I awake to the sound of my dogs. Barking like mad somewhere outside in the darkness. We’ve been together long enough for me to identify the genre of bark from their pitch and intensity. This particular instance is frightened/alarmed. I run half naked down the stairs and into the mud room. My head is groggy from the noise and sleep. The shotgun leans against the wall next to the door. That I grab and then I’m out the front door. The moon is quite bright tonight so there is no need for a torch. I see the dogs encircling the chicken coop. “Fox” says my inner thoughts. Now the barking is joined by the screech of the chickens. The disharmony of the two species is maddening and disorienting. I sidle around the coop. My gun is pointed down but loaded, I haven’t blinked since I was awoken. Cha-chick goes the shotgun, somehow I hear the sound echoing off the poll barn. Everything has mysteriously and suddenly gone quiet. I look at the dogs, they look back at me. “Lets get him,” I say.