We did it! We switched! We're back!

Here's Bao, just back from grooming. He's so gorgeous, when he first comes home all shampooed and brushed. Alas, it only lasts for an hour or so. But right now, as a friend from Michigan said, He looks good enough to eat.

I sort of wish she hadn't said that.

If you're a small dog, and you look good enough to eat here in southern Arizona -- something just might eat you.

It's been a long, cold winter (cold by our standards, anyhow!) and the coyotes are lean and hungry. Not to mention the mountain lions. And forget all that stuff about them being more afraid of us than we are of them. They aren't.

A few weeks ago, I looked out the window and saw a coyote standing on top of the six-foot concrete wall that surrounds my back garden. I couldn't believe my eyes. He was huge. He was enormous. I've never seen one that big. If I'd seen him at the Desert Museum, I'd have said, What a magnificent animal!

Yeah, but not in my backyard.

I stood there at the window, watching -- as a bad novelist might say -- transfixed with horror. Thank God the back door was shut. To my amazement, he leapt down into the garden and had a leisurely drink from the fountain. For several minutes he walked around the yard and patio as if he owned the place. He was utterly and completely fearless. And it was obvious this wasn't his first visit. Finally he jumped back up onto the wall (as easily as a cat) and disappeared.

I was quite horrified. I still am. I'd always thought Bao and I were safe, behind that wall.

A few little dogs have been taken by coyotes this winter, on the jogging trail along the river and even in someone's front yard. They're wild animals, and they're fast. You hear a yelp, but by the time you turn around, there's nothing to see. The coyote is gone. And so is your dog.

Javelinas are a worry, too. They're vegetarians, but they' re the size of pigs and they travel in packs and they have sharp teeth and they hate dogs. And they're aggressive. They'll attack a dog on a leash, just because it's a dog.

I know the animals were here before we were, but even so.

At least, it's still too cold for rattlesnakes!