I was 17 years old, at the time. My Dad and mom had taken my little brother and sister to Tucson, to do something for the day. We lived in a trailer, in a rural area, outside of Sierra Vista. We had 2 horses, 2 dogs, a cow, and chickens, on the small amount of land we had. As the oldest son, it was my job to feed and take care of them. On the night in question, it was a stormy monsoon rain, with thunder and lightning going on. But, like monsoon's can be, they rage and then settle into a lull and rage again. I was getting ready to settle down and watch a good movie, when all of a sudden, my 2 dogs started barking and wouldn't shut-up, when i told them to calm down. In the previous week or so, before that, my dogs had been acting up and barking a lot, at night. I attributed this to coyotes that i'd heard howling, in the night. So, i got my dad's 30-30 and just 1 bullet. In case i had to shoot, to scare off the coyote or kill it, if rabid. I rested the loaded rifle near the wall, by the back door and turned on the flood lights, outside the trailer. The rain had just stopped, so I looked out by the window, near the front door and saw our 2 horses and cow staring, as if through the front door, to the back door of the trailer, where the dogs where barking. I thought, "Maybe they're scared of the coyotes," so i grabbed the rifle and opened up the back door. As i was getting near the back door, i heard my dogs whimpering and crying. Now i was thinking, "Is it be a pack of coyotes?" So, i put a few bullets in my pocket, figuring i could load them if i didn't like what i saw. I opened the door and the darndest thing happened! My 2 dogs B-LINE rush past me, to the center of the trailer and hunker down, in the kitchen. Mud is everywhere on the floor, from their paws and i'm pissed, because i have to clean it up. So, i close the door and go try to get my dogs to get out, but they wouldn't budge and squirmed out of my arms, when i tried to grab them. They were terrified. Now, i was mad at the "coyotes" and grabbed the rifle, to go run them off or kill them.

 

The trailer sits on a foundation of blocks. The front and back doors are accessible by a set of small stairs. I'm 5'6" by the way.

 

I opened the back door and was looking out in the darkness, at that point. I was about to step out, when I saw a set of eyes looking back at me, out of the darkness. From the top of my head, in the trailer, to the ground, is around 7 plus feet or so. And, here is a set of eyes, looking at me, level and square on. i'm like...darn coyote must be on the small gravel hill we used to pave the road or it's a bird on a mesquite bush. But, i was thinking to myself, that monsoon was awfully bad and rained hard. What kind of bird would hunker down on a mesquite bush and why would a coyote be out in a downpour? So, i'm raising my rifle and drawing a bead on the eyes, when lightning lights up the night. All of a sudden, the lightning illuminates the small gravel hill, that's like 6 feet high and the surrounding mesquite bushes. The light winks out as fast as it appeared, from the lightning though. There was nothing on the gravel hill and no bird on any of the mesquite bushes. Then, it dawned on me. Whatever it was, it was very tall and was still staring at me. A sense of dread crept over me all of a sudden, as I realized that the 30-30 only had 1 measley bullet and if i missed, there was no way i'd be able to reload, before it was on me. I kept the gun pointed at it, as i quickly closed the door. I locked the door, realizing this trailer would never withstand whatever it was out there, if it attacked. I locked the front door and turned on all of the lights, in the house. I grabbed all the bullets, the 30-06, and 22 rifle and then got in the kitchen, with the dogs and i loaded each rifle, full-on. I hugged my dogs and prayed that whatever it was went away and didn't attack. I stayed awake that whole night until my parents got back.

 

My dad was furious that all the lights were on. My dad checked outside, for "coyotes", but whatever it was, was gone. Your show reminded me of this.

 

Anonymous

Time:  Late Night

Date:  Summer of 1987