Tired...

We had a late night, last night and I didn't get to bed until about midnight. I was absolutely zonked, and was sleeping soundly until...

My older brother wakes me up at 1:15 in the morning and says, "Caity, is that one of your animals making that ruckus outside?" I shot out of bed, not yet completely awake, and listened intently to the night noises....

There was an unmistakably loud noise coming from outside alright, and it sounded like a distressed goat or sheep, but I didn't recognize the voice. Was it one of my goats? "Maaa! Maaa! Maaa! Whatever is was, it wasn't happy!

I tore downstairs, stomping and thumping my way around as I got my coat on, while my older brother rushed to get the rifle. I was all prepared to go outside and defend my animals, (although bereft of a flashlight or a gun) but luckily mom  had woken up by this time and said I should probably just let the guys (big brother and dad) go check things out. A few moments later, the night once again fell silent. I paced the living room anxiously... Neither wanting to go out into the dark, nor wanting to stay inside.

Dad and big brother returned a few minutes later. They saw nothing, and all my animals were present and accounted for. We all went back to bed, but sleep had left me...

I lay awake until 3 a.m., wondering if my animals were truly alright. It had sounded like Heidi's voice, now that I thought about it, but I had never heard her so upset. Were the chickens all there? Were the goat kids okay? Yes, I am a worrywort.

After 4 small hours of sleep, I couldn't stand it anymore; I got up and went to check out the crime scene. All my animals were fine; the chickens were all there; things seemed normal. Some snooping around revealed large coyote tracks. Unfortunately, the very few tracks that were on our side of the property got erased from boot tracks, but they were very well defined on our neighbors property. So my theory is that Mr. Wile E. Coyote was trying to get some free dinner, but Heidi heard him and started the alarm up. At the sound of humans approaching, Mr. Wile E. took off, deciding that he wasn't so very hungry after all.

So now here I be, rambling on and on... I've learned that I don't do so well on four hours of sleep. It makes me somewhat incoherent. ;)