The other night I was letting Anna the dog out. Any time it is dark, I will at least step out on the back deck and survey the property with a flashlight. There are a lot of animals that travel through our backyard.  

That night, I spotted the unmistakable glow of eyes. Anna had started down the deck steps, and I quickly followed, calling my wife for backup. That’s when I spotted the second set of eyes. Two coyotes. 

Anna is not one to back down. She runs towards them barking. I started to call Anna, like I always do, a frantic and usually fruitless attempt to get her to back away from danger.  

Then something changed. Instead of crying her name, I began to growl. I made myself bigger in my already large winter coat.  

The coyotes froze. My growl turned into a roar. The coyote closest to Anna, faced with barking and roaring, broke for the woods. The further one stared at me, and I moved toward it, roaring louder. It too broke for cover. 

My noise may have even worked on Anna. When Patty came out and started calling her name, she surprisingly ran to her. This is not her usual behavior, so maybe I startled her out of her animal nature. 

One thing I know is that I have a new tactic for the coyotes and bears: get big, get wild, and get loud!