The scenario: a riot between foxes and coyotes was met with pepper spray and precipitated a urological crisis…

Which is the way a bloodhound would read the neighborhood of our pond, between fits of sneezing.

I used 2 products: Havaheart pepper compound, which smells like black pepper, but has eau de habanero somewhere in the mix. The instructions on that one—do not put on plants and wear gloves while applying.

The other is Shake-Away coyote/fox urine mix, which should be pretty broad spectrum, if it doesn’t attract hopeful coyotes (we have those in the area, too)…and the instructions on this one: believe it or not—do not ingest.

Right.

I don’t think so.

Ysabel was very dubious of me when I got back in the house, so I went and showered and washed my flipflops, too.

But I hope this will give the little masked bandits one more obstacle. It may also dissuade the skunk that was lending the place a certain air a few days ago.

This last spring, mind, I saw three marmots and a coyote trotting down our street. We have no idea what might show up next. They make a device called a Scarecrow that would be a really good idea, but we have to drain our water hoses, and it relies on them…squirting intruders.

But we don’t have cat food outdoors or any such, so once the premises are too odorous to attract raccoons, perhaps we will not be visited by lovelorn foxes and coyotes.