From "Luna, a Dog Who Was Lost in Yellowstone for a Month, Is Found Safe/A 10-year-old Jack Russell Terrier/Chihuahua mix, Luna lost half her weight but was otherwise healthy after several weeks in Yellowstone National Park" (NYT).
Like a kid in a candy store: a dog in the forest.
It wasn't easy trapping the tiny dog: "She’s a very typical Jack Russell terrier. She’s got opinions, and she’s got energy, and she’s tenacious, and she is not going to give up easily. And that is why she’s alive."
પોસ્ટ્સ
44 ટિપ્પણીઓ:
Some dogs dearly love fresh, steaming road apples -- none of my dogs, mind you -- but some are absolute madlads for horse pucky. Countless times I'd have a horse cross-tied on the wash rack, then the plop-plop-plop and the scurrying of barn mutts over those brownish-green lumps would follow.
Of all vertebrate fecal matter, horseshit -- the literal kind, not the Inga kind -- is the least objectionable. I don't know why, but I do know that horses are very inefficient eaters. A lot of food goes in the front, lingers a while in the middle, and goes out the back only slightly diminished, nutrient-wise. Whether a dog can actually profit by eating equine flops is a question I feel better leaving unanswered. As for Lana, I would rather assume she survived on the native rodents, and not on buffalo chips. Ruminants are not inefficient.
Terriers were originally bred to dig out and kill rats. Their modern descendants, though mostly useless noise-makers nowadays, retain some of that instinctive predatory drive.
That dog is very lucky. Yellowstone is wild with predators.
That dog is white. Glow in the dark/ put a target on her.
She was just a little white snack running around. Scrappy little gal.
"She’s got opinions, and she’s got energy, and she’s tenacious, and she is not going to give up easily. And that is why she’s alive."
So, yeah, pretty much like Inga. Thus OK to let her come along to Yellowstone on the next Althouse Commenter Jamboree.
Forest Feces. Just remember that when your long-lost dog returns and joyfully licks your face.
I once got reprimanded for using an already-used spoon to dish out some dog food because that's dirty. I said, "But dogs eat shit, for God's sake!" (And that particular dog definitely did.) That person said, "That's different!"
Well, OK. Whatever.
Of all of the many, many pets I've had over the decades and decades now, one cat and one dog just defied all the odds. The cat lived to 21 and the dog is still alive, almost 8 years after being diagnosed with supposedly terminal cancer. He was taken off of chemo etc. when he surpassed the upper limit of life expectancy for his breed, and he's still with us..
I just think that some animals, like some humans now that I think about it, are just born survivors, for whatever reasons. And/or lucky. This Jack Russell seems to be one of those. Fate? I have no idea.
I need to get lost in Yellowstone for a month.
Is the food really that bad at your place, bagoh?
Dogs eat other critter's poop because it helps their gut biome. I occasionally catch my dogs nibbling at smart pills from the cottontails, or deer niblets. Not too often though. What's worse is when I take them for a run on the land and they find some wild pig sh*t to roll in, or something dead, and they decide to party. It doesn't happen often but.....
"Is the food really that bad at your place, bagoh?"
Just the opposite, and that's the problem. Grok tells me I would lose 25lbs if I didn't eat for 30 days. That's a little more than I need, so I'd take a couple six packs along.
Forest feces.
A new idea for some enterprising young entrepreneur?
Get your free starter pack.
In Yellowstone, I'm surprised that the DOG was not on the menu.
I think this dog has a winnable case of libel.
A Jack Russel is made for catching small rodents, and there are dead animals which his nose would find. It was out of line to suggest he's a Democrat voter.
That Jack Russell/Chihuahua mix pooch was bound to annoy grizzlies and wolves. A very lucky little shit-eater to have survived.
Peachy has also survived for years loke that.
True story.
CBS News with Tony Dokoupil carried this story.
According to the article, the dog was not vulnerable to predators because it was so small and it could easily hide in places too small for the predators to get at it
"..it could easily hide in places too small for the predators to get at it"
Which why I want to lose weight.
Ive had friends with Jack Russells. They were cat like in their love for killing small animals and presenting them as prizes often. One became an expert at killing skunks. Which was a terrible learning process for all but after a while there was no issues. Dont know about Yellowstone, but the socal mtns are having a bumper mouse and rat year.
Bagoh, Never Cry Wolf shows you can survive on mice so dont need to worry about the feces. Probably enough of those in town too.
"Which why I want to lose weight."
A rare genuinely lol moment for me
Bobcats and coyotes are the bane of any loosepets in the socal mtns, but there was a black housecat that prowled at night for at least a year. Only cat I saw around in the 6 yrs we lived there
DD - yes indeed.
Born and raised in the wild on forest feces.
My little mutt loves rabbit turds. And they are plentiful in my neighborhood.
A dog with opinions?
No one on the internet knows she's a dog.
She's lucky she didn't end up on some bear's menu.
Maybe that explains why she had that shít-eating grin on her face when they found her.
I won't mention my college pal's story about how his pug would eat the stuff as it came out of the other dog. That would be gross.
btw- I live near urban areas, but I am out in the county a bit. Surrounded by county open space. The neighbors warn to keep small pets inside. Some pets have gone missing over the years. Some pets were known to have been munched by predators. We have a coyote den in the open space near by. These coyotes offer the creepiest in pack howls and screams. What is that? yikes.
The idea that this dog wasn't a target for munching by predators. LOL NYT.
That dog is VERY lucky.
Whole people get eaten by bears in Yellowstone. We should all slim down prior to visiting.
Raccoon poop is a bad idea. Smart dog to ignore it unless eating it explains the weight loss.
There's a reason why my late grandfather called one of his dogs a "turd hound".
The problem with eating rodents is the worms. And we all want to be nature children and live in peace in the garden like cave men.
Our last-but-one dog, (Bloomer Queen, 1996-2010) had a Jack Russell mom and a basset pop. She inherited the worst traits of both breeds and was stupid, crazy, and evil--but she was beautiful with long legs and we loved her.
She ate poop on our walks when she could snag it, as did our last pooch, Murphy the black dachshund (2008-2025, already about four when we got him). In personality he was Bloomer's opposite.
We miss them both.
We saw the story on the news and are not at all surprised by Luna's survival. You go, girl.
Just noticed the new motto.
In the alt-house there are many mansions.
My recently deceased dog looooved rabbit and deer poop, but depending on circumstances, she would stoop to other varieties, as well as dead things and other gross stuff, if allowed. (My husband allowed, because he insisted on using one of those extending leashes and letting her get too far ahead to see what she might be plunging into the tall grass for; I used her 6ft leash exclusively and she seldom got into things I didn't want her to.) But she was a very polite dog; even when we first got her at a year and a half old or so, she didn't lick faces. (No doubt someone will now tell me that's because she considered herself the pack leader, didn't actually like us, etc. Whatever.)
Toward the end, I would lie beside her nose to nose, telling her what a very good girl she was, and still only occasionally would I get one light nose-lick, even though I was inviting it. I miss my dog.
went on a fly fishing outing in Alaska, we had an Indian guide, and he wore a revolver on his hip "for bears," although he knew them all by name, but he gave us yellow whistles anyway, and told us that they would scare the bears and call him over. We asked him if there were bears around that morning, and he said "Sure. I have seen plenty of bear scat." We asked him how could he tell it was bear poop and he said "by the yellow whistles in it."
True story, BTW.
"Whole people get eaten by bears in Yellowstone. We should all slim down prior to visiting."
Peachy is joshing, of course. But there's method in his madness.
American tend to abhor fat. Take for instance the ideal working-class restaurant meal, a grilled Porterhouse steak (bovine muscle), a baked potato (starch), bread (more starch), and a green salad (yet more starch). Protein and starch. There's some fat there, but its mostly hiding in the buttered roll, the sour cream on the spud, and the dressing on the salad. Not bad, essential even. But the diner is worried about the fat, and not at all about the protein. Protein is good. However, one of those cheap bacon-wrapped fillets contains all the essential amino acids a healthy adult needs per day. Protein is good, but as fuel. it kinda sucks. Beyond a certain point, protein is a metabolic burden. Digestion consumes more calories than it provides, and uric acid reaches toxicity levels. This is why rotisserie rabbit as a winter survival food is a recipe for disaster, and why Eskimos eat the seal's fat and throw away the meat.
At this point you're thinking, Quaestor's off in the weeds again. (I know. I can hear the gears grinding.) Worry not. I'm approaching the finish line. Did you ever wonder why great white sharks frequently bite people but very seldom eat them? It's the fat, or more precisely, the lack of fat. Who among us are more exposed to the dreaded Carcharodon carcharias? Surfers and recreational swimmers, a subset markedly clustered on right side of the BMI bell curve. The shark bites; tastes nothing but muscle and bone; then lets go. The svelte surfer is not worth the effort to devour him. Now, if one of those BBWs who stroll the beach wearing scandalously skimpy bikinis were to float out past the breakers -- Whoa, Nelly! Ring the fucking dinner bell.
The same is true of grizzly bears. They kill people, but infrequently eat them. Grizzlies live where winters are long and cold. To get by they need fuel -- fat, and lots of it. Grizzlies and Alaska browns are famous fishermen. But what do they do with their catch? They eat the fat-rich skin, and leave all that lovely red salmon flesh for the scavengers. Eating the salmon muscle costs calories a grizzly prepping for winter just can't afford. The same applies to humans they encounter. Humans are a threat to be dealt with, but as food, we aren't worth the effort. If being devoured by a bear is your recurrent nightmare, avoiding black bears in the Southeast is more important.
Sorry for the typos.
Love terriers.
Ahh, Jamie, it sucks to have recently lost a dog - I sympathize and can only offer the solace that, as dog parents go, you and your husband went beyond the call and did you best for yours. I'm one of those that believes if we behave ourselves, we get to be with our dogs again.
“According to the article, the dog was not vulnerable to predators because it was so small and it could easily hide in places too small for the predators to get at it”
Well, sure… but the little gourmand still had to leave those small, secure hideouts for his hunter/gatherer escapades, no?
“I won't mention my college pal's story about how his pug would eat the stuff as it came out of the other dog. That would be gross.”
I’d guess the little pug was a stickler for FRESHNESS!
"She’s a very typical Jack Russell terrier. She’s got opinions, and she’s got energy, and she’s tenacious, and she is not going to give up easily. And that is why she’s alive."
I'm trying to imagine what the NYT would have written if the dog were male.
ટિપ્પણી પોસ્ટ કરો
Please use the comments forum to respond to the post. Don't fight with each other. Be substantive... or interesting... or funny. Comments should go up immediately... unless you're commenting on a post older than 4 days. Then you have to wait for us to moderate you through. It's also possible to get shunted into spam by the machine. We try to keep an eye on that and release the miscaught good stuff. We do delete some comments, but not for viewpoint... for bad faith. Also: No italics, even briefly. Use asterisks for emphasis. And don't play with the format by changing fonts or using boldface or all caps. Never include more than one extra line break between paragraphs.