Does your beagle need work?

[shereads]

Beagles, the all-purpose drug-sniffing dog, are now being assigned to Burmese Python duty in the Everglades.

Apparently, pythons are not the cuddly pets some people hope for. After a family member or two go missing, owners dump their snakes in the Everglades where they have no natural predators (gators aren't rocket scientists but they're not crazy) and they're breeding like mad.

Beagles are now being used to sniff them out so they can be snuffed out.

Are beagles swamp-savvy? I have a bad feeling about this.

 

[cantdog]

New Zealand beagle: Hugsy

I have a special fondness for beagles, since my first dog was one, and my second pet tragedy (the first was the death of Henry, a painted turtle) was when he was cut in half. That sort of incident sticks with you.

So I notice beagles. They are bright-eyed, active dogs, engaged in the world's doings. They notice. They react, if only to issue the characteristic hound noises.

It was Mom's cooler. Mom's cooler was the focus of attention at the port of entry. She'd come ashore, as it were, with a lot of ham and cheese and bread and whatnot still stowed in it. The prospect of the long flight had made her pack snacks.

The cooler had the logo of her GMC vehicle on it, and I believe it was in origin a car part. It was cloth outside, and zipped around the top. You bore it by a shoulder strap, and it was lined with plastic, twice, so that you could slip ice things in between the plastic walls if you liked.

The literature from the government of our new host country suggested that the bringing in of meats and cheeses and other unbridled agricultural products would not be tolerated. Sneaking them in would result in fines, exorbitant ones.

It's an island country, New Zealand. They've had, like most islands, unfortunate experiences with foreign life forms becoming introduced into the pocket ecosystem.

A case in point is the Australian possum. Barb saw one alive on the drive from Omapere to Whangarei. There turned out to be a postcard with a photo of the same beast on a rack at the Fountain Lodge. "That's it! That's the animal I saw! The same one that's always lying dead in the road!" she said, and the blurb on the back of the card solved our mystery.

"That's a pist!" she was told.

No, said the blurb, it's an Australian possum.

But it is a pest, which is what the Fountain Lodge owner was saying, it really is. There are 43 million sheep in New Zealand, but there are NINETY MILLION Australian possums, or pists.

The animal is a marsupial, a member of a class of animals capable of a lot of reproduction, and nothing in New Zealand seemed able to dent its rise. It was everywhere, but chiefly in the native bush, where its vegetarian appetites strip the leaves at alarming rates. It's nocturnal. All one ordinarily sees is the little eyes, and then the dead pist in the road in the morning. The eyes are evidently its final accusing look before oblivion under the wheels.

Think of the rabbit and the dingo problems in Australia. Think of the kudzu in North America! Or the pondweed!

They have an attitude about dogs in New Zealand which goes to ensure that never will there be a significant population of feral dogs. Dogs kill kiwis, the bird, that is; and there is the dingo-- an example, in its millions, of just how overwhelming a population of wild dogs can get-- just across the Tasman Sea to remind everyone of the danger.

We saw working dogs, but we also saw signs in some areas saying loose dogs would be shot on sight. This program wasn't a government thing; the signs were erected by stockmen.

We never saw a dog otherwise than on a leash or herding sheep, either. Even one child's stuffed toy dog was on a leash.

And so was Hugsy, our first New Zealand dog. He was a beagle in the charge of a no-nonsense young woman in the uniform of the customs service of New Zealand. Mom had stopped at the amnesty bin and dumped all the sandwiches and milk and so forth, so that we were no longer smuggling in ham. But Hugsy was not fooled.

"Hello!" we told Hugsy, although we had not been introduced. He was a beagle, checking out everything there was to check out.

"Hillo. This is Hugsy. Good boy, Hugsy, yis, good filla, Hugsy."

She fed the dog some treats, one after another. Excessive, actually. He had earned them by fixing his attention resolutely on the zippered bag with GMC on it.

Mom remarked later that the dog was overfed. Well, maybe. He didn't waddle or anything.

"Yis, Hugsy, good boy! What's in the bag, ma'am?"

Well, nothing, now, was the answer to that, except some three of those bottles you freeze up to use in coolers. But we explained why Hugsy had been correct to single it out.

After a decorous delay of several minutes Hugsy came by a second time, and got yet more treats by spotting the GMC bag yet again. No fool, Hugsy.

 

[shereads]

Re: New Zealand beagle: Hugsy

I have a special fondness for beagles, since my first dog was one, and my second pet tragedy (the first was the death of Henry, a painted turtle) was when he was cut in half. That sort of incident sticks with you.

I guess.



I have to go cry myself to sleep now and try to lose that image. I hope your beagle is in heaven with my childhood beagles, Pepper, Missy, Skipper and Missy. (Never let children name pets.)

"Yis, Hugsy, good boy! What's in the bag, ma'am?"

Well, nothing, now, was the answer to that, except some three of those bottles you freeze up to use in coolers. But we explained why Hugsy had been correct to single it out.

After a decorous delay of several minutes Hugsy came by a second time, and got yet more treats by spotting the GMC bag yet again. No fool, Hugsy.

Thank you for not having this be the story about the cutting-in-half.

A border collie at the dog park asked me to hold his frisbee today so he could relax for a while. I don't know why he chose me; more accurately, I don't know how he spotted me as someone who would do his bidding. I held the frisbee and kept it safe from other dogs until he wanted it back. No fool, Anonymous Border Collie.

Dogs. God bless 'em. Few days are so grim that a dog can't lighten the mood.

 

[SensualCealy]

We had a terrier named Missy too, golden lab named Willie ( he died before I really remembered having him), a corgie (that was the size of a miniature doberman- obviously they miss judged her breading) named Suzie, and a month before I got married my mom bought a Shi-tzu named Wiggins (Winston was his registered name, pretty pompus for an over weight ball of fur!)

A year later mom got Lady, another shi-tzu, and two years later, they had pups. Out of those three pups mom kept Shalimar and has her to this day.

As kids we had numerous cats, hamsters, fish, birds , you name it we had them. Now we in my house have two cats that rule the roost. I dread the day when we have to put them down or one passes away.

C

 

[carsonshepherd]

Re: Re: New Zealand beagle: Hugsy

A border collie at the dog park asked me to hold his frisbee today so he could relax for a while. I don't know why he chose me; more accurately, I don't know how he spotted me as someone who would do his bidding. I held the frisbee and kept it safe from other dogs until he wanted it back.

That was you? He says thanks

 

[SnoopDog]

How could I contribute to this thread???

Snoopy,

 

[shereads]

How could I contribute to this thread???

Snoopy,

The presence of a beagle is essential. Thank you.

My puppy turns 13 this week. When she was between the ages of 7 weeks and eighteen months (she took longer than most dogs to housebreak) I longed for the day that age would calm her down a bit. Now it breaks my heart to see younger dogs chasing each other at the dog park, fetching tennis balls non-stop, while my white-faced, partially blind and mostly deaf pup watches from the sidelines, fearful of being body-slammed again like last year, and hurting her hip.

They don't last very long, do they.

 

[Guest]

You always have the best sig-line.

I dig your new AV; Hunter S Thompson-style.

No. I didn't read the thread.

 

[shereads]

Has anyone reported you missing yet?

 

[Somme]

Are we allowed a 'red Beagle'?

http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/isb200/beagle.htm

 

[Guest]

Has anyone reported you missing yet?

Only you . . .

 

[shereads]

Are we allowed a 'red Beagle'?

http://taggart.glg.msu.edu/isb200/beagle.htm

SOMME! We were just talking about Authors Hangout regulars gone MIA and your name came up. Where have you been?

 

[Somme]

SOMME! We were just talking about Authors Hangout regulars gone MIA and your name came up. Where have you been?

Careening, if you'll accept that for an answer?

 

[shereads]

Careening, if you'll accept that for an answer?

It's better than acceptable. It's speedy.

 

[BlackShanglan]

I'm the only one worried about the beagle/python size ratio there?

They're making furry little hors d'ouevres out of the poor buggers.


Shanglan

 

[Lisa Denton]

My puppy (he's gettin to be a big puppy) is a mixed breed mutt, I am sure he has some huntin dog in him cause he will often point with one leg up, nose out, and tail straight. I can't figure out WTF he's pointin at, but I feel sure he knows, which is whats important.

He prolly has some "beagle snake fightin" genes in him also cause he will wrestle and bite the garden-hose for hours (it will be a good sprinkler system when he gets through I'm sure) he will sometimes get all tangled up in it like its a python and then he kills it viciously, over and over. He's a killer.

 

[shereads]

I'm the only one worried about the beagle/python size ratio there?

They're making furry little hors d'ouevres out of the poor buggers.


Shanglan

That, plus the beagle's lack of gills or other underwater breathing aparatus, has me worried. Dogs are also a favorite meal of alligators. The whole thing smacks of human cowardice. Why not look for snakes the old fashioned way? Give every 12-year-old boy in South Florida a chance to hunt for snakes, armed with some spaghetti tongs, a shoebox and a shrill whistle. The kids don't have to know how big the snakes are. Not in advance.

 

[shereads]

My puppy (he's gettin to be a big puppy) is a mixed breed mutt, I am sure he has some huntin dog in him cause he will often point with one leg up, nose out, and tail straight. I can't figure out WTF he's pointin at, but I feel sure he knows, which is whats important.

Your dog is posing. He's been watching too much Animal Planet.

 

[carsonshepherd]

I'm the only one worried about the beagle/python size ratio there?

They're making furry little hors d'ouevres out of the poor buggers.


Shanglan

My beagle beats the crap out of a 90-pound german shepherd. Beagles are mean li'l bastards. I pity the pythons.

 

[shereads]

My beagle beats the crap out of a 90-pound german shepherd. Beagles are mean li'l bastards. I pity the pythons.

Missy I, the first of the beagles to be named Missy before we realized what an original name that was and decided to use it again, was afraid of rabbits. We lived out in the country when she was with us, and rabbits were fairly common, especially at dusk when they'd come near the house to mess around with the tomato plants. Beagle Missy would retreat to a rocking chair in the farthest corner of the back porch and howl her special frightened howl, which had vibrato. It sounded completely different from the joyous howl of a beagle on a bunny-hunt. Pythons might not have bothered her, because of her girth, but bunnyrabbits taunted her like schoolyard bullies.

Edited to correct the spelling of "porch." For some reason, I typed it as "porn" the first time.

 

[Lisa Denton]

Your dog is posing. He's been watching too much Animal Planet.

Posing?

Are you callin my dog a pussy?

 

[SeaCat]

Beagles, the all-purpose drug-sniffing dog, are now being assigned to Burmese Python duty in the Everglades.

Apparently, pythons are not the cuddly pets some people hope for. After a family member or two go missing, owners dump their snakes in the Everglades where they have no natural predators (gators aren't rocket scientists but they're not crazy) and they're breeding like mad.

Beagles are now being used to sniff them out so they can be snuffed out.

Are beagles swamp-savvy? I have a bad feeling about this.

I think I just hurt myself laughing at this one. (If I can figure out what to sue you for you'll hear from my lawyer.)

I haven't heard this one before.

Cat