Close encounters of the cat kind (plus a couple of coyotes)

My imitation of Mom's scream.

So I'm ambling along the ridge on the western side of Morses Pond, and out of nowhere, a gray and white cat takes a swipe at me. He was hidden in the brush, and fresh from a perusal of the post-Columbus Day soccer tournament detritus at the Lilja fields, I was nosing for something interesting.

Rather than the pizza crust, gummi bears, and a piece of an unidentified candy bar, I discovered earlier (yum), I nearly had a noseful of cat scratch. He took not just one swipe, but several before Dad managed to wrestle me away. Mom did the scream thing, which actually did, I think, manage to scare that cat. I mean, anyone would have been terrified.

Speaking of, the birds under our feeder have been under attack by a gray and white cat, one with a pretty pink collar, and a blackish-brownish cat. (And that's why we call our newly rescued budgie Lucky.) But I fear that they will be terrorized, in turn, by the pair of coyotes I spotted this afternoon on Morses Pond Road. One was trotting down the street; the other was snooping around in the direction of the feeder.

Last year, coyotes attacked two small dogs in Wellesley, killing one. So, cats, beware! If you're not afraid of me (and clearly you are not) I have a feeling that this pair just might keep you inside this Halloween.