(Rip)
Timber Rattler stretched and stood up, all of his vertebrae popping.
Hunger gnawed playfully at his stomach like an annoying teething pup. I haven’t eaten in... well, a long time.
And there probably wasn’t any rabbit available. Or anything really. Rip pack hadn’t made hunting a priority very recently.
No matter. He was a coyote. And a coyote had the freedom to hunt for himself. Even if he could manipulate his mousy sister into doing it for him. He glared at the vacantly staring grey she-yote and trotted into the woods.
As his paws hit the frost and brought up wisps of snow and dead leaves, Timber Rattler’s olfactory senses were assaulted by the sharp scent of frost and decay and the more benign smell of morning, singing birds, and a gradually freezing brook slowing in its flow a quarter mile away.
And deer. There were lots of those in Rip pack due to the smaller, uncooperative pack members.
It took him a while to find it, but there it was. By that burrow. Rabbit.
He took a step, the crunch of leaves muffled by the snow. The grey blob didn’t notice. Another, and it was up, looking for the source of the sound.
But Timber Rattler was too fast. He lashed out, snapping its neck with his jaws, and made his way back to camp with it dangling from his jaws. He flopped on his side and dug into the rabbit hungrily.
Timber Rattler stretched and stood up, all of his vertebrae popping.
Hunger gnawed playfully at his stomach like an annoying teething pup. I haven’t eaten in... well, a long time.
And there probably wasn’t any rabbit available. Or anything really. Rip pack hadn’t made hunting a priority very recently.
No matter. He was a coyote. And a coyote had the freedom to hunt for himself. Even if he could manipulate his mousy sister into doing it for him. He glared at the vacantly staring grey she-yote and trotted into the woods.
As his paws hit the frost and brought up wisps of snow and dead leaves, Timber Rattler’s olfactory senses were assaulted by the sharp scent of frost and decay and the more benign smell of morning, singing birds, and a gradually freezing brook slowing in its flow a quarter mile away.
And deer. There were lots of those in Rip pack due to the smaller, uncooperative pack members.
It took him a while to find it, but there it was. By that burrow. Rabbit.
He took a step, the crunch of leaves muffled by the snow. The grey blob didn’t notice. Another, and it was up, looking for the source of the sound.
But Timber Rattler was too fast. He lashed out, snapping its neck with his jaws, and made his way back to camp with it dangling from his jaws. He flopped on his side and dug into the rabbit hungrily.