Y’know how the people of Obann, in my books, are confused by all the strange animals drifting into their country? Well, I’m beginning to appreciate just how they feel.
This week in my home town in New Jersey, police say it was probably coyotes that killed two deer by Metuchen High School (https://patch.com/new-jersey/edison-metuchen/coyotes-attacked-killed-deer-metuchen-officials-say).
Coyotes? We don’t have coyotes! Like, they’re out West with all those giant cactuses–
Nope. Last year there were two coyote attacks in New Jersey.
But this is crazy. All my life, if you wanted to see a coyote out here in Joisey, you had to go to the zoo.
Same with the Canada geese. If you wanted to see one of them, when I was a boy, you had to go to the annual Sportsmen’s Show. But now they’re all over the place.
And we are told jaguars are wandering into a couple of our Southwestern states. Jaguars!
How far are we from seeing mammoths and sabertoothed tigers?
Hey, now, you can’t blame me for this! Just because I started doing this in books, ten years ago: bringing back animals that aren’t supposed to be here anymore. “Here” being a country in a fantasy! I mean, this is soooo not my fault!
Now they’re telling us to keep our pets indoors. Not because they might get squashed by a careless driver, which happens every day around here, but because they might get eaten by coyotes.
Go figure.