolyn R Scheidies
Published in Kearney Hub as “Cutie and Kansas Coyotes” 2/24/2020
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