In case you ever wondered, those Zulu words translated from the Disney song mean "Here comes a lion, Father. Oh yes, it's a lion." While this is not a tale of a lion, it is about one of the moments when my sweet and precious poodle, Atticus, becomes a hunter.
This past weekend, Atticus' killer instincts kicked in, and he caught (and ate) one of the white-tailed doves in the yard. As an avid bird-watcher, it broke my heart a little bit when I saw the damage Atticus had done. I can only hope the bird was already injured or sick, making it easier for Atticus to catch the dove. However, I know Atticus does have some skill catching little creatures, so I wouldn't put it past him to catch a completely healthy bird.
Normally, I would try to stop the incident and discourage my dog from attacking the birds (why couldn't he catch one of the rats or even a squirrel instead?), but by the time I realized what had happened, I knew the bird was already dying, and I didn't want him to completely go to waste. So, I let Atticus eat the bird. Thankfully, the bird was not wasted. Only a few feathers were left as evidence of what took place. I can only hope this attack improved Atticus' skill to catch vermin, and didn't leave him with a hankering for more poultry.
Since this story is a bit depressing, I thought it would be good to close with some beautiful things in the garden recently, and a nice zinnia bouquet to honor the fallen feathered friend.
On the plus side, it looks like Atticus ate a white-winged dove and there are plenty of those around. I understand your consternation, but at least it wasn't a finch or song bird of some other sort. Does that help?? My dog doesn't catch anything, but occasionally, my cats do, though very few this year. Love your zinnias!
ReplyDeleteIt was a white-winged dove, and yes, I have more than enough around, so while still sad, I'm also glad it wasn't another type of song bird. I don't have any cats or owls around, so I rely on Atticus (and sometimes his twin brother Jeb, but Atticus is really the hunter of the two) to catch the rats that exist in our wood piles or elsewhere. That means he sometimes goes after things I don't really want him to kill. Oh well, I guess you win some, you lose some.
DeleteThese things happen, unfortunately. At least your dog got nourishment from the dove. Recently a dove hit one of our windows hard enough to break its neck - it died shortly thereafter and had to be disposed of. I found it very sad - I love the birds and put feeders out in front and back and try, TRY to hang things in the windows to indicate they are solid and not a passageway. (the zinnias are gorgeous though!)
ReplyDeleteI've also experienced a couple instances of the doves flying into the window resulting in serious injury. Luckily, in those instances, Atticus was close by to take it out of its misery. At least he makes sure the doves don't go to waste.
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