I got an e-mail from a lady yesterday that told me she was heartbroken because they had just lost their beloved eight month old Jack Russell terrier when a coyote came into their campsite in northern California and made off with it.

She said her husband had yelled and thrown rocks at the coyote, but it just ran off with their puppy in its jaws, a sight that would haunt them forever. She said the campground hosts had warned them about coyotes, but they never dreamed that they would be so bold as to snatch their puppy while they were sitting outside in their lawn chairs.

We have seen this happen before in campgrounds. At the Verde Valley Thousand Trails preserve in Camp Verde, Arizona a couple of years ago, a couple put two little Shih Tzu dogs outside their fifth wheel in a fenced enclosure about eighteen inches high, and the local coyotes walked right into their campsite, jumped into the pen and grabbed the dogs.

While I’m very sorry for their loss, they have to understand that to the coyotes, these weren’t pets, they were just lunch, and their owners delivered it right into the predators’ living room.

You can’t blame the coyotes (or bobcats, foxes, and occasional mountain lions). They are just doing what comes natural to them, preying on something lower on the food chain. We brought our RVs and our pets into their territory and made them easy to devour. It happens all over the country, though it happens most often in the west. However, coyotes can be found from the deserts of Arizona to the forests of Michigan, and no matter where they come from, they have one thing in common; they all appreciate an easy meal.

And those are not the only critters that are standing in line to eat your critters. Bill Graves, in his America’s Outback column in this month’s Trailer Life magazine, writes about Central Florida, where the locals say the favorite food for the alligators in the region is small dogs. Eagles, hawks, owls, and even feral dogs will not hesitate to snatch small pets given half a chance. It’s all about survival of the fittest.

That doesn’t mean you should avoid the great outdoors and confine your RV stays to urban campgrounds. Especially since I have personally seen coyotes in city parks in downtown Seattle and Portland. Just use some common sense.  

If you love your pets, do not leave them unattended outside at any time, whether tied up or in a pen. And as the folks who lost their puppy yesterday can attest, even being outside with them is no guarantee of safety for your pets. Wild predators are fast, smart, and ruthless when it comes to filling their stomachs. Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile. Or in this case, a Fifi or a Mr. Rags.

Thought For The Day – You have to at least try to live your dream if you want it to come true.

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First of all, Miss Terry wants me to thank the many, many people who left birthday wishes on the blog or on Facebook or Twitter, and sent so many e-mails. You all really helped make the day special for her, and made her feel very loved.

After dropping the new issue off at the printer yesterday, we drove to Muskegon, Michigan to visit my cousin Berni Frees and her hubby, Rocky. Many of you will remember Rocky and Berni from their time on the road as fulltimers. Berni is a massage therapist who worked a lot of kinks out of the muscles of our RVing friends, and Rocky was an RV tech with many satisfied customers.

Unfortunately, it turned out that it wasn’t the right time in their lives to become fulltime gypsies, and they have settled down in Rocky’s old hometown. We miss sharing life on the road with them, but their trusty old Winnebago Adventurer is always packed and ready to go on a weekend trip.

There is family that you associate with because you have to, and then there is family you think of more as dear friends and would go out of your way to spend time with, and Rocky and Berni fit into the latter category. We always have a wonderful time with them, and it had been way too long since our last visit.

They greeted us with hugs all around, and we instantly fell into that comfortable teasing and banter we always enjoy together, like the many months apart never happened and we had just seen them last week.

Since it was Miss Terry’s birthday, we went out for a nice dinner, and then back to their place for cake and ice cream, and a game of Mexican Train that lasted well past midnight. Poor Rocky and Berni had to get up early this morning, but at least Terry and I could sleep in.

Just as I need my puppy fix every so often, Terry needs a kitty fix now and then, so she enjoyed their cat, Medora. We both love animals, though I’m a dog person and doesn’t like cats very much, and Terry is a cat person who is allergic to most dogs, but we have agreed that we will not have another pet as long as we travel. We spend too much time away from the bus chasing down stories for the Gypsy Journal, dropping off sample copies, doing speaking gigs, and working as vendors at RV rallies, and it is not fair to an animal to be cooped up inside alone for that much time. So we have loaner critters we visit with, scattered around the country. Think of it as furry grandkids – we get to come and play with them when we want to, and then we take off again and leave all the responsibility to someone else!

Thought For The Day – Whether you think times are going to get better or get worse, sooner or later time will prove you right.

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