Monday, April 14, 2014

Squirrel Season

   Pierre is a snow-white West highland Terrier, but more often than not, he is a dirty white.  As many of you are aware, he is living with us while his mom, our daughter, is living in Alaska.  Before he moved in with us, he lived in an apartment so he never ran loose outside.  When he first moved in, everything was new and intriguing to him.  The things that lived outside startled him.  He would jump when lizards rustled through the garden and wasn’t really sure about squirrels.  It didn’t take him long to adjust and start exploring his surroundings.
   He finds lizards fascinating and chases them as they scurry in the monkey grass and
along the railing of our porch.  We have quite a few tailless lizards and I think many of them have moved on to other yards.  Frogs still hold an allure to him, but we try to keep him away from them.  I’m still waiting for the time he discovers a turtle.  Bentley will bark relentlessly at a turtle, so I’m sure that Pierre will too.
   We were outside with them one night when a possum decided to walk along our back fence.  Pierre spotted him first and alerted Bentley.  The two of them leapt on the fence in a frenzy.  The possum hissed and ran back and forth which only
made them want to snag him even more.  My husband had to knock him off the fence while I rustled the boys back into the house.  They were not happy about their game being cut short.
  Pierre’s favorite thing in the world is chasing squirrels.  Every evening between 5:00
and 6:30 or as we refer to it “squirrel thirty,” he sits at the back door searching for any squirrel foolish enough to come down an oak tree and into the yard.  He starts out with a whine as he watches it get closer to ground zero.  When the furry rodent strays away from the tree, Pierre’s whining goes into full-blown berserk mode.  He barks and races in circles around the living room stopping at the door each time.  As I reach to open the door, his excitement level is at its peak.  He races out into the yard and his barking turns shrill.  It even manages to get Bentley hyped up for a chase.  Bentley will chase them, but he doesn’t really expect to catch one.  Pierre is certain that he will take a squirrel down each time.  Of course, he also thinks that he can catch our birds.  You can see his YouTube video of a big chase here (I couldn’t get it to link tonight):  Chasing Squirrels 
   
   The other thing that Pierre has discovered and the main reason that he stays a dirty white is the joy of digging.  We have moles that leave trails underground around the yard.  Pierre considers them underground squirrels and like the ones above ground, he is certain that he can catch one.  This has resulted in some major holes being dug up all around the yard.  He can dig a hole so fast that we are surprised that he hasn’t caught one.  We are going to have to get some dirt to fill in the holes, but I have a feeling it will only add to his desire to dig and wallow.  My daughter says we have turned her baby into a hunter!  My husband teases her that he wants a camo vest and BB gun for his birthday, which is this Thursday.  We can’t help but laugh at his dogged determination.
   Does your dog love to chase squirrels, birds, and creepy crawlers?  Let me know about their favorite prey.


This is the Monday Mischief blog hop hosted by Snoopy’sDog Blog, Alfie’s Blog, and My Brown Newfies.  Be sure to hop along and see what other mischief is happening this Monday.


19 comments :

  1. Wow, Pierre really has learned how to do Westie mischief right!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I luv chasin skwerrils - I's even caught and killed 2 of dem while on a leash! I's also killed rats and a mousie - I's a champion varmint hunter!

    ReplyDelete
  3. My brave little angel face!! :) LOVE y'all!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. He sounds like quite a character! I'm sure he thinks he just needs a bit more practice to get 'em every time! I don't know if it will help, but our vet suggested filling a kiddie pool with sand and teaching Toby to dig there instead of the yard. That's what they use at doggie day care. We didn't bother because Toby soon taught himself to hide at the back of the bushiest flower bed when he wanted to dig. My husband was happy as soon as the holes stopped appearing in the yard.

    ReplyDelete
  5. My dogs will chase squirrels, birds, raccoons...pretty much anything. The annoying thing about squirrel. I think squirrels drive my dogs nuts in particular because they'll stare at the pups and taunt them.

    --Woofs (and purrs) from Life with Dogs and Cats

    ReplyDelete
  6. Do I chase squirrels...do you really need to ask? Bentley, I'm a bit disappointed in you. How can you not try for squirrels and expect to get one? I know I will get one, I have come oh so close. At least Pierre is really hunting, I love hunting! Have a fun day and may a squirrel drop from the heavens into your food bowl ;) Emma

    ReplyDelete
  7. Where I live there are no squirrels, so I will always chase cats. I hate cats. But the cats runs into our barn trough a little opening in the door, and I'm to big for that opening.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow Pierre...you are a pro critter hunter for sure!!
    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

    ReplyDelete
  9. Well, Pierre is just doing what he is supposed to be doing! Westies are pretty much white Cairn Terriers and we all love to dig and chase ANYTHING that moves! I personally ignore the squirrels; I have my sights set on the bunnies!
    Happy Monday,
    Oz

    ReplyDelete
  10. Good dog, Pierre! My babies have caught and killed squirrels and rats, which I love about them. I'm hoping our new puppy will follow in their footsteps and kill plenty of mice and rats.
    www.dogtreatweb.com

    ReplyDelete
  11. Squirrels!!!! AH!!! My huskies would love to chase them if I let them off lead!!!!
    ღ husky hugz ღ frum our pack at Love is being owned by a husky!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Oh boy, where to start?

    Putt-Putt has caught not one but THREE groundhogs, two of which he killed the third I managed to intervene and help escape, he also brought me a present of a live opossum and set it down at my feet in front of the couch (yea that was fun, thankfully it was playing dead so it was easy to remove). Willow has caught two Mocking birds, one Cardinal (it was originally caught and injured by my cat Belle, Willow did it a kindness and ended its suffering), she's even caught and eaten a bunny (I couldn't catch her to take it from her), she's killed at least a dozen moles (she gave me the bodies as a gift yuk), and she also caught a squirrel that was still IN a tree!

    All of that was just last summer... I'm not looking forward to any 'gifts' I'm going to receive this summer!

    ReplyDelete
  13. We have a large fenced in yard, and the critters seem to know to stay out of it! I almost never see a squirrel inside the yard, and the dogs don't seem to pay much attention to them outside the fence. Luke likes to watch the birds fly over though! Both he and Sheba like to dig holes, but they aren't digging for anything....except maybe rocks!
    Jan, Wag 'n Woof Pets

    ReplyDelete
  14. Pierre you are so silly. Love all your photos and mischief. My gang loves rabbits and chippys since we don't have many trees in our yard.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Ah Pierre - I love to dig for moles...or gophers as that's what we have here - we have ground squirrels too and they are all fun to dig for!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Aww...it must be fun to watch him running around chasing squirrel.
    My turtles only chase me.

    ReplyDelete
  17. I would be so curious to see what Moses or Alma would do if they encountered a lizard or a turtle! We have the odd salamander here, but the dogs haven't met one.
    Squirrels on the other hand... and chipmunks... are Moses kryptonite. Alma's interested, but Moses will quickly become focussed. He'll never catch one in a million years, yet he wants to try SO bad.

    ReplyDelete
  18. This is such familiar behavior for the little terriers who were originally bred to catch "small vermin". I was going to take Livvie and Kessie to a farm where they evaluate their tunneling skills by giving them access to these already made tunnels that they wriggle through to get to a (safely caged) rat. Then they teach them the skills that go with this. I've forgotten the technical words. The point is that I think the digging and tunneling is bred into them pretty strongly. My ratties would love a yard to dig in!!(I decided not to do it because I felt empathy for the rats).

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear from you! Bark back!