Aggressive responses and/or barking in our observational area seems to come from dogs that are relatively secure behind strong fences with barbed wire on top, and the owner's homes have flood lights pointing outward like a UFO getting ready for takeoff!...(hee) Some of these folks will start shooting out their backdoors when their dogs start to bark in an aggressively particular manner, there must be some reasoning for the fencing and lighting when living out in Big'm Footin' Egypt!...(LOL) Most of the free roaming dogs in the area will not follow us beyond the gates, they just lower their ears and heads, tuck their tails down, and slowly retreat towards the safety of their properties. Last 4th of July week we came across a short haired Springer Spaniel type that was shaking and huddled in the side brush just before the gate when we arrived. She appeared to be in good shape but was disoriented from the fireworks, judging by her responses to the discharges in the distance, but figured her to be a local resident's dog which we initially gave her the name "Daisy" via HAL 2000. We went in for our usual evening hiking excursion, and she was still there several hours later when we returned. Since Ed lives relatively close to our observational area, he decided to take her in until we could locate her owners, she was obviously a purebred hunting dog. We eventually talked to several of the locals and horseback riders as we brought her along on several outings, when the local Game Warden came calling after 2 weeks with a worried family in the wings. It turns out that her name is "Denali", and lives a mile and a half to the east along the NE perimeter. A happy and tearful reunion for the owners, a hefty reward offered but not taken, it was a privilege to have such a wonderfully mannered mascot in our presence as her temporary family! We hope someday that she'll be able to visit us again, perhaps we might be able to post her photo sometime for which she happily posed for, sounds like a good plot for Harry and the Henderson's - Part Deux... Take it easy and talk to you all later.
Adrian
Posted on Feb 19, 2002, 4:24 PM from IP address 12.229.153.33