The "dog" in all of them
Owning a pet brings new understanding to animal behavior with things you may have never thought of before.
All of us have seen our pets chase things. Lizards, birds, squirrels, bugs, raccoons, oppossums, other dogs and/or cats.
I hate to see animals chase other animals or even bugs because the end result if they are caught is death and I simply hate to see things killed.
This is the reason I wish all people would put bells on their cats and try and keep stray, wild critters out of their yards but some things are simply impossible to prevent.
The first time I had one of my animals kill another animal, it was Jessie, one of my rotts. An elderly lady on Anna Maria Island had begun feeding the raccoons who lived in the mangrove swamp bordering my road. The raccoons had lost their fear of humans so when a mama coon and her babies came strolling through my yard one day, Jessie caught one of the babies and killed it. She then brought it to me as if to say, see leader, I can catch food. It was quite the eye-opening experience for me. My first thought was to punish her, but she was simply being a dog. Then, of course, I started bawling because she killed the baby raccoon. So I had Jeremy, my son, dig a hole and I buried the baby.
I had not thought about that incident when I moved into Sarasota and shortly after my new rotti, Carmela came to live with me, she caught a squirrel and killed it while I was in the shower. She then proceeded to bring it upstairs and place it at the door to my bedroom so I had a present when I came out of the shower. Once again, she was simply being a dog. Once again, I got Jeremy to dig a hole and I buried the little squirrel.
When I got Buzz, I knew he had lived outside his whole life, but I never once thought he would attempt to kill anything. He chases all the critters who live in my backyard, but once they reach the fenceline, he stops and lets them get away.
Yesterday morning, before daybreak, I could hear him growling. I looked out the sliding doors and saw Buzz circling a oppossum. The oppossum was spitting and snarling but Buzz kept circling. Now, Buzz has no front teeth. He has his canines, but the vet says he believes he lost his front teeth by chewing on sticks and rocks trying to get enough to eat. Oppossums on the other hand, have razor teeth and sharp claws and in that battle, I knew Buzz would lose.
I finally had to get his leash and collar, dodge the oppossum and pull him in the house to get him away long enough for the wild critter to run off.
Phew! Death avoided.
Imagine my dismay when this morning the same scenario presented itself. Only this time, it was a rabbit. They are not equipped with the same tools a oppossum has, so when Buzz didn't come back inside I went searching and found him with his paw on top of a rabbit and the rabbit squealing. It took the pool scooper and stern words from me to get the dog away from the rabbit and in the interim time, I heard thumping and squealing. I just knew Buzz had killed the rabbit by the time I got him in the house and saw tufts of rabbit fur hanging from his mouth and his tail wagging 90 miles a minute.
It was still dark when I left for work and I could not see if the rabbit had hopped off, so I worried all day about coming home to bury the rabbit. Imagine my surprise when I checked the yard after work and discovered no rabbit, except a live one hopping through the yard.
I warned the rabbit he should go under the fence, which he did, before I let Buzz outside.
I guess Buzz is a dog, just like any other dog, and he will try and catch anything in the yard he can.
The sign on my yard should say, No Trespassing. I wish rabbits could read.
All of us have seen our pets chase things. Lizards, birds, squirrels, bugs, raccoons, oppossums, other dogs and/or cats.
I hate to see animals chase other animals or even bugs because the end result if they are caught is death and I simply hate to see things killed.
This is the reason I wish all people would put bells on their cats and try and keep stray, wild critters out of their yards but some things are simply impossible to prevent.
The first time I had one of my animals kill another animal, it was Jessie, one of my rotts. An elderly lady on Anna Maria Island had begun feeding the raccoons who lived in the mangrove swamp bordering my road. The raccoons had lost their fear of humans so when a mama coon and her babies came strolling through my yard one day, Jessie caught one of the babies and killed it. She then brought it to me as if to say, see leader, I can catch food. It was quite the eye-opening experience for me. My first thought was to punish her, but she was simply being a dog. Then, of course, I started bawling because she killed the baby raccoon. So I had Jeremy, my son, dig a hole and I buried the baby.
I had not thought about that incident when I moved into Sarasota and shortly after my new rotti, Carmela came to live with me, she caught a squirrel and killed it while I was in the shower. She then proceeded to bring it upstairs and place it at the door to my bedroom so I had a present when I came out of the shower. Once again, she was simply being a dog. Once again, I got Jeremy to dig a hole and I buried the little squirrel.
When I got Buzz, I knew he had lived outside his whole life, but I never once thought he would attempt to kill anything. He chases all the critters who live in my backyard, but once they reach the fenceline, he stops and lets them get away.
Yesterday morning, before daybreak, I could hear him growling. I looked out the sliding doors and saw Buzz circling a oppossum. The oppossum was spitting and snarling but Buzz kept circling. Now, Buzz has no front teeth. He has his canines, but the vet says he believes he lost his front teeth by chewing on sticks and rocks trying to get enough to eat. Oppossums on the other hand, have razor teeth and sharp claws and in that battle, I knew Buzz would lose.
I finally had to get his leash and collar, dodge the oppossum and pull him in the house to get him away long enough for the wild critter to run off.
Phew! Death avoided.
Imagine my dismay when this morning the same scenario presented itself. Only this time, it was a rabbit. They are not equipped with the same tools a oppossum has, so when Buzz didn't come back inside I went searching and found him with his paw on top of a rabbit and the rabbit squealing. It took the pool scooper and stern words from me to get the dog away from the rabbit and in the interim time, I heard thumping and squealing. I just knew Buzz had killed the rabbit by the time I got him in the house and saw tufts of rabbit fur hanging from his mouth and his tail wagging 90 miles a minute.
It was still dark when I left for work and I could not see if the rabbit had hopped off, so I worried all day about coming home to bury the rabbit. Imagine my surprise when I checked the yard after work and discovered no rabbit, except a live one hopping through the yard.
I warned the rabbit he should go under the fence, which he did, before I let Buzz outside.
I guess Buzz is a dog, just like any other dog, and he will try and catch anything in the yard he can.
The sign on my yard should say, No Trespassing. I wish rabbits could read.
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