We have a lot of wildlife here in our neck of the woods. Aside from the ticks and mosquitos, that is. We’ve got birds, rabbits, groundhogs, chipmunks, squirrels and deer. I found out possums are native to our area but it seems none of them live in our little neighborhood.
The dogs get their morning walks, and when the local wildlife is out it makes things interesting. For instance, yesterday I was walking Sirocco, the smallest of our three dogs. Two rabbits were out grazing near the far end of the road. Sirocco saw them and immediately tried bolting after them. He has a surprising amount of pull to him for such a wee doggie. I’m guessing that is the Husky part of him. I seriously think he could pull a small wheeled cart with me on it. Despite his best efforts he wasn’t able to catch the rabbits. Probably had something to do with pulling my dead weight behind him. 🙂
Our neighbor has a groundhog living in his yard. The dogs always want to go over to sniff the hole the groundhog lives in. I keep telling them that Chunky (we nicknamed the groundhog Chunky) probably doesn’t want them visiting. I think one of the reasons Chunky took up residence in my neighbors yard is that my neighbor puts out a mix of popcorn / bird seed / cereal each morning. It is for the birds but Chunky and the chipmunk (sometimes the squirrel too) (sounds like a band – Chunky and the Chipmunks featuring Squirrel!) sometimes go over to chow down.
This morning was one of those times. I was taking Sirocco out and as we passed by the house, Chunky was sitting on top of his hole (that sounds perverse), getting ready to go eat breakfast. However, he saw us and immediately went back into his burrow. The same thing happened on our way back home. Fortunately he saw us before Sirocco saw him, otherwise I’m sure Sirocco would have bolted after Chunky like he bolted after the rabbits.
Then I took Magdalena out. Again, Chunky was sitting there, getting ready to go eat, when he saw us, diving back inside his home. I felt kind of bad about it. Here we were, constantly interrupting his breakfast. I can just imagine him sitting underground in his den, shaking a little groundhog fist at us, saying “stop interrupting my breakfast!” In the meantime, the birds were coming in and eating up all the popcorn.
My apologies, Chunky. We’re just passing by, we don’t mean any harm. You can stay outside and eat your fill, we aren’t going to do anything to you. I promise I’ll keep the dogs on leash and under control. Of course, I understand that you don’t want to take my word for it if the dogs are straining their leashes trying to get you. I guess I’ll have to try and get them walked a little earlier before the breakfast buffet is laid out.
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