Oh Deer! A Dog Dilemma (2 Comments)
I happened to look out the window to see a doe starting across the field. The Dog was out but I wasn’t hearing any noise from him. Just the deer walking calmly across the grass.
I grabbed my camera and slipped out the front and around the house. I wasn’t able to get very close- she was on to me!
I blew this photo up so you could actually tell that it was a deer. The quality isn’t that great.
She’s watching me. Then she did something that I haven’t seen or heard a deer do before- she started snorting. Well, I guess that’s what you’d call it. She blew loud breaths. Then she started stomping the ground with her front feet. I was glad I wasn’t any closer.
And what was The Dog doing while I was being snorted at?
Why, he is watching me. When he saw me look at him (and take his photo) he leaped off the porch and came over to me all happy.
Deer? What deer?
I know he saw it but he is just too lazy to chase them. If I had chased it then he would have ran with me, leaping all over, looking over his shoulder at me- “we having fun Mom!?!?” Then when I stopped, he would too, ignoring the deer that are leaping away.
We now let The Boy do the scaring of the deer away- he’s much better at it than The Dog.
*Note- I am still gone. Just got a post ready before I left so you wouldn’t miss me too much.
Bless you for the spare post.
I suspect your dog is related to mine in some cosmic way. How are your dog’s reactions to, say, skunk or coyote? Barrage of barking while they’re in the trees, but once they’re eating dog or cat food, dead silence?
How about possums? Carry them around (pardon me, perpetually hold them in a state of retrieval)? Let them play dead, then walk away?
My sister’s late dog, the one with the unfortunate label of pit bull, was so gentle with the baby oppossums and kittens. He was sure they were meant to be slobber toys but somehow knew they were not meant to be dead. Unlike all other things such as door mats, dog houses, dog dishes, lilac bushes, garden hoses, etc. which clearly were malevolent and needed to die.
My dog does not bother the kittens (instead finds them to be mostly in his road) but occasionally will accidentally murder a baby possum by playing too roughly.
Comment by kn. — July 25, 2008 @ 4:22 pm
I was told once by a hunter that deer snort to clear their nasal passages so that they can get a better smell or scent of what is near them. So I guess this deer was trying to figure out what you really were. However, I have never seen a doe do that, only a buck. Very interesting…
Comment by Liesel — July 29, 2008 @ 8:06 am