Lady: Today we are talking about wild animals encounters. I admit I hadn't thought too much about this until we moved to the country. We live in the Gatineau Hills and have deer, wild turkeys, otters, groundhogs, foxes, racoons, skunks, porcupine, birds, squirrels, toads, frogs and chipmunks in our yard. This increases our encounters with them. We also have a Hailey who is a great hunter.
Lee: Thank you Lady, for acknowledging my great hunting. I have caught a groundhog, and instead of taking a picture and framing it on the wall like human hunters, they took it away from me. Also, the groundhog didn't end up in my bowl, they just threw it away . . . so not cool. It was a waste. They don't appreciate it and they don't appreciate it when I try to climb trees to get a squirrel (I got one once . . .).
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| Hailey trying to get a squirrel |
Lee: If you knew what Red John (the squirrel) was saying, you wouldn't want him around either.
Lady: I am sure you are exaggerating Hailey.
Lee: Nope, I would never exaggerate.
Lee: I learned my lesson with the bee, but those others aren't fast enough to stop me.
Lady: Ok, you may be super hunter, but other dogs, like Phod may not be, they may be unsafe. Also, in many places it is illegal for dogs to chase and harass wildlife.
Lee: The wildlife harasses first . . . . .but I agree some dogs may be slow and unsafe.
Lady: Ok, so we have finally agreed, we need to learn to live safely with wildlife. Here are some things you can do to keep everyone safe (taken from a variety of provincial websites):
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| A deer in our yard |
- Keep your dog on leash in areas/times of day the wildlife encounter is likely to happen.
- Keep your cats inside or take them outside on leash
- Do a visual check before letting dogs out/off leash (Lee: This may help some but those sneaky groundhogs can just pop out of a hole when you least expect it. They are wily.)
- Make sure to use chew-proof leashes/tie outs to prevent your dog from breaking free. (Lee: aka stifle your dog).
- Train your dog not to respond to wildlife. Keep in mind that even highly trained dogs may not listen when faced with the tantalizing sight and smells of wildlife.
- A secure fence may keep some of the wildlife out but if you are facing wolves etc it needs to be very high as they will jump over it.
- Be loud when outside. This could be wearing bells, stomping you feet etc. That will scare many animals away and prevent the encounter in the first place.
- Keep garbage in animal proof containers and don't put it out early.
- Pick up dog poop, it can attract wild canines.
- Don't leave small dogs outside unattended, they may be confused as prey by some wildlife.
- Don't leave your pets outside overnight. Most attacks on pets happen at night.
- If you come face to face with a predator, don't run. Yell, scream, throw things, be loud, maintain eye contact and don't turn your back.
Lee: The most important piece of advice, don't lick a toad. They taste yucky.
Lady: These are some of the tips you can follow to help live in harmony with nature.
Lee: Or you can just let your LeeLee out and she can take care of all the groundhogs, squirrels, ravens etc and it won't be a problem.
Phod: Or you can be like me and gently catch the groundhog and bring him home as a pet.
Phod and Lee: Lady you are no fun!
Lady: Thank you for joining us for safety week. Have you every had a wildlife encounter? What did you do?
Excellent advice and information and Lee really gave a good doggie perspective - even if it is different from the humans :) You forgot one other important thing though - wildlife with rabies - do they have that up in your area?
ReplyDeleteClapping and standing and screaming what a great lesson. Thankfully I don't go outside but I think I will use some of those techniques when I spot a busy tailed rodent on my deck.
ReplyDeleteWell done my friends
hugs madi your bffff
Great post and some good advice. Sadly when out in the sticks I am on a lead unless it is somewhere peeps feels confident I won't get myself into trouble. I caught and deaded a mouse the other day. They are trying to come indoors looking for water as it has been so hot. Peeps was well pleased. Not on my turf I say. Have a terrific Tuesday.
ReplyDeleteBest wishes Molly
BRAVO! Lee, I agree with you to lick on a toad is awful. I did it once and I landedt at the vet where I've got a pill and my dad a bill.... and I had a very bad day.... butt hey, the next day as I saw a toad, I tried it again... and it ended the same way like the day before :o)
ReplyDeleteThank you for a great post! Wildlife can be scary. Here in Florida it's best not to take a walk too close to a lake because a gator might look at you and consider you lunch. The closest encounter we ever had was when my Jack Russell sisters surrounded a poor little black snake in the yard. Daddy has to break that one up and send them all inside. Oh yeah, my sissy, Jennie, came into the house one night carrying a froggy by its leg. It was dangling from her mouth. Yuck!
ReplyDeleteHey Lee and Phod and Lady!
ReplyDeleteWow, what a fun and helpful post! I love the running commentary/dialog. Lee you are huntress to be admired fur sure! I also try to bash any wildlife in my territory. I've deaded more chipmunks/mice/moles than can be counted. BOL My worst encounter...a porcupine. Yup, got a face full of quills...even one in my tongue. Yeouch and I don't recommend it. Love your tips...especially making lots of noise when you go out and staying inside a high fence. Great stuff here today and I thank you all for hosting this fur us.
Grr and Woof,
Sarge, Police Commish
Thank you for da wildlife safety tips. Mom got rid of my birdfeeder in my yard cuz it was attracting too may squirrels. grrrrrrrrrrrr…. I liked treeing dem. Now all I get to chase in da yard is an occasional bunny. Oh… and I found a box turtle once.
ReplyDeleteWe have loads of frogs da all come out at night. I agree…. yuck.
Wags,
Ranger
So it's ok to scream on the top of our lungs
ReplyDeleteLily & Edward
That was very interesting post!!! We have wildlife all around our little house, like the horrible squirrels that dad feeds, (we laughed at the red john comment) and of course the little rabbits that dad feeds, maybe you should do a post on how NOT to feed the wildlife, and of course the birds that dad feeds, mom used to worry that the vultures that live next door on the sherriff's big tower would swoop down and get us. So far dad isn't feeding any toads so we should be safe .....we like the idea of bells when walking.....stella rose
ReplyDeleteYou would think living in the suburbs I would not have to deal with wildlife. But in my hood I have deer that jump our five foot fence, possums, skunks and this spring we had a bear running around the city. A coyote crossed our path at the park. Lee said the best ever training I got was the emergency down. When she yells that command I drop to the ground or I am toast! Thanks for the great tips.
ReplyDeleteSweet William The Scot
Very early one morning we met a skunk in our yard. Mom and Dad gave us about 87 baths that day. Now Mom turns on the light, rings a bell and talks loud before she lets us thru the door. Skunks smell really bad.
ReplyDeleteFudge and the Portie Pack
Great post! Wonderful tips as well!
ReplyDeleteWe have a ton of wildlife around here too. We live just outside Ottawa as you know, and we are pretty much in the country, just in a small town. We hear coyotes all the time, and there are always squirrels, etc....there was even a beaver in my yard one time!
ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!
Some wonderful things you have brought to our attentions so we can live in harmony with nature. But I might have to do some thingies in reverse so we can bring those animals across our fence so we can chase them!
ReplyDeleteYour Pals,
Murphy & Stanley
Mayorz For All Paws
OMD Lee.... you are SO right about the TOADS... they taste AWFUL and they make us FOAM at the MOUTH... I (Frankie Furter) learned THAT lesson the HARD WAY...
ReplyDeleteTHIS is all FABULOUS advice... EXCELLENT POST... BRAVO BRAVO... we DO admit that WE like to hunt, being Dachshunds, and we DO Gwalk us some MOLEYs Now and then... butt we MUST keep all this stuff you have told us... IN MIND. So we will be ABLE to hunt another day.
PeeS... YES, terrible waste of that DELICIOUS Ground Hog... your mom and dad should have skinned and Cookered it up fur you. AND mounted the Head on the WALL. What a WASTE of an EXCELLENT TROPHY! BUTT then your mom and dad... ARE Peeps and they are the strangest of all creatures. RIGHT?
Pee S..... I (Frankie Furter) am Keeping the Class NOTES beclaws we had to go back to two OTHER classes and take Tutorials... BECLAWS ... Ernie the IDIOT.. lost our NOTES.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU TEACHER... We loved Every Word you said.
These are some very important things to remember safety wise,,, because--- well out where i live there are lots of wild animals.
ReplyDeletelove
tweedles
Those are great tips to live safely with wild life!
ReplyDeleteWe don't have much wildlife around us. Just little lizards, frogs and the occasional roo. Daisy chased one once. We have to worry about snakes! Thanks, you AND Lee had some great ideas.
ReplyDeleteYep, very good rules to live by, we are little, so we don't stay out at night, to many BIG things around here. Thanks for being a part of Safety week, can never get enough safety for the peeps to follow!
ReplyDeleteTop Cop Bites
What great advice! Watch out for those shrews too. They are venomous!
ReplyDeletethank you for the very informative class! Because we are small dogs, Mom worries when she hears the owls hooting. She does not want them to carry one of us off. And yes so not fair Lee that the ground hog was taken away from you!
ReplyDeletehugs
Mr Bailey, Hazel & Greta
BOL...What a very fun way to learn about wildlife safety!! We live in a small country town now (Instead of the big Austin city), and even though we still live in a neighborhood we arel making Mama take notes!
ReplyDeleteSmileys!
Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo
That is excellent advice. We try to keep the rodents out of our bird feeder and so far haven't been able to catch one.
ReplyDeleteI love the "don't lick a toad" quip! Great tips... protecting both our dogs and the wildlife is such a balancing act. With Shyla, we wanted to follow the latest vet advice, which is to spay really late for the sake of the dog's health. The problem is that you might have to go through a heat cycle. I chickened out when I thought Shyla's first heat was coming on (and got her spayed asap) because I was scared that every coyote in the county would be howling outside our windows!
ReplyDeleteBOL!!! Yups, I agree, don't bring homes live rodents...make sure you've deaded them furst!!! BOL!!!
ReplyDeleteOkays, just kiddin'...geesh Ma, don't be a party pooper!
Okays, that was a most FABulous and informative postie guys!! I loved it to pieces!
I'm gonna go back and write some of this stuffs down, so I can keep it by the door
Kisses,
Ruby ♥
Wow that was super good information. I took lots of notes. I am kind of an inside girl, but it is good to know what to do just in case. Thank you and here is an apple for my teachers.
ReplyDeleteLoveys Sasha
We certainly enjoyed your wildlife post! The don't lick frogs rule is one we won't ever forget. One licking was enough. We have had opossums, turtle, snakes, terrorist squirrels, and frogs. They get a good barking!
ReplyDeleteI did not know that about the toads. Ick. I caught a huge beetle today - they made me drop it. I've had an opossum in my yard a few times. I asked it to leave very loudly and it just looked at me. My mom wishes she could see deer in her yard!
ReplyDeleteoxox
Daisy
Great information about steering clear of wildlife! Oh Lee, you would NOT want to lick a toad down here...besides tasting awful, they are poisonous to dogs! Yep, I learned from the time I was a pup that you just do not go near those things.
ReplyDeleteOz
thanks for all the great safety tips. we've done lots of hiking but never met anything really except tree trats & chippydidos .... me thinks we must be making enough noise without even trying BOL!
ReplyDeleteHi hi hi! Ojo here! Cousin Lee, the people are No Fun. Mine are like this too. When I catch squirrels or bunnies and make them dead with my mouth they get very sad. But they are confusing too, because I caught a mouse inside the house the other day and instead of being sad they were very happy and said "Good Dog!" many times. I do not understand the people.
ReplyDeletePee Ess Do not lick slugs either, they make your tongue go numb. I think toads and slugs are the dangerous wildlife, don't you?
This is all grreat advice. Momma is all about living with nature instead of hunting it too. She spent a lot of time teaching me and my sissy that the bunnies we see on our walkies are for talking to nicely, not chasing. (Bugs and his family are our good furiends now.) But any tree rats in the yard had still better beware!!
ReplyDelete