Boofs and snakes

Salutations readers. Frodo here. Reporting from the Far East – of Canada. But not the farthest. That would be Newfoundland.

Just an observation today and yet another wildlife story. One would think that we lived in a zoo. Mind you – our home IS often like a zoo.

First the observation. It’s about the Beatnik. He is truly developing his boof skills. He has always been the quietest dog in the household, but since brother Viktor’s untimely passing, the Beatnik has become quite the watch dog. When he is not boofing at his reflection in the deck door, he is boofing at any unusual noise he hears. And he has good hearing – because he can detect things in the middle of the night that neither I nor her highness can hear. And it is at those times that he lets out his super boof – which is loud. Quite loud. Super boofs in the middle of the night for no seemingly good reason are not always appreciated. Mind you, if a bear was attempting to knock down our front door, a super boof would be quite helpful. It all depends on the occasion.

The other day he let out a series of super boofs when he heard the arrival of a delivery truck. He never used to do that before. I guess he has learned to imitate my Cujo impression where I shout and throw myself against the front door. He hasn’t resorted to the throwing part yet.

Anyway, it was the delivery of some new comfy clothing for her highness – as she will no longer be able to wear her giant pandemic drawstring sweat pants now that temperatures have gone up. We are all ready for a change in her attire. Now she’ll be wearing giant pandemic drawstring shorts. And giant T-shirt’s to hide her not-so-svelte pandemic figure. Frankly, I don’t care what she wears- as long as her shorts have pockets. For treats of course. Anyway, to hear the Beatnik super boof, one might think he was terribly ferocious. It’s all an illusion….

As for wildlife – we have another new creature to add to the menagerie. We didn’t see him – but we heard her highness shouting at him in the garage yesterday. She was yelling “you can’t come in here. Stay away. Noooo. Go away. You can’t come in!” We hadn’t heard a vehicle – so we knew it wasn’t the pizza delivery guy. (No wonder she is sporting that not-so-svelte figure – but who am I to say anything). Nope- no delivery guy. And it wasn’t a June bug. Or a bear. Or a porcupine or bunny. It was a snake. A garter snake. Now garter snakes are harmless – and they do eat insects and rodents. This one would only be able to eat mini rodents because he was small. But he was lounging in the sunshine by the garage door. So when her highness opened the door – there he was. And he had three options.: Come into the garage; stay where he was and become a snake pancake after being squished by the car; or go elsewhere. Her highness got some garden tool and attempted to move him away. He was not impressed. That’s when we heard all the shouting. Her highness finally managed to shoo him into some bushes. As if he won’t be able to find his way back. She spent the rest of the afternoon Googling natural snake repellents. Repellents that are safe for dogs. She found nothing. So if you happen to know of any, please let her know. Otherwise Mr Snake could end up being a pancake after all.

That’s all the latest excitement here. According to the weather guessers, there is a 90% chance of rain today. I won’t be going far on my walk. I plan to produce quick results. Now I just need to convince the Beatnik that he needs to do the same….

Have a good one. Peace and paws up. Stay safe.