Critter Attack!

Three weeks ago Charles, Isabella and I (Dan) had an "encounter". You may know that some combination of Nancy, Dan, Charles (golden retriever) and Isabella (black pug) take a walk down in the Deschutes River canyon, which is a block from our house, each day. Before telling you about the encounter, I should set the stage a little bit.

Last winter, Charles and I diverted from the normal trails and service road to walk through one of the heavily forested areas. While walking along, I noticed the biggest deer I have ever seen standing in the path we were following. Huge antlers ...... I don't know how many "points". He was perhaps 25 feet away and just stood there looking at me. Meanwhile, Charles was behind me busily sniffing around. Using his vaunted senses and his every instinct, he failed to realize that there was a big critter in our path. When I tried to point it out to him, he continued his business at hand. When I called to him in a more pressing way, he realized there was something out of the ordinary and finally noticed the deer. He made a half-hearted run at the deer and uttered one woof. Happily the deer ran and Charles came back to check on my well being (actually to hide behind me). Only then did I recall that I had just read in the paper that morning that a woman down in California had been pretty well beaten up by a deer in what sounded like a nice suburban setting. Glad the big boy we ran into was not itching for a fight!

The stakes got a little higher 6-8 weeks ago when a couple of cougars were spotted down in the canyon where we walk. There were lots of warning signs posted, but we continued our usual walks anyway ...... albeit with a wary eye for big kitties. There was even a picture in the local paper showing one of them in someone's back yard. After a couple of weeks of keeping a wary eye, let me just say that it did not end well for the cougars when authorities got involved.

So now to the attack. Sometimes I like to play a "hide and seek" game with Charles while we walk. That means hiding along the path so that his "vaunted" senses can be honed to precision as he searches for me. (He is pretty bad at it so I usually have to call him.) Anyway, three weeks ago Isabella and I had hidden along a path and had to call Charles to alert him as to our whereabouts. After finding us, he went ahead of us scouting the way back home. In no time I heard blood curdling cries of anguish, as if in the throes of death, and scuffling about in the underbrush just ahead of us. It was Charles. A rather large doe had whupped him real good. (Mind you, Charles cries more readily than John Boehner so the cries of anguish may have been overdone.) Charles got up and could walk, but he looked like he was in pretty rough shape.

Ordinarily this would seem like the end of the story, but the deer reminded me of a kung fu fighter who takes out the first guy and then goes looking for the next guy. Well, this deer started looking for the next guy, i.e. walking toward Isabella and me with seemingly bad intentions. Fortunately, it stopped about 20 feet away. I became even more concerned when I threw a large stick at it, and it didn't move. The deer gave me a look of "What are you gonna do about it?" Screaming and hollering at it did nothing. So I backed away while looking for another stick, but most of them were old and rotten. Rather than mind its own business, the deer started stalking us as we backed away. With Charles hiding behind me, I walked away from the area looking for whatever weapons might be available ... a big rock, a stick, whatever. The deer kept stalking us, staying about 30-40 yards away. When I thought we had finally gotten away from the darn thing, there it was again..... only 25-30 feet away. This time I throw a rock about the size of a baseball at it - missed. It did not flinch. Charles was in a state of shock and could only walk along as in a daze so he was of no help. Finally we got to the place where we can get out of the canyon, and happily no deer was on our trail. You might say that I was pretty relieved.

I estimate that the deer followed us for a couple hundred yards or so. Charles was pretty subdued for a few days, but at least he did not appear to have any broken bones. My guess is that he got kicked, but I don't know. Maybe his subdued state was just paralyzing fear..... or the realization that "he got nothin", which I continually remind him of anyway.

"Peter & the Wolf"

About 2 weeks ago Amy participated in a performance of "Peter & the Wolf". Here is a slideshow of some of the performance. The last 2 photos are of her solo in the recital portion of the show - unfortunately I couldn't make them fit the slideshow so I hope you don't get a crick in your neck. ;)

Enjoy!

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