The Pack by J.S. Douglas

It’s another short story day! Hurray!

This particular story was written for my friend and newsletter subscriber, Devin. She gave me the prompt, “The dog looked well cared for but had no collar or tags.”

I will share my thought process before the story because I want anyone reading it to know that I love animals. All animals. Wild, domestic, whatever. If they are animals, I love them.

I also grew up in Southern California with a healthy fear of wildlife that could kill me. That includes cougars, coyotes (they can and have killed small children), sharks, rattlesnakes, and others. I also had a less-than-healthy fear of random animals that don’t exist in California but which I would still like to avoid meeting in the wild if at all possible.

I believe that we humans invade other animal’s territories far more than we ought, and that a solid system deterrents to wild animals is the way to keep them from harming children and domestic animals. It’s also the kindest way to go because wild animals are often put on a kill list when they kill or attack a human.

That said, I also just read the book Devolution by Max Brooks. He’s one of my favorite authors, and his other well-known book, World War Z is one of my favorite books. I was so incredibly disappointed by the movie. Anyway, that aside, the book is basically about people who do not understand the dangers wild animals can impose.

There are many asides, and one in particular really hit me. It’s a news account from Boulder, CO (I know that Devolution is a fiction book, but I looked up and found the news story, so it is a real story the author fictionalized for the book).

Basically, mountain lions have begun attacking deer, pets, and humans in Boulder, and still - even though children have died - homeowners won’t call animal control on them. And this is in spite of the fact that the policy for handling mountain lions (aka cougars) in Boulder is to basically shoot them with rubber bullets. They just want to scare the cougars off enough that they see that humans are a threat and they shouldn’t mess with us.

But, people don’t call animal control because even that deterrent seems cruel, and in consequence, animals and people are being attacked in the area. There was a particularly jarring story where some people let a cougar use their yard to kill a deer. It killed one of their cats as well, and they did nothing. So, the cougar started stalking the humans who lived there. One of the homeowners scared it off with her car horn - but not before she was essentially chased from her front door to her car.

I love cats and I love big cats, but I would never want to live somewhere that I, my dog, or my child could be attacked because my neighbors won’t help to keep an incredibly dangerous wild animal from our yard.

Okay, so that all said, here’s the story. If the idea of an animal dying is one you don’t want to encounter today, then please don’t read it.

***************Trigger Warning - Animal Death***************

The Pack 

by J.S. Douglas

A “Missing” poster hung onto the pole by a corner. One last piece of tape kept it in place. On it, a full-color photo of a sweet golden retriever peered out. His chocolate eyes sparkled, and his lolling tongue looked as if it were seeking a face to lick. The details about the dog were printed below the photo:

Missing Golden Retriever!

Responds to: Buster

Buster is our family golden retriever. He got out of our yard on Sunday, June 11th. It looks like he dug a hole under our fence. He’s a big digger, responds to Buster, and has no collar or tags. 

His family of three misses him and hopes you can help return him to our Boulder, CO, home. Please call us with any information at (303) 933-0055. 

The cougar sniffed the pole. Her sensitive nose picked up the scent of the many pets that had marked it in the past weeks. 

In the distance, a dog howled. 

Black-tipped ears pricked up at the sound. The big cat stalked away through lawns and past houses. She paused and stared as, in the window of one home, a small girl - about the height of the missing golden retriever, pressed against the picture window. 

The cougar knew from experience that it could not get to the scentless girl. Even though she could see the child’s soft flesh, as well as the delicious orange tabby rubbing itself on her ankles. The girl picked up the small cat and pressed its face against the glass, pointing and whispering to the creature. 

The tabby scrabbled ineffectually against the glass, trying to get away. It must have scratched the girl because she dropped it and turned her back on the cougar, making her wailing way to the home’s interior.

The cougar and the tabby stared at one another.

A dog howled again. 

The cougar reoriented toward the sound and strode away. 

She made her way to the base of a small knoll at the edge of town. The lead-up to the rise gave good concealment as the unmaintained land gave itself over to long grass and quaking trees. A breeze whispered the scent of dogs into the cougar’s nose. There were two of them. One larger and one small. Both domestic. Easy kills.

The cougar slunk into the grass, pushing herself as close to the ground as possible to ensure the seed-filled grass tips stayed above her head. She glanced above the smooth stalks and looked toward the top of the hillock. She could see the silhouette of a tiny dog. She could still smell two dogs, but the scent of the larger dog was farther away now. 

Moving softly, step by step, the cougar positioned herself almost level with the small dog. She pressed her stomach to the ground, preparing to pounce. 

A chorus of growls erupted from downwind.

The cougar whirled around, trying to locate the source of the menace. 

A pack of dogs swarmed her. Two tiny chihuahuas and a fat pug nipped at her legs while a golden doodle and a retriever bit her flank. A standard poodle and two huskies jumped on her back and ripped at her neck.

In moments, the cougar was down. The dogs, covered with her blood, pulled and yanked at her skin, tearing her to shreds and devouring muscle and sinew.

After their feast, the pack trotted to a little-used park where the broken sprinkler system poured water onto the pavement, providing them with a drink and a bath. 

Shaking droplets of blood and water from his fur, the golden retriever from the missing poster scented the air. One yip from him brought the pack away from their drink and into formation. 

Another cougar was threatening their humans. 

The pack knew that the humans would do nothing to end this menace, and it was their job to protect the dumb two-legs with useless paws. Though they drove killer machines up and down roads of their own creation, the dogs well knew of the two-legs' soft spot for anything with fur. 

It was up to them to keep the whole pack safe, even if some of the pack stood on two legs and were too nose-blind to scent danger.

The dogs loped off, ready to spring a trap on another cougar.

—

End

I know; that one was pretty intense. The premise is one I haven’t been able to get out of my head since reading Max Brooks’ book, so I wanted to write it. Thanks for reading if you did, and if you didn’t, I promise next week’s story will be less gruesome.