Picket Fence Post

So a neighbor stopped by my house yesterday to tell me that earlier this week at around 6:30 p.m. she saw two coyotes in my front yard chasing down some rabbits (the rabbit population has boomed this year in our neighborhood).

My choices: Prevent my three kids from playing outside at dusk or tell them to be aware of their surroundings and come inside immediately if they see anything larger than a cat. (I suppose there’s a third option; I could sit on the front steps with a rifle and shoot down dem critters to protect ma kin, but that’s not really my style.)

In the era of too much TV, too many video games, a fixation on computers/texting and general childhood sloth, I sat the kids down, told them about the coyotes and advised them to come inside if they see an animal larger than a cat, other than our other neighbor’s border collie. True, at dusk, I’ll tell urge them to stay away from the wooded area or near the area of the yard where the neighbor saw the coyotes, but I don’t want them to grow up afraid to go outside and live their lives.

Hopefully, I made the right choice.