Morning Perimeter Probe

Morning light cuts through the canopy. *Sss... click.* Dropping down from the stone wall ridge, I stalk along the forest margin. A dried maple leaf suddenly skitters across the dirt path, propelled by a stray breeze. I sink low, belly skimming the pine needles. Step. Halt. Tail held stiff behind me for balance. With a lightning-fast snap, I drive my snout straight into the brittle curled leaf. It crunches cleanly in half, collapsing flat into the damp soil. Inert decoy. Satisfied no threat lurks beneath, I pin the fragments under my foot claw and scan the tree line.