Smells and Sights

Just the other day, our grandmother in Michigan texted the family with this picture of a deer in her front yard!

Deer in Ann Arbor

Boy, if Zoe and I had been there we’d have told that guy a thing or two – probably to the detriment of FarMor’s furniture and clean windows. None-the-less, this would not have happened:

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Deer in the backyard! In this case, deer meaning more than one even though there is no ‘s’ at the end – something I never understood.

https://videopress.com/v/IyvWMZiy?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata

Sure, they ended up hightailing it over the fence eventually (FarMor not being as scary as us). Had I been there with Zoe:

1. It wouldn’t have had a chance to nibble on any vegetation*
2. Zoe would have been right on his heels – that fence not being a true barrier for her when such incentives are on hand

Interestingly, that same day, dad spotted this deer (back to just 1) outside our backyard fence. We were napping and he didn’t have the decency to come and tell us!

But this was not the first time he failed to clue us in on a hunting opportunity. Just about a month or so ago (could be last week, or a year ago to be honest), we were on our pre-lunch walk around the block while the Zo-zymes in Zoe’s lunch were being activated. As we neared the point of Long Ridge and Garnet Rock, we caught a whiff of one or more deer. Dad had to work hard to keep us reigned in so that we couldn’t pursue the source of the smell. As we rounded the bend the smell dissipated, and we were back on our best behavior.

This is about the time Dad stopped and got out is iPhone – we assumed he was reading a text although neither of us remembered hearing the ping or vibration sounds that usually preceded such a distraction. We just sat down and patiently waited for him to regain focus and continue on our walk.

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When we got home, I snuck a look at his phone and found these incriminating pictures! This deer was not 50 feet away from us but we didn’t see it even though we had just smelled it? How could that be possible? And surely we would have noticed s/he moving, right?

Dad caught me with his phone and started chuckling to himself at my obvious disbelief (incredulity?).

Then he explained that the deer was stock still the whole time he was taking pictures. “OK,” I think to myself but missing the smell? That is not something either Zoe or I would ever fail to notice.

Then he taught us about wind direction and how it could mess with our noses. We obviously knew about wind – every time we are in a car our heads out the window with wind whistling all around us with all sorts of odors – not to mention when a slight breeze drifts across our yard with the scent of a nearby grill cooking up a steak or fish! But the idea that the wind could “hide” a deer from us was flabbergasting.

I thought we had learned our lesson: Smell is great, but we had to be on top of our game visually as well. But then not a week later I discovered at basically the same place (and time), Dad took these pictures.

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I guess the real lesson is Dad is a jerk and doesn’t clue us in on important things like when deer (plural) are down wind from us 😡.

The Tempest

Maskne

So, from what I understand listening to our Mother, a lot of people who have to wear muzzles for many hours at a time end up having acne issues around where the mask covers their faces…thus the term maskne came into existence. And she certainly suffers from this! But until the other evening I didn’t think us canine pack members were prone to this affliction. And then we discovered a bump on Zoe’s nose! … but come to think of it, I can’t recall seeing her in a muzzle lately 🤨.

The next morning, Dad made a vet appointment for Friday around lunch time. This was a time Mom was free so she could talk to the vet directly – one human with a mask are now allowed in the building with the patient.

This morning (Friday) the bump had erupted (or what wikipedia calls ulceration) and was kind of oozing. This was the first time I became truly interested in the injured site as it looked like a job for nurse Tempi!

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Upon arrival at the vet, we all piled out of the car and sniffed around the grassy area by the parking lot – was it just Zoe and I that did that? After a few minutes of this, Mom and Zoe went into the vets – Zoe dragging Mom through the doors – while Dad and I went walking around the neighborhood.

When they came out we were informed that Zoe likely had a histiocytoma which sounds horrible to me but we (Dad and I) were quickly assured by Mom that this was a common and benign skin condition that should resolve itself in a matter of weeks or months. However, her nose looked a lot worse coming out then when she went in. Turns out the vet scrubbed, poked, rubbed her wound while Mom held a treat in front of Zoe thus distracting her from what the vet was up to. Eventually, the vet was done and Zoe got the treat(s). From what Zoe told me, while the vet and Mother talked about the treatment (Neosporin application 2-3 days and a q.d. antibiotic), Zoe walked over to the cabinet where the treats were kept, opened the door, and helped herself to more treats until she was discovered…what a card!

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Then around dinner time, Mom was looking through the freezer for something to make them (our parents) to eat. Zoe noticed the big package of bacon she pushed aside. My guess is she’ll figure a way into the freezer compartment for some self-serve frozen bacon in the next day or two when the parents aren’t looking!!!

Mmmmmm. Bacon!

The Tempest

Fences: Part 1, The Recent Escape

As you may recall, our backyard in Illinois had a 6 foot fortress of a fence which kept Zoe at home – she being a good jumper as we learned at the dog park near our old house.

https://videopress.com/v/Z76OgBJ4?resizeToParent=true&cover=true&preloadContent=metadata

So when we moved to Carlisle, the first order of business was getting a fence around a portion of our lot – and it had to be at least 6 feet so our parents would feel safe letting her outside unsupervised. Given the amount of distance that needed to be covered with the new fence, wood would not be an option…financially speaking. Thus the chain-linked variety was installed which had the unexpected benefit of us (Zoe and I) being able to see EVERYTHING that passed our yard via the road (cars, runners, dogs on walks, UPS trucks, etc.) or the woods (deer, turkeys, fox, fischer cat, Norman, etc.).

Another thing we discovered about them is that in certain spots one can actually roll UNDER the fence. But that is a story for another day.

Today it is about the time when my grandparents from NM visited (based on popular demand). On this occasion, I discovered that a breach had occurred in all the reinforcements that have been put in place that have kept us in over the past year or so.

Months ago, when we had some work done in the backyard one of the posts had been removed to get the machinery in our yard. We investigated this zone repeatedly hoping we could use this as a passageway to the front yard. But there was no obvious way to get out that we could find.

That is until the night in question when I was all of a sudden out and about after some cheeky varmint (SP) that had trespassed on our lot. Unfortunately, from my parents perspective, my Whistle GPS tracker was on the charger (or as they say around here, chahga) instead of on my collar. From what I understand from Zoe’s recounting, a panic set in through our house which she was hoping would leave an opportunity for some fruitful counter surfing.

After some calling after me, Mom jumped in the car and started driving down the street with the windows down and calling my name. Dad, on foot, had a leash and a flashlight and was walking along the road looking into the woods.

Then all of a sudden he saw me bounding of the woods and toward the car. Dad shouted, “STOP THE CAR”. Which Mom immediately did. Then she opened the door and…I was in her lap! Maybe panting a bit and wet from running through the underbrush.

Upon my return home, I got a lot of sniffs of interest from Zoe, and some questions from all the humans in the kitchen about what I was up to and how I got out. But I was too winded (and lapping up tons of water) to answer.

What my Dad found when he went outside was:

1. A distinct funky musky smell in the air (and that was with his human sense of smell … imagine what I was smelling!)
2. A hole had been dug – from inside or outside the fence he was unable to determine – around the missing post…and I didn’t tell him.

So over the next ten minutes or so, he was hauling up rocks from one of our piles of rocks and filling in the hole – in the dark.

Come morning, the funk smell and the desire to leave the yard was gone.

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So instead, we (me) decided to enjoy the time with our grandparents and parents – which included multiple trips to Kimball’s ice cream palace!!!!

The Tempest