I'll get to the agility trial results soon enough-there was brilliance and running amok (Strummer) and a Master Gamblers Q (huzzah!) and some nice runs with one little miss each (Lola). Bad news is that today Lola is limping (sigh).
Anyway, on today's mountain bike ride on the West Magnolia trails we had a huge bull moose charge full speed ahead across the trail in front of us maybe 20-30 yards away. Jonny was a bit panicked but I thought it was cool until I saw the dog chasing him. It was funny because at the start of the ride some idiot let their dog run right in front of Jonny's wheel then he apologized then 10 seconds later let the dog run in front of my wheel causing me to hit the brakes and nearly running me off the trail and he apologized again leading me to think that maybe his mommy didn't do such a great job of teaching him what 'sorry' means. It made me think it wouldn't be the end of my world if they banned dogs off those trails or at least put in a leash law. I know, I'm such a crank. But if I had been a few seconds further down the trail and gotten mowed down by Bullwinkle being unnecessarily stampeded by some idiot's dog, well, maybe you can see my point. Very few people, including myself, can muster the mental energy to keep the rubber side down on the trails and police their dogs which is why Strummer stays home on biking day. Because I don't want to see how Strummy v Bullwinkle turns out. I know, accidents happen, they are dogs not machines and I've certainly had my share of dog misbehavior but 90% of what I see on those trails is negligence, not good owners with trained dogs having a bad moment.
Jonny was worried we'd cross paths with the moose again which I thought was unlikely but what do I know about stampeding moose? A little later in the ride I came up a hill and found Jonny half panicked, half laughing. He'd heard some noise and assumed it was the moose, screeched to a halt and realized it was just Rocky the Squirrel looking for his buddy.
Apropos to nothing I also saw a vulture today and only 2-3 blocks from my house. He was sitting in a tree eyeing up a big piece of vacant land next to the city owned Open Space which is the start of the Rocky Mountains. The land has been sitting vacant for at least a year now though it had been slated for a housing development. I think maybe there's some financial problem with the land owner/developer and the vulture is a realtor in disguise, waiting for the right moment to swoop down and snatch up the prize.
Someone I know ran the Iditarod a couple of years ago. The stories she told about Moose makes me never want to be closer to them than a quarter of a mile. Seems like they'll attack and do major damage to dogs (and/or people) for often seemingly no reason that anyone can discern. Just mean beasts.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, have never seen one in the wild and would like to.