Tuesday, November 12, 2013

A Twisted Tale for Tuesday

This past Sunday, I was out early for the morning dog walk since we were headed out to the agility trials. The path I took returned to the house via some of the neighborhood sidewalks. Despite being in the thick of all the houses (mine is a neighborhood of tiny yards so the houses are quite close together!), sadly, a deer had been hit and killed. Its body lay on the sidewalk. Jimmy and Wilson had differing reactions to this highly unusual find. Wilson sniffed every square inch of the deer. Maybe he was taking advantage of the stillness to really investigate what a deer is made of. He made no effort to mouth it or take a bite. Jimmy, confused as to why it was so still, was wary. He would not approach it closely enough to sniff it. His hackles were up, and he danced around at a safe distance, barking loudly. It was early and I didn't want Jimmy's big mouth disturbing anyone, so with quite a bit of effort, I got the boys to move on.

I guess because it was a Sunday, with the Home Owner's Association staff being off duty, the deer still lay there when I returned home that evening. Not exactly what you want out in front of your house, but what are you going to do? When I took the boys out for their bedtime walk, Wilson, who usually moseys along sniffing each mailbox post, was making a beeline down the street. After a couple of blocks, it was very obvious where he was headed. He wanted to see that deer again! I wasn't too interested in dealing with that scenario again, so I reined him in, and headed in a different direction. Wilson was not happy about that!

On Monday morning, on my way to work, I saw that the deer was still there! And things were starting to get out of hand. There was a large flock of Turkey Buzzards feasting on the carcass. This must have been a very disconcerting sight for the parents dropping their children off at the elementary school that was directly across the street! Egads! Being Veteran's Day, I was worried that another day would go by without the clean-up crew being dispatched, but thankfully, the body was gone when I returned from work.

But the story doesn't end there. This morning, out for our very early walk while it was still dark, we walked the sidewalks so as to be in the street lights. Again, Wilson beelined down the street, not stopping until he reached the spot where the deer had laid. He gave the patch a thorough sniffing, and then, circling a few times, took his morning constitutional right there where the deer had been, followed by a long pee! Maybe he was staking his claim!

I think this gets filed under Weird Dog Behavior, what do you say?

PS Aren't you glad I didn't take any photos?! Photo-ops being what they are, even I draw the limit somewhere ;-)


12 comments:

  1. Poor deer. We hope who ever hit was OK. Funny how both dogs acted so differently. Obviously Wilson loved the smell. Have a terrific Tuesday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  2. I guess Wilson wanted to cover up the deer stink with his own stink. At least he didn't roll in the spot!

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  3. Sounds like very doggy behavior, to me. Mine are fascinated by every little smell when we walk, but we walk on a path around our farm fields. Last walk they found two new excavations to investigate. Two are totally curious, two just continue on the walk(one being the collie). Sure would like to know what goes on in those brains of theirs.

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  4. Oh wow - guess those parents got to explain to their children about the circle of life that day, right? Yikes!

    Yes, glad you didn't provide any photos although I would like to have seen a turkey vulture pic.

    That's really interesting that Wilson did that. I was all prepared for you to say that he rolled in that area but the pooping and peeing was a surprise! I'm really glad that neither dog tried to eat the dead deer. I am fairly certain Blueberry would have at the very least licked it.

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  5. I hate when we see dead deer. The dogs haven't experienced a dead one up close, but I can see the them doing what Wilson did, especially Torrey.

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  6. I wonder what my kids would do if they came upon such bounty. I could see Bettina trying to drag it somewhere to hide it all for herself later.

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  7. Oh my... what a terrible way for that deer to die.

    We find dead ones (usually killed by mountain lions) in the woods near our house. Our departed dog, K, once gulped down so much deer meat and bones before I got to her that she had to have surgery for an obstructed GI tract. So, you got off easy!!!!

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  8. Ha ha ha ha ha! Oh, this reminds me of our Christmas Eve a few years ago, which also involved a deer carcass. I guess Wilson gets the last laugh on this one!

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  9. Howdy mates. This is funny because our two would have been the same. Rory would have loved to sniff and nosey and Stella would have stood back watching and cautious. Glad the poor deer was picked up eventually. Lucky it wasn't really hot weather! No worries, and love, Carol (and Stella and Rory)

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  10. Eeeek There was once a dead cat under our neighbors fence he was hit by a car and crawled half way under and he was there frozen solid about four days as they hoped garbage collectors would pick him up and they rarely go behind their house. When I called sanitation at first they refused to remove the cat but finally they did

    urban hounds

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  11. Yes... probably the only time I am happy you DID NOT post a photo. That definitely would not have been a pleasant sight for the school children or you!

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  12. Yep I'm so glad that you didn't post a photo!! I can't imagine what that poor deer became like after being left there for days!

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