Cynical Rantings: It's critter season again

Another spring season is upon us, and for me and my house, that means the critters are out and about.

I planted my spring flowers about a month or so ago, maybe longer. For the most part, the critters have stayed out of the plantings . . . with the exception of the two pots on my patio where I planted rose moss/moss rose (I never know if it's rose moss or moss rose).

I'm pretty sure it's a squirrel that keeps insisting on throwing the poor moss/roses completely out of the pot and onto the ground. Almost everyday, I come home and see the poor thing lying on the ground next to the pot. And everyday, I put it back in.

It's really not a fun game for me, but I have a feeling that the squirrel LOVES tormenting me in this way. I finally bought some Critter-B-Gone powder to sprinkle in the pot. We'll see how that works.

If it works, I might by more in bulk and see if it works on a few annoying people I know that I'd like to get rid of . . . you know who you are.

Anyway, it seems like every new critter season introduces a new critter into my backyard ecosystem/wildlife sanctuary. Last year it was rabbits.

Frankly, I don't know why animals keep coming here. It rarely works out well for them. I don't do it intentionally, but if you've read much of this blog you should know the sad tales of the accidental animal accidents that have plagued this house since Day 1 of my living here.

So far this season, no animal mishaps. Maybe my yard has turned over a new leaf.

This morning while I was making my coffee, I looked out of my kitchen window to gaze upon my fabulous backyard. I tell ya, there is nothing quite like a fabulous green, blooming yard in the morning to start your day off right.

As I looked out, something caught my eye near my shed. Some sort of critter was creeping along the fence, and I just caught the tail end of it going behind my shed.

It wasn't a squirrel, nor a rabbit, nor one of the neighborhood cats. Frankly, I am not quite sure what it was. But I have some thoughts. These thoughts don't make me happy.

From the color of it, and the size of it's back leg (I never saw the front of it), and most importantly, the bushy-ness of its tail, I'm pretty sure it was a coyote.

I don't know if coyotes can jump over a tall wood fence, but if they can, I'm pretty sure there was a coyote in my yard this morning.

Naturally, I had to go out and see if I could see the whole thing. I'm pretty much one of those idiot girls in a slasher movie that goes to check out the mysterious noise in her high heels, only to have to run downstairs in the heels while the man with a chainsaw chases her down the stairs.

I heard in my head that voice that screams at the movie screen when the idiot girl opens the door, "Don't go out there! Whatever it is will eat you! All you have in your hand is a hot cup of coffee if it attacks you!"

So, I creeped outside towards the shed, yet not actually going anywhere near it. I walked around it without going behind it where the fence is, hoping to catch a glimpse of the critter. But I never saw it. It was either hiding in the crap behind the shed, or it jumped over the fence into the alley . . . or it was under the shed waiting for me to get close enough to jump on my face and bite my nose off.

I went back inside.

So, I'm not really sure what I saw. But it was definitely not one of the usual critters.

I have noticed that there are fewer rabbits this year. I've only seen the one big one a couple of times.

Coyotes eat rabbits.

After some extensive Googling for "bushy tailed animals that could live in my yard in Texas, possibly behind my shed," I came up with two other options: