coyote attack!

  Those of you who know me know I live in a side valley to a steep walled valley in the central coast of California. These valleys are formed by the rising of the earth due to the Pacific Plate pushing against the North American Plate and the water erosion caused by rain. The San Andres Fault lies just over the hill not 10 miles as the crow flies from where I live. Each of the valleys around here have steep sides and creeks matriculating to a single river flowing to the Pacific Ocean. Once orginal growth redwoods it was heavily logged at the turn of the previous century. In fact very few of the orginal trees remain outside State Parks, these were too remote and difficult to log. Now all is covered with second growth redwoods, oak and madrone now around 100 years old.
    Get the picture? Heavily wooded rural, deer, mountain lions, bobcats, people, coyotes, chickens.

     So on Monday I was in my living room around 1245 when I heard a commotion outside at the same time my eyes were drawn to movement in my neighbors horse corral. I saw a brown blur and recognized the sound of swawking chickens, my neighbor has 6 or so she lets run loose. Suddenly one chicken darts under the fence and crosses the road into my neighbors driveway followed by the coyote. At first I had thought it was another neighbors dog which gets out occasionally.
    The coyote caught the chicken in the middle of the drive in a POOF of feathers! The chicken escaped and turned and ran up the lawn, whilst the coyote went back across the street to the corral with a ring of white down around its mouth.
    I called the chicken owner and left a message. I must admit I was torn between watching nature at work or saving the chickens. Then I went outside.
   My neighbor was out with the dogs chasing off the coyote. The rest of the chickens were up in a tree and there was about 100 feathers in the driveway, but no blood.
   As we were out looking around cars started to drive by, one of the neighbor girls was having a birthday party for her fifth birthday. Little kids, yummy for coyotes... so I spread the word about the attack.
   I never saw the coyote that day but the chicken owner saw it circle her house after she had chased it off but no chickens were lost in this story.