It definitely felt like I aged 10 years in a few minutes this am. I must have looked like a complete crazy person. My neighbors don't know me because I moved up here mid-winter, and only recently has it warmed up enough for chance encounters with neighbors outside. I went running outside at 10:30 am with 2 leashes, 1 dog, a sample bag of cat food, wearing Christmas themed pj pants, a bright yellow Georgia Tech hoodie sweatshirt, no glasses so i can't see, randomly shouting "HAVE YOU SEEN A LITTLE DOG RUNNING AROUND!" at my neighbors.
Both of my girls are microchipped. I know there is a lot of debate about collars. I fear, especially with the martingale style, that mine will strangle themselves if they get caught on something when I'm not around. In this case, I'm glad Callie didn't have a collar on because the rungs on the porch are so close together, she may have caught the collar without realizing it & jumped & hung herself. I do worry that they will get out & somebody will find them but not know to check for a microchip, but even dogs with collars can lose them while running around loose. So I don't think there is a right or wrong answer for when to collar them. Mine don't usually dart out of doors, so I don't worry about it too often.
As for the porch; that will not be accessible to them if I can not supervise them from now on. Fortunately I will only be here for a couple more weeks, so I won't worry about adding chicken wire or anything. I'm already saving up for a basenji proof fence for the new house though. Callie is quite the escape artist when she has motivation (clearly!)
Attack from above!
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Today on our morning walk Gizmo noticed a Crow in a tree. He stood under it for a few minutes with great interest.
The crow was "CRAWING" a lot, clearly attempting to scare us off. I remembered seeing a baby crow that had fallen on the ground a few days earlier.The crow stared pecking at small branches breaking them off so they fell on Gizmo….which Gizmo thought was great fun, and ripped apart the branches as they hit the ground.
So after 3-4 minutes of this, I decided it was time to move on. As we walked away the crow glided/swooped from the tree towards Gizmo (who had his back on the tree) and pinched Gizmo on the bum. Gizmo screamed in shock, ran a few meters and spun around with his head and ears alert, looking all around to see just what had a go at him.
Nothing to be seen. The crow had executed a perfect sneak attack and got away with it. Gizmo looked at me as if it was my doing! :rolleyes:
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That is interesting that the crow actually pecked Gizmo - lol, and you got the blame :D.
I've had a crow swooping at us every morning for weeks now when I walk Ruby & Brando first thing in the morning (around 4:30am). Never close enough to actually peck them though - but flies really low over our heads - I could touch it if I were quick enough. Normally my b-kids don't care about birds but they get very excited by this one - and it is one of the largest crows I've seen.
We have a murder of crows that hang out in a tree on our property and they make quite a racket (hard to sleep in in the summer) - wish they would move to another house. :rolleyes: Not a big fan of crows.
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Poor Gizmo, he's not the luckiest of Chaps is he
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We have tons of crows here. Never had any swoop down though. They are usually active when the sun comes up until late morning.
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So funny..we have blue jays and mocking birds do that here, especially when they have babies..My dogs have gotten swooped a few times through out the years..never gets old though, cracks me up actually..haha.
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Poor Gizmo, he's not the luckiest of Chaps is he
Haha, no! I should rename him to Jinx! :p
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Our cats get swooped at during this time of year, by swallows mostly. Clever birds - it does work. Prior to my husband's injury, he used to get swooped at when he was working on the top of skyscrapers. Seagulls would set up nests and become very protective when he was up there. He learned very fast to work around them and their nests!
So sorry Gizmo experienced that. I hope he doesn't hold a grudge against you -"live in the NOW, Gizmo".
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Abbey got pecked on the rump once by a mockingbird while she was pottying. She was not amused!
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This time of year, when there are lots of baby birds and eggs being hatched, the birds in our trees will swoop down and threaten any animal walking under. So far my B's have not been hit, but we had one cat a few years ago who liked going up the trees after the nests, and he got pecked lots of times - we'd see him running fast, low to the ground, and birds swooping down at him pecking like crazy. He never learned, and spent a lot of time licking his wounds. LOL
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Poor Gizmo should write a book about his adventures! I would buy it for sure!
Maria
