This post is going to be rated PG-13.
There’s an episode of CSI:Wild Kingdom playing out in my backyard, people. It’s actually kind of disconcerting. But let me back up…
A few weeks ago, I was out on the back patio and I noticed some… stains. They seemed to be maroonish in color (hard to tell against the background of the gray paving stones). I figured they were probably left over “art project” from the kids; paint, or sidewalk chalk, or even markers were within the realm of possibility.
I got the hose, dialed it in to “jet,” and blasted those puppies with some serious water pressure. Nothing. They didn’t budge. Pretty much every child art supply in my home is washable, so I knew then it couldn’t be any of the above explanations. And as I stood there pondering these dark red splatters, I thought, “Crap, is that blood?”
And, well, I’m pretty sure it was– and is, since I still haven’t been able to get it off the patio. I figured some kind of circle-of-life vignette had played out in the backyard. Kind of weird, but considering the fighting skunks I’ve had back there before, not necessarily out of the question.
A few days later, I found similar stains on the front porch. Then, more in another spot in the back.
To date, there are five– yes, FIVE– separate crime scenes around my home. I think we’ve got a serial killer on our hands.
Yesterday I found the latest blood spatters. Even though I’ve never seen an episode of any of the CSIs, I got my camera out and made like Catherine Willows and took some shots. Interestingly, the pictures are actually more striking than seeing it in person.
Nasty, right? And clearly blood? Wait ’til you see the close-up shot.
So… what the hell? What do y’all think is going on in my backyard? We do have coyotes that I can sometimes hear howling, but I don’t think they get that close to us, and our whole yard is fenced. And I think if coyotes were killing something that close to the house, I’d probably be aware of it, and there’d likely be more blood.
Is something killing rats? I do know we have an owl around– but doesn’t an owl just swoop out of the sky and grab its prey and fly off? Would there be a ground struggle?
Or maybe, el chupacabra has taken up residence here.
What do you think? Should I do anything about it?
Yikes! I think it’s one of those things that’s better left unknown. I mean, you wouldn’t want to catch it in the act, would you. But then again, you don’t want to go out there with your morning coffee and stumble on a body or body parts. Maybe you do, you are kind of into that stuff
You could set up a motion activated video camera. Very curious.