Scat, cats!

My best friend growing up had two cats. They were house cats. My friends now who have cats keep them indoors as well. I believe that's the way it should be. (A neighbor's cat in Albuquerque was caught and carried off by a coyote, reinforcing my belief.)

Last night, just as I was about to fall asleep, the two neighborhood cats got into a fight outside my bedroom door. It was quick, but it was enough to make me fully alert. Then, to ensure that I wouldn't fall asleep, they yowled for twenty minutes or so. At first, I thought they were in pain. Then I realized that one would yowl, and the other would echo it a little more quietly and with a deeper voice. Perhaps this wasn't cries of pain but some part of a complicated (and extremely irritating) courtship ritual? Maybe, even, they do this type of thing every night, by a different house each time, and last night was just my turn to be kept awake.

Where's a coyote when you need one?

(For the record, there were no corpses nor bloody pawprints evident on my veranda this morning.)