I saw the critter

When I got up this morning it was still dark. By the time my teeth were brushed my wife had coffee ready. She's a wonderful wife. She had been up for a long time.

As I settled down for coffee and a smoke I noticed the dogs barking. "Any idea what has the dogs upset?" I asked.

"They've been down at the bottom of the pen raising cain for a couple of hours" she replied.

"I'll check when I finish my coffee; it's starting to get light."

Around here there are many things that can cause the dogs to bark. When a cat gets right up to the pen they will, but the cats aren't usually near the bottom of the pen near the woods. A turtle close to the pen will upset them but there had been no turtles around lately. Coons or possums would have been chased off by the barking. What kind of critter could it be? This did not seem to be one of the regular causes for their barking.

When I finished my coffee I grabbed my cap, shotgun, and some shells. There was just a little rain falling, not much more than a mist. I did not really want to take the gun out and have to clean it later, but there was no telling what was out there.

I eased down the outside of the pen on the side across from where the dogs were. Then I saw it.

Tri, our beautiful tri-colored cat, was sitting on top of a fence post just looking at the dogs. It seemed as if she was just trying to aggravate the dogs.