06/14/23 – Ruddock’s Story

Spacetrawler, audio version For the blind or visually impaired, June 14, 2023.

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Goodness, I love Ruddock.

20 Comments

    1. Zeebob Thoomquist III, Esquire

      Very brief tangential experience. My wife and I were hiking in the mountains outside of Tucson back in the mid-90s. Hiking the same route was another couple with their dog — who was half-coyote. Beautiful, lithe, agile, and *smart*. I’ve never had a dog look at me and seriously size me up before. The gaze was intent and inquisitive, and calculating, with a big dash of “what are you to me? Could I take you down if I had to?” Interesting experience.

      1. russell

        While a dog-coyote mix might make a decent pet, packs of wild ones are a serious danger. The dog part of them no longer fears man, they act like they fear nothing.

        More dangerous than pure coyotes.

  1. Pete Rogan

    I’m prejudiced. Coyotes came into my suburban neighborhood (a far cry from Christopher’s abode indeed) and were killing people’s pets. I ran into one of them loping down a street, but he outran me and my bike.

    Some nights later, my seventeen-pound black Bombay tomcat Balthazar slipped out the door and vanished in the night. I was aggrieved but did not try to pursue him into the shadows. I only hoped he would come back in the morning.

    Which he did. Unmarked. A little tired, perhaps, and ate maybe a quarter more breakfast than usual before retiring to his comforter and falling asleep. He slept the better part of the day.

    The coyotes were seen no more in town after that night. And have not been back since, in seven years.

    As far as I can tell, my cat waited for them to come by whatever shadow he was in, and fell on them like Sennacherib. Bombays were bred to be miniature black panthers, and I knew from watching him hunt that he was absolutely silent in the attack. No screaming, no hissing — the night suddenly grows fangs and half-inch long claws and it’s all over.

    Mind, now, Ruddock is a loyal friend and a serendipitous adventurer, not to mention unfailingly chipper and upbeat. And he has a laser on the back of his neck. I wouldn’t care to see any confrontation between Ruddock and Balthazar. The result would be sad regardless. Still, the pet-killing stopped and has stayed stopped. So I remain prejudiced in favor of my Bombay.

    1. KQY61

      My experience is also that coyotes are bad news here along the Cape Fear river in NC. They go after the livestock as well as pets. They breed like rabbits as well. So they have to be kept in check. That means night hunting.

    2. Meran

      They lunch on pets here too. Mostly those whose owners don’t care much about, after all, they leave them outside with no shelter, sometimes even chain them up for convenience.

      (This is said somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but truly, my dogs, and cats, are inside beasts, outside only when we are. Which means the birds are safe. We need more birds.)

  2. David

    Spacetrawler and Questionable Content are 2 of my favorite comics. You guys are truly excellent storytellers. I always look forward to your content and I am never disappointed. I’m amazed at how consistently good you have been over the years!

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