“He was just here, in our front yard,” our neighbor says. “I chased him away.  “He was sick.”  Another neighbor races out of the building  “I called the city, but you chased him away so now they won’t come. ”  “They have to come.  It’s sick!”  “Next time, don’t throw stones at it.”  “It won’t come back.”

That was yesterday.  The jackals have been moving closer to populated areas as the streets empty out.  And they are hungry.  People have been bitten, and an infant was snatched from its mother’s arms.  In the north there have been rabid jackals crossing the borders.  They are killed on sight, but it sometimes takes a while to see them.

I was worried about our cat, and she didn’t show up yesterday.  What if she was gobbled up? or bitten?  

Today the cat turned up, and ate enormous amounts.  But when I went to let her out, she wouldn’t go, and showed inordinate amounts of affection – for a wild cat who bites at being touched.  Finally I walked her out and met a third neighbor. “Be careful,” she said, “I saw a jackal here this morning.” 

The cat had raced out of the front yard, and hid for a moment under a car.  Then I saw her racing up the street. 

She knows about the jackal – that’s why she didn’t want to leave.