the coyotes of lent

Last night the coyotes were in full voice. This is the closest sound to a wolf’s howl you can hear in the mountains now. The sound makes the hair stand up on your neck... just like a rattlesnakes rattles... or a fingernail scratch on the blackboard. Some sounds just yank me straight up and out of deep sleep... coyotes howling accompanied by our dogs howling back will keep me awake for awhile. First I have to put the dogs up and lock them in... no small feat in mid-winter night cold air. Then I get to lie awake listening to the coyotes and worrying about Annie who is calving tonight. We have lost one newborn calf to them and it is a shocking sight to see a calf gutted and half eaten by coyotes. Mother Nature is an unforgiving parent. The strong and hungry eat the weak and defenseless.... a black and white proposition in my world of shades of grey.
As far as I can tell, the coyote has no socially redeeming features. They have migrated to our part of the world because their natural predators have been eliminated... one more place where man’s meddling with Mother Nature has not helped. When they move in, rabbits disappear as do squirrels. All baby livestock is at risk as are the wildlife babies... turkeys, deer, foxes. They will circle prey and run in nipping at its heels until blood loss weakens the animal and it can be killed.
All farmers face hard choices...black and white choices. Do we hunt and kill coyotes as a method of crowd control? Do we buy a donkey or llama to protect our animals and let the wildlife fend for itself? Do we do nothing and hope they move on when the food supply is decimated here? All these choices have side effects... just like medicine.
If you hunt, you must have hunters you can trust who will not give up or endanger your livestock. The coyote is a wily animal indeed and difficult to kill. If we buy a donkey or llama, we have another mouth to feed that cannot be sold or produce for a profit... a guard animal that protects is a good option but has a price... feed is not cheap. Waiting until the food supply is gone means we will not be seeing baby rabbits playing in the orchard... or watch squirrels race around gathering walnuts in the fall... or see the foxes hunting in the meadow on the hill for mice...and the sound of the turkey gobbles and the grouse drumming will become scarce music for our ears.
Lent is a season of black and white. There are no shades of grey in the story of the journey to the cross. Jesus is traveling towards death... and he knows it... and we know it... a story we have lived ourselves as we have died in many different ways. When I am marked with the ashes, the contrast between my pale skin and the black, oily ashes reminds me there is a time to choose... a time to name... a time to remember what is good and what is evil. What is the Christian way in a world that sees nothing wrong with children going hungry in a country that is rich? What is the Christian way in a culture that does not value the sanctity of all life... on death row, at war, in the woods and mountains, unborn babies as well as those who live out the ends of their lives forgotten in warehouse nursing homes? What answers do we have for those in prison and on welfare... for our neighbors whom we cannot call by name and do not know?
Perhaps this is what Jesus was feeling when he wept over Jerusalem just before he went to the Temple and cleaned house... this feeling of sorrow over black and white choices that have unintended consequences. I will be temple cleaning for Lent... looking at choices I have made that need to be changed... relationships damaged by my angry words and strong feelings... places where I have taken short cuts and not been willing to stay the course... my wounded self and the wounds I have inflicted... all are welcome at Lent and the clear choice comes... stay the same or change? Be honest or hide behind the shield of unknowing?
I think we will look for a hunter... and get a donkey... and improve our wildlife habitat... and pray for resurrection and new life.