Not that my runs have been bad, just the opposite, but I have to admit, being "critter free" made them even more enjoyable.
Ill start with the run itself. Week 7, Day 1 = 25 minutes continuous of jogging for 2.17 miles (and 387 caloris burned!!!!). With the walking warm up and cool down, it was a total of 36 minutes and 30 seconds and 2.8 miles. The weather was perfect, 38 degrees and again, no wind. Two days in a row of no wind for my run may be history in the making for the Sandhills.
Critter wise....here we go. My dogs run with me everyday, and I love it. The Irish setter stays right with me, unless there is a bird to chase, then he is gone. However when I say "right with me" what I really mean is that he will trot along directly in front of me, stopping when he feels necessary or darting across my path, causing a collision which so far (lucky for him) has not resulted in my crashing onto the ground. YET.
The other dog, my cow dog, will chase anything and everything possible. This is where our problem begins. As usual, yesterday he took off into the trees to chase whatever he could find. What was unusual was the barking. He didnt come when I called him, he just kept barking, which isnt like him, so I knew he had something cornered back there. Reluctantly he finally came to me, and we went on, him staying close to me, so I was then bouncing like a pinball between both of the dogs.
On our way back, I spotted a little buck on the side of the road. Same place where Husker had his little episode, so I figured thats what he was barking at. The closer I got, the closer the deer was. He never moved, he just watched me, which was a little unnerving as thats not typical behavior for deer. THEN Husker spotted his little buddy and the chase was on.
Sidebar: My cow dog has NO EXCUSE for not catching the cows/calves anymore....he all but had that buck!!!
Fast forward to last night. Again, excessive barnking, and upon inspection, what do ya know....my little friend had wandered into our front yard. He started out by the side of the yard, then when Husker started after him, the buck started after my dog!!! YES, he charged my dog...head down, antlers ready for impact, he charged my dog. Typically, that just makes Husker mad and he goes back for more, but I dont think this was the first time those two had met because Husker ran for cover, and so did Junior.
At first, it was humorous that this buck, a 2x2 spike, was so close to our house. MAYBE 6 feet from our front porch. Then we figured he needed to leave, he was to close and it was dangerous for him. Shawn tossed a log in his direction to scare him off, and he CHARGED THE LOG!! Darn critter was on the fight big time. He charged the second log also, so now we are thinking, he really needs to go. He is way to aggressive for his own good. I can just see him getting ticked and jumping through my front window. I realize that its very rare for that to happen but for those of you who dont know me, the really rare, crazy stuff can and does happen to me. Example.....1 year ago my dogs chased a coyote onto the roof of my house, where he got stuck. Yep, if I can get a coyote stuck on my roof, I can get a deer through my window.
Shawn went and got a gun and shot OVER THE HEAD of the deer, to try and scare him off. Yea, that was a complete failure also as he just stood there and looked at him.
At this time, it dawns on me that this is not the first time I have seen this deer. A week ago, he was standing in the middle of the road, looking at me as I tried to drive. He wouldnt move....he just stood there, daring me to hit him. I ended up driving around him because he never did move.
Eventually, he did leave our yard....after Shawn and Piper chased him out with the pick up truck.
Im not gonna lie, I was a bit nervous for my run this morning, worried about running into my little buddy and worse, if my dog found him, ticked him off, again, and both my dog and I got the wrath of a very annoyed, testestrone driven buck. My solution to this problem was, much to their dismay, I left the boys at home for my run today. No dogs also meant no almost tripping, no yelling for anyone to come back or to leave that alone. No grabbing of collars so they dont jump in front of the 3 cars that will drive past me during my run (Husker thinks everyone wants to take him for a ride in their truck), no getting into the truck when I get back home to find the one who didnt come back with me. I didnt realize how much energy I spent during my runs making sure the goofy dogs didnt get hit by a truck or take off.
I also didnt see any other critters. I dont know where my little 2x2 buddy went, but Im glad he wasnt around and Im hoping he is gone for good. I had a very peaceful run, and I could focus on my speed and breathing. Im very happy. I dont think the boys will be once they find out that their days of running with me may have come to an end.
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