Unbelievable!

Our wonderful corgi named Bob, was gone! It was unbelievable!

I have not been very prolific in my writing this week but our week got off to a difficult start. In fact, Monday about 9:00am, I thought, "I can not believe this!"

Bob, our wonderful, obsessed with "fetch", corgi was gone! Unbelievable!

Bob who stays right with us in the vineyard - except if it is hot and he wants the filter house shade.

Bob who never wanders.

Bob who stays inside at night, had gone out to oversee the morning milking with the two milkers. After the milking was finished he stationed himself outside by the door. We had the windows and door open and heard nothing. But, in about an hour, when called to eat, he was gone.

Needless to say, he is greatly missed. After exploring the area around the house and surrounding roads (multiple times), we have basically given up. I guess there is the slim chance that as a male, he caught whiff of a female in heat. The problem is, there are no females around that we know of.

I miss Bob! So does everyone else! It is amazing how much a part of your family a dog becomes! It's still unbelievable that he is gone.

The coyotes have been coming closer to the house, but then again, it was broad daylight and we heard nothing. Nevertheless, we are actively pursuing coyote extermination. They have served the purpose of keeping down the rabbit population in the vineyard and up till now, have not posed a threat. We have a known den of them on our land - at least we know the general area. And, I bought bullets for our gun. Now, I am not a pistol packin' Mama, but I can shoot!

Last week we jumped out of bed about 11:00pm because they were so close to the house. Thankfully, we found before they did, that we had carelessly left the chicken-pen open. We are much more careful now!

Saturday, after working in the vineyard all morning, I had gone to get some water at the filter house. After drinking my fill, I started back to work. Almost to my row, I looked up and there about 80 ft away was a female coyote looking at me! Now, I am not normally brave and I am not sure what possessed me, but I started yelling, waving my hands like a madwoman and took off running at her! I scared her so much she turned tail and ran - thankfully! I really don't know what got into me!

We are also looking into miniature sheep which would be pets, but also, weed eaters and debudders in the vineyard. They would make easy meals - or maybe snacks - for the coyotes. At this point, I just feel as if our lifestyle has been invaded.

Anyway, we must do something.

We have bullets and we have set a couple of traps. If you know of anything else, please let me know - Leave a comment!