Wild Night In The Hen House

Sorry. It's a bad picture. It was taken through a screen.

I am staying with friends in the town where I have lived for the past 30 years. It isn't out in the country as the picture would have you believe. But behind the property is a protected wetland area. And a newly built neighborhood on the other side of the wetland has forced the animals that lived on the land into it. There is evidence in the neighborhood that a bear may be living there, though I don't know of anyone who has actually seen it.  Cayotes live there too. I can hear them howling even without my hearing aids. And because it is a wetland it is home to a gadzillion frogs and crickets. Starting at sunset they can make quite a ruckus into the wee hours of the morning. Last night I heard the distant howl of one of the cayotes, then all the crickets and frogs suddenly stopped singing. Another howl and then the chickens started screeching. It sounded like a woman screaming. My friend Neil, works in retail and is at his store before the sun rises. I didn't want to call out the window and wake him up. Kind of a dumb thought as surely the commotion going on had already done the exact same thing. As I was approaching the widow I heard what I hope was a pellet gun go off and the cayotes yelping as they ran off. Then again, nothing. The crickets and frogs didn't even start back up for a good hour. This morning all three chickens could be seen scratching around in their coop. I hope this doesn't become a nightly event