Squatters Vengeance
A news item caught my eye. Coming hard on news that coyotes have been spotted in Barrhaven, outside Ottawa. People are being counselled to have a mind to the safety of their small pets. For the past several months people living south of here, in Greely, have reported the disappearance of small dogs. Then coyotes were seen in the area, and a group of homeowners decided to seek the services of a trapper.
Living in rural areas, is it too much to expect that people would exercise some discretion? To discipline themselves to take responsibility for their responsibilities? At night, if a small pet needs to be outside to relieve itself, and there's no property-encircling fence, accompany it briefly to ensure its safety. It's what we do regularly, living within a more urbanized setting, knowing how much area raccoons appreciate our compost.
Added to the stupidity of our smaller male dog who acts without appreciating consequences. So we remove the potential for grief by accompanying him outside in the dark hours, to ensure he doesn't challenge a raccoon to a contest that he'll most certainly lose. No big deal. It's the least we can do for the raccoon.
I'm digressing; it's today's newspaper article that infuriated me. A woman living in Whitney Ontario, not far from Algonquin Park, that natural sanctuary, Ontario's jewel, experienced a loss of her own. Her beagle, whom she named Chance, was devoured, she insists, by a wolf. A lone wolf, obviously a pack reject, fending for itself. And in so doing, coming across an irresistible opportunity.
Food placed outside on a daily basis for the little beagle, chained to its doghouse. The dog, well fed, would often stay in its doghouse, venturing out when he felt sufficiently hungry to eat. The wolf, observing the ritual, took it upon itself to take advantage of easily accessible food. Until one day when the beagle decided to venture out of the doghouse in the wolf's presence, challenging it no doubt, for the food.
The outraged owner, who had come back from a trip to a nearby town to find her dog missing, named her dog aptly, and the wolf accepted the chance. Living in a natural environment like that, where the presence of wolf packs is well known within Algonquin Park and close environs, along with other carnivores, this woman must surely have known that she was taking chances, leaving a little dog out to fend for itself.
Living in a natural setting would presuppose one to respect nature. Respecting the environment means respecting its natural and legitimate denizens. People are nothing less than squatters in nature's prime preserves. This woman did some sleuthing in her head and reached the conclusion that "The wolf would sneak in beside the doghouse and eat the food while the dog was sleeping."
A day after her dog vanished, the woman went out to the now-empty doghouse around the same time she usually fed her dog to "investigate the scene". And there was the wolf, looking right back at her. She had her satisfaction: "We got rid of it. He just happened to run into some lead."
Living in rural areas, is it too much to expect that people would exercise some discretion? To discipline themselves to take responsibility for their responsibilities? At night, if a small pet needs to be outside to relieve itself, and there's no property-encircling fence, accompany it briefly to ensure its safety. It's what we do regularly, living within a more urbanized setting, knowing how much area raccoons appreciate our compost.
Added to the stupidity of our smaller male dog who acts without appreciating consequences. So we remove the potential for grief by accompanying him outside in the dark hours, to ensure he doesn't challenge a raccoon to a contest that he'll most certainly lose. No big deal. It's the least we can do for the raccoon.
I'm digressing; it's today's newspaper article that infuriated me. A woman living in Whitney Ontario, not far from Algonquin Park, that natural sanctuary, Ontario's jewel, experienced a loss of her own. Her beagle, whom she named Chance, was devoured, she insists, by a wolf. A lone wolf, obviously a pack reject, fending for itself. And in so doing, coming across an irresistible opportunity.
Food placed outside on a daily basis for the little beagle, chained to its doghouse. The dog, well fed, would often stay in its doghouse, venturing out when he felt sufficiently hungry to eat. The wolf, observing the ritual, took it upon itself to take advantage of easily accessible food. Until one day when the beagle decided to venture out of the doghouse in the wolf's presence, challenging it no doubt, for the food.
The outraged owner, who had come back from a trip to a nearby town to find her dog missing, named her dog aptly, and the wolf accepted the chance. Living in a natural environment like that, where the presence of wolf packs is well known within Algonquin Park and close environs, along with other carnivores, this woman must surely have known that she was taking chances, leaving a little dog out to fend for itself.
Living in a natural setting would presuppose one to respect nature. Respecting the environment means respecting its natural and legitimate denizens. People are nothing less than squatters in nature's prime preserves. This woman did some sleuthing in her head and reached the conclusion that "The wolf would sneak in beside the doghouse and eat the food while the dog was sleeping."
A day after her dog vanished, the woman went out to the now-empty doghouse around the same time she usually fed her dog to "investigate the scene". And there was the wolf, looking right back at her. She had her satisfaction: "We got rid of it. He just happened to run into some lead."
Labels: Animal Stories, Nature, Social-Cultural Deviations
posted by Pieface @ 5:29 PM
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