Posted in Animals, Dogs, Travel on Sunday, 9 July, 2006|
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Until now, we’ve always lived in homes with fenced yards. One positive aspect of a no-fence yard is I have to walk my two dogs several times a day. Besides the great exercise for all of us, I get to see a lot of the base that I would otherwise ignore if I were driving. Actually, I’ve become a reluctant voyeur. It’s hard not to observe things and some days the neighborhood feels like ‘All My Children’, others days like ‘Animal Kingdom‘ but most days like ‘Top Gun’ with all the fighter jets flying above.
It’s the dog’s eye view which gets me in touch with all the nature around us. Their keen sense of smell take me in different directions whether it be chasing a toad, shrew, bird or even a boonie dog who lives on base.
All over the housing area there are black birds who are very protective of their nests and, for some reason, go after runners in particular. I can be walking along with the dogs and not be bothered by them but the minute a runner comes by, the dive bombing commences. Very early this past Friday morning, the dogs and I came upon a man, wearing an orange safety vest, crouched behind the side of his car. He was shooting a .22 at the birds in the coconut tree. As you can imagine, I was not pleased to see someone shooting in a residential area & only 5 doors down from where I live. I stood and watched while he shot about 20 times and wounded one bird. Turns out he’s with the Wildlife Department 😦 Surely there is a better way to handle the birds.
Another ‘nuisance’ animal on Guam is the brown tree snake. Haven’t seen a live one yet but there are traps set everywhere for them. The other day the dogs pulled me in the direction of one of the cylinder snake traps tied to a tree. I saw a tiny & very cute white mouse inside. My first thought was he accidentally got in the trap, then I realized there was food in there for him and he was bait for the snake. Where’s PETA when you need them? Needless to say, I stay away from that particular trap ~ too sad for me to see the doomed mouse.
At night, we wander around mostly trying to avoid the tons of toads that are out and about. I never realized how amorous they are at night. I once went to a bar in Cave Creek, Arizona called the Horny Toad and it’s only now that I see how appropriate a name it is.
One thing is for sure though, no matter what route the dogs want to take in the morning, I always make sure we go to the end of my street which has a great view of the Pacific Ocean ~ no better way for me to start the day.
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Displaced Beachbums 