Gardner is quoted in "Tiny dachshund survives 16 months on remote island but eludes rescuers/Her owners call her a 'princess.' But little Valerie has likely toughened up, says the wildlife group looking for her, living off roadkill and evading poisonous snakes" (WaPo)(free-access link, so you can see the pictures and read the thrilling details).
A song for Valerie:
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54 comments:
Steve Winwood Valerie
Can’t keep a good wiener down!
JSM
Did she name her chew toy Wilson?
YouTube: The Dachshund realized she/he had to grab that rope to survive.
More: "grab the world by the tail" (idiomatic) To possess great influence and opportunity."
I suppose animals have more of that stuff, will to survive, than us domesticated humans. It shouldn't be surprising that the Dachshund survived.
The title of "princes" was conferred to her by her humas. At heart she was a warrior princess.
Call of the wild.
Couldn’t read the article but I guess it depends on the island. In that particular ecosystem an 8lb. dachshund could have been an uber-predator. Reigning in Hell.
It was Kangaroo Island in Australia. We're told it's 75 times the size of Manhattan.
Good thing the dog was not a boxer.
Greg Kihn Band
"75 times the size of Manhattan."
Even at a Musk pace, she would need 16 months to get get everybody to compost.
👆🏽 more than 16 months.
My favorite Valerie song is Richard Thompson's https://youtu.be/9f7svTX6IOk?si=fZQW-b5ch2mCrTVf
But I like the Monkee's, too. Dachshunds were bred to be hunters not lap dogs, so I'm not surprised.
The video of this song with clips of Valerie Leon, Bond Girl, Hammer Films starlet, and Hai Karate aftershave saleswoman, is the perfect pairing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcarX3e3PB0
WaPo asks for info before I can see the story, but I did get a brief glimpse of the little terror.
Never underestimate the dackel.
Copilot: The name Valerie is a traditionally feminine name with English and French origins. It is derived from the Latin word "valere," which means "to be strong" or "to be healthy". In the Middle Ages, it was associated with the medicinal plant Valerian. Additionally, Valerie is connected to the Latin term for bravery, fierceness, and valor.
Howboutthat?
A dachshund is a terrier, which means its greatest joy and highest purpose is going to the earth, ripping life from it, then extinguishing it.
This dog is the perfect DOGE mascot!
The story is in WaPo. Unlikely MAGA dog owners.
Frank Zappa: Valerie
That should be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTdu2hFt_R0
A thousand thanks to @Lexington Green
That is truly the finest video on the Internet. I didn't know much about women back then, but I knew what I liked.
Althouse writes, "It was Kangaroo Island in Australia. We're told it's 75 times the size of Manhattan."
1,700 square miles -- a big island chock full of wallabies and venomous coastal taipan snakes, among the deadliest creatures on the planet. They're not kidding about roadkill. Kangaroos and their kin seem utterly oblivious to roadways and the traffic thereon. Many animals grow accustomed to the hazard and learn to avoid it and even exploit it to their advantage. (e.g. crows) But kangaroos? Nah, they'll bounce in front of an oncoming truck like it's a mirage. Little 'roos get smouched into dachshund chow, but the big reds and grays cause massive damage with their demise, like a sakied-up kamikaze pilot on crack. If Princess Valerie could avoid the taipans (thankfully, they are not aggressive) food would have been plentiful.
The fact that this canine eluded being "rescued" makes me wonder what sort of pet owner Ms. Gardner had been. Not the good kind, I should think. People who treat dogs like humans are not the good kind, and the dogs know it. Princess Valerie may look tiny and cuddly on the outside, but inside there's a wolf, a wolf who'll love you, but a wolf nevertheless. Advice to Georgia Gardner: Grow the fuck up.
Speaking of kangaroo kin, most of the roadkill I see is composed of ex-opossums. Is that "car? what car?" attitude connected to being a marsupial?
The Monkees were every bit as good as any of the other flower-power bands from that era. They may not have been "authentic," but they had great voices and harmonies, and some of the best rock songwriters composing their music. (I loved the afternoon reruns of their TV show when I was a kid -- it was basically "A Hard Day's Night" for children.)
My high school girlfriend was named Valerie. She was smart enough to avoid me as a long run proposition. But she was better looking than your average dachshund.
For the last time, snakes aren't "poisonous", they're "venomous".
Many of the newer (geologically speaking) islands of the far south pacific have few, if any predators large enough to hunt a small dog. New Zealand, for example, had only one native mammal, a bat. All other mammals were brought in by British settlers for food, companionship (dogs), as hunting prey, accidentally (ship-bourne rats) or the like. Few native lizards too, and no snakes. Also no mosquitos. Almost literally Eden.
"For the last time, snakes aren't 'poisonous', they're 'venomous'."
Well, James... some snakes are poisonous, and at least one species can be both venomous and poisonous.
In South America there are small arboreal snakes that prey on tree frogs, including toxic frogs. The snakes are able to sequester those frog toxins in their own tissues, thereby making them toxic the their predators.
In the United States we have numerous colubrid species called garter snakes that have long been consider harmless. Recently it has been shown that they are in fact mildly venomous. Furthermore, many garter snakes prey on toxic toads, and like their South American relations, they can use the toad's toxins to make themselves toxic to eat.
As Quaestor noted, never forget there's a wolf inside every dog.
Steve Winwood's song was bouncy and catchy, but he had trouble with the name, sometimes singing "Val-a-rie" and sometimes just "Valry".
It's nice that there are so many talented Amy Winehouse imitators out there. We ought to hear more from them.
I came across this quote yesterday from another "Valerie." It seemed relevant to many an internet discussion (though not this one):
Europe visibly aspires to be governed by an American commission. Its entire policy is directed to that end.
Paul Valéry
"Well, James... some snakes are poisonous, and at least one species can be both venomous and poisonous."
I actually knew all that :P. I comment very rarely on here, and most of my comments are long diatribes about amateur herpetology. Didn't wanna oversaturate my reputation :D
Been bit by a thamnophis or two, never worried about the "venom". There's a spot near where I live where I can reliably find a dozen or so basking on sunny summer mornings. They're adorbs and usually (but not always) pretty chill. And I've always wanted to go to that place in Canada where the garters come out by the thousands in late spring, but sadly work prevents me from traveling that time of year. Retirement goals!
I must confess to a likely error. Kangaroo Island is not within the range of coastal taipan according to the major sources, though the minority opinion differs. That island is without doubt part of the natural range of the eastern brown snake, only the second most venomous snake in the world after the inland taipan, with the coastal taipan bring up the rear as the third most. Very comforting.
Dachshunds were bred for and used for hunting badgers. They were hunting dogs.
Perhaps Valerie is just getting back to her "roots"
Dachshunds are tough little bastards. I have a Dachshund, Chihuahua Pitbull mix. He'd be terrifying if he weighed more that 22 lbs.
Don't try divide us. We are ALL Americans . So are you. You can't help it!
Dachshounds are underestimated. I have one. Tough as nails and head strong.
Dachshunds are vicious beyond human understanding. They're both great and terrible. A Dachshund makes a Great White Shark look like a wet gerbil with low testosterone. They were bred to crawl into dark holes with nothing but a .45 and a flashlight, to hunt and kill the Badgercong where they live. I'm not surprised Valerie survived. I'm surprised there's still a single living creature left on that island.
Lord of the Flies II
Reign of Valerie
I think the mink guy could benefit from a dachshund in the arsenal.
"Dachshunds were bred for and used for hunting badgers. They were hunting dogs."
There is some question about that. In German hund translates as dog, and dogge translates as hound. Old English has nearly identical cognate terms. However, sometime after the Conquest those words got reversed such that in Modern English hound indicates a hunting dog, whereas dog is a more generic term for a canine, thus we have foxhound, deerhound, wolfhound, and coonhound. Usually the part proceeding "_hound" indicates the prey the canine was bred to hunt, but not always. For example, a bloodhound does not hunt blood or even follow the scent of blood specifically. Blood in that sense refers to a highly bred animal with a long and well-documented pedigree, like a blood horse. Then there's the greyhound, which does not seek greys (whatever that could possibly mean). Greyhound was originally "gazehound", i.e. any hunting dog that follows its quarry by sight rather than by scent like a foxhound. Consequently, deerhounds, wolfhounds, borzois, whippets, and salukis are all "greyhounds" by definition. It was only within the last two hundred years that greyhound became the name of a specific breed rather than a type.
Returning to the dachshund, its name translates as badger dog, not badger hound. Therefore, it can be argued the name refers to a characteristic of the breed rather than a quarry. European badgers are considerably smaller than our North American badgers. Like our badgers, the European kind are excellent diggers. They tunnel after voles, moles, dormice and other small burrowing critters. Our badgers also excavate their prey, but they evolved to dig up prairie dogs, a much larger and more formidable rodent, hence their greater size and truculence compared to their cousins across the Pond. Those who argue about dachshund history ask why. Why would anyone want to breed a badger hound? Badgers are beneficial. They eat the animals that eat our food. The badger's flesh is repellant; its pelt isn't valuable. The fur is coarse and stinks like a skunk, badgers have that distinctive black-and-white striping for a reason. (This is not to say no hound was ever bred for obtaining valuable pelts, witness the otterhound.) Given the undesirability of hunting a small inedible and very smelly critter, doesn't it make more sense to breed a canine that could ferret out destructive rodents in a badger-like manner?
Wait until members of the wildlife group looking for Valerie start not reporting in.
I got mugged by a kangaroo once on Kangaroo Island.
I was only a kid and when we got off the tourist bus you could see the roos and emus stirring like scum in a bad neighbourhood when fresh meat stumbles in.
One of the roos grabbed me and pushed me up against the bus until I gave it something to eat. Fortunately I had something in my pocket.
Snakes and cars would be Valerie's only threat on the island. I'm surprised she didn't seek out humans. It's not exactly deserted there.
Well done, Bob Boyd!
Then there's the greyhound, which does not seek greys (whatever that could possibly mean).
Greyhounds were used to protect people from alien abduction. A greyhound could run a space alien to ground or tree the sonuvabitch so peasants with pitchforks and torches could take control and now who's gettin' probed, mofo?
You took that cue like a trouper, Bob Boyd. Have you considered a career in improvisational comedy?
You're looking at it.
Another wannabe comedian tree'd by the dachshund of life.
A very short tree, evidently.
Gardner and Fishlock
Attorneys at Law
Specializing in civil and criminal defense of dachshund owners whose dogs simply followed their true nature and did terrible, terrible things.
“Steve Winwood's song was bouncy and catchy, but he had trouble with the name, sometimes singing "Val-a-rie" and sometimes just "Valry".”
I’ve read the song was written about the late Valerie Carter. Now there was a voice!!!
Reminds me of the Baron in the Trees and his dachshund, Ottimo Massimo.
Valerie is living the dream. No way she's going back. She's the apex predator on Kangaroo Island. The dog who would be queen.
“ Badgers are beneficial. They eat the animals that eat our food. The badger's flesh is repellant; its pelt isn't valuable. The fur is coarse and stinks like a skunk”
But all the Wisconsin girls love Buckey regardless, even though he is quite self entitled and arrogant.
Unless my memory is worse than I think it is, badger pelts were used by some German states as soldiers' pack-covers.
I guess they had to do something with all the dead beasties.
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