No wonder the puppy is nervous outside at night

I found this lovely artifact of a coyote meal not far from our driveway. Given the sheer volume of deer in the area and the frequency with which we hear coyotes yipping or howling or see their scat, it's not surprising that we'd find something like this close to the house eventually.

I have to say that although I find amputated limbs to be not particularly pleasant, I'm definitely on the side of the coyotes in this life and death struggle. The deer are so numerous they're destroying the forest by eating every green thing they can reach and not allowing regeneration.

There is a local rumour that the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources released 5 cougars in the area a few years ago to help control the deer population. The rumour is that this was done secretly to avoid the inevitable public outcry such a thing would cause. Almost everyone around here knows someone who claims to know someone who has seen a cougar.

For my own sanity while standing outside with Meg while she does her thing outside after dark, I'm going to assume that the cougar rumour is false. And I'm going to assume that any coyotes would find me to be sufficiently imposing that they wouldn't want to mess with my puppy.