Re: won a battle, losing the war

diddy wrote:

This morning I shot a fox on an early morning poultry raiding party. The chickens had just been let out of the chicken house, and the fox scattered them everywhere. They flew out in the corn field where the fox party was last seen. I knew I had to get them back before the rest of the fox pack caught them. They were probably lurking in the corn cover waiting to see the outcome of their fellow fox that I just shot, and all the chickens were out there with them.

I've never heard of a fox pack. I thought they were solitary until mating season.

So I sent Tuck out in the corn field to herd back up the chickens and bring them all back across the fence to safety. Tuck knew what to do, and suddenly I saw him standing there doing nothing. He looked at me, and wagged his tail expectantly as if to say "well?"
i called him again, he looked at his foot, and wagged all the harder.

I told him (again) to get the rest of the chickens, and he stood there wagging his *** so hard I thought he was going to fall over, but he didn't move from his spot. Disobedience is not Tuck's style, so I went to him, and he was stuck in a trap that I wasn't aware was there. My husband, knowing I never send the dogs on that side of the fence, had placed a trap trying to handle the poultry marauders. He caught Tuck instead. Gosh this is a stoic dog! When he was dying of a perforated stomach, with strangulated intestines and bowel death, as well as septic peritonitis, he was full of play, and waggy enthusiasm. He never seems to recognize and/or react to pain of any kind. I've never seen any dog react so little to pain stimulus.

Oh my god!

Anyway, So I released Tuck, and he took off and finished collecting all the scattered chickens. After a head count, I realized all chickens, ducks and goose were safe and accounted for.

Fox 0
Me 1
It was a good morning. Tuck is totally uninjured and did a good mornings work. Good dog. We are still behind. Predators in the last few weeks have taken 17 ducks, one goose and 3 chickens

Poor Tuck. He's a braver dog than any of mine. One of the three of them set off a mouse trap in the pantry. I don't know which, all I heard was the SNAP and then there was a mad stampede as the three of them rounded the corner, ears pinned back, bug-eyed, tail-tucked, claws scrabbling for purchase on the slick pergo floor. To this day none of them will so much as peek their nose into the pantry.

I can't prove it but if I had to guess I'd say it was probably Cooper who actually triggered the device, because to be honest, I don't think he's bright enough to be *that* impressed by somebody else's bad experience. If he were a person, he'd be the type to go ahead and touch the stove after being told it was hot.

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