Bear is first to the little hollow in the ground followed by our summer camp gang. A curious bunch of pups we are indeed. Whatever in the world is making this little sound? The whimper is a little like a kitten but we know that possibility is not likely since it’s such a remote place. I am beginning to rethink our decision to select a place this far out. There’s hardly any light with only the glow of our campfire providing much light at all. So here we all stand peering into this small hollow. All of a sudden there’s a slight sound that sounds like a pup. A pup? No way, not this far out! Felix and I, the older pups, step forward and ask the rest of the pups to stand back a bit.  As Fee and I stand there looking in disbelief we are at once terrified! Merciful heavens it a tiny coyote pup. At first we were hoping indeed it was a dog but those tiny pointy ears do not lie. It’s a coyote pup all right. We are all in deep trouble and immediate danger. We have to make quick decisions really fast. Do we leave this poor coyote pup all alone and run for the hills or do we try and nudge some food in the hollow for nourishment. Fee and Dallas decide to see what’s left over after our dinner that the tiny pup might be able to eat by itself. Dallas knows that even these tiny coyote pups can be a carrier of the deadly rabies virus. They cannot touch the pup. Another reason to not touch the pup would be because we are hopeful the coyote Mom will come for her pup. More than likely the coyote Mom was in the process of moving the pups when they heard us coming. The Mom can only move one pup at a time and she didn’t have time to retrieve the second pup. Dallas remembers there is rat meatloaf left from her dinner so she goes over to where she had her dinner and retrieves a few big bites about the size of a tiny meatball. She breaks it into tiny pieces and rolls it into the hollow with the tiny pup. Since the pup looks to be a few weeks old hopefully he can manage to nibble on the meatloaf. Now we have to pack up and move to another place for the night. It won’t be safe out here.  Bear calls us together and decides we will need to retreat back closer to camp and sleep under that old camp porch. Everyone is pretty shook up about the thought of coyotes perhaps lurking behind every bush out in the darkness. Myrtle is just about to freak out because it’s her first experience at camp and all the talk of coyotes earlier has her spooked. Willow talks to Myrtle so sweetly and lets her know she will be her buddy and to not be afraid. Luke is the oldest at camp and uses his wisdom to tell us we need to mark the trail back to this little hollow. If we don’t come back to check on this little pup he might not make it. Great idea Luke. There were little bits of foil stuck to the pizza bones so we decided to wrap those foil bits around bushes on the trail so we could find our way back tomorrow.

Safely under the old cabin porch we all breathed a sigh of relief for the night. As we lay there trying to go to sleep we begin to discuss what we could possibly find for a baby coyote pup to survive until it’s Mom finds him. Ice cream, of course! Hopefully we can find a few of those tiny ice cream cups. It’s not exactly coyote formula but that’s the best we can possibly do. The kids normally have ice cream at lunch many days and there are always a few who, for whatever reason, choose to not eat their ice cream. Myrtle to the rescue. She’s fast and she’s surefooted and the pup for this important job.

We hardly slept last night and morning light broke early. OK pups, up and at it! We’ve got work to do today. Besides making our den under the old camp porch a little more comfortable we have a baby coyote to check on and feed. Lunch for the kids is over and Myrtle is able to snag about 6 cups of ice cream. We needed extra to make sure a few make their target in the hollow in order to feed the coyote pup. Bear decided that only he and I would take the ice cream out to the wild coyote pup. Bear is ferocious and I am fast. We quietly and carefully find our way back out to the old barn and the tiny hollow. Thankfully we find the trail marked so well. Thank goodness because we don’t want to spend but a few minutes out there. We could very well be in the gaze of a pack of coyotes right this second. We just don’t know. As we get to the hollow we hear the little coyote pup really whimpering. Poor thing, I’m sure he’s really starving. We poke at the cups of ice cream and get the lids off several of them. Very gently I scoot one cup into the hollow hoping against hope it lands right side up. Angels must be watching over that coyote pup and us because the first cup lands right side up. Immediately the poor little wild pup begins licking at the ice cream. Bear gives me a paws up! We decided we would put one more into the little hollow. The second ice cream lands well also. We leave the other four cups of ice cream out in the event Mama coyote is nearby. Before we leave this little one we decided we should put a few limbs over the top of the hollow to protect him from hawks and the sun. We’ll check on him again late this evening.

Bear and I race back to camp and give our report to the other pups. They are all excited we were successful in our first feeding. Willow and Myrtle are anxious to explore the camp. So off we go to seize the day. Those two are way out front and Felix whispers that it would be a good day to jump on the blob! A perfect activity to relieve the tension. So off we go down to the lake.