Cats are without a doubt courageous critters. Some more so than others. Females with kittens are the fiercest cats of them all when it comes to potential danger. I saw my small mother cat jump a full grown great dane once when she thought he was a threat to her kittens.
Those doorbell video cameras people are installing capture all sorts of images you may not ordinarily see. Last night’s news showed a large black and white cat fending off 3 wily coyotes and doing an excellent job. They didn’t show the outcome. One can only hope the cat won the battle and the coyotes wandered off to find another juicy meal in the woods.
But why leave a cat outside without a safe escape route? Why leave a cat outside at night? 
It’s a dangerous place and time for any cat and many, many cats go missing never to be seen again—most often at the jaws of a hungry coyote.
Here in our neighborhood we see a lot of missing-cat signs posted. I have the urge to write across the page in large letters, “COYOTE!!!” When will people learn that if they hear coyotes at night (which we do here), and see them while out walking (which we do), not to mention traffic, speeding cars, distracted drivers, and the occasional loose dog, it may not be safe to allow your cat to run loose especially at night?
