I got home yesterday at just after 4.00 and spoke to Number Two Son in Toronto because he was on WhatsApp with Julia. I commiserated with him because his new dog is disruptive, demanding and destructive and found myself unable to resist mentioning that was exactly what I felt when he was at home. It just seemed like too good an opportunity to let slip. Transatlantic sarcasm – an unforeseen benefit of technology. I was also able to comment on the quality of his wood flooring, which looks excellent. This is he sort of technology they had on Stingray and Thunderbirds when I was growing up, though I always though it would be reserved for saving the world, rather than commenting on wood flooring.
It seems that if you have a dog in Canada you have to protect it against coyotes. My first thought is that you should make sure you buy dog that can see off a coyote, but it seems that this isn’t as easy as it sounds, as coyotes are more lethal than they look on TV. To get something capable of seeing off a coyote you have to invest in something that would be a danger to small children. And would cost a fortune to feed. That doesn’t sound like the sort of thing you would want as a family pet. Alternatively just buy a cowardly dog that always runs away when it sees a coyote. That’s probably simpler. Life in foreign countries throws up so many problems that we don’t have here.
Yesterday was quite busy in the shop, which was good. There is something depressing about a shop with no customers. We are gradually getting more visitors again as people start to put their lives back together, but it’s taken a long time. This year, I suspect, is the one where we start to forget about Covid, although the shortages in the shops will persist thanks to the war in Ukraine.
It would be interesting to come back in 100 years and see how this time was written up in the history books. Liars and Lame Duck Governments is a book just waiting to be written.
The header picture is a cat, our apex predator. Badgers are too slow, foxes eat worms and insects, dogs are lazy and can’t climb trees. That leaves the cat. They may seem domesticated but don’t be fooled. Once they learn to work a can opener the human race will be living on borrowed time.
very interesting to read while learning English because I’m from Indonesia. need insight enough to understand from the point of this story. Thank you for sharing post
Thank you for reading. 🙂
We are happy to have missed out on Covid so far(knock on maple) have had coyotes in our country orchard for years but only had big silly goldendoodles – the coyotes would eat the fallen pears (but we kept the dog close). No one kept outdoor cats in the neighborhood for long. Now we have an island so no more Covid or coyote concerns in our part of Canada
An island is a very elegant solution to the problem. hadn’t considered that. 🙂
The post lives up to your alliterative title
Thank you. I’m currently thinking of series of 26 posts with alliterative titles, but I’m struggling with X-Ray, Xhosa and Xenophobes. It’s not quite working.
Good luck with that
The titles are going to be harder than the text!:-)
Coyotes are no joke. They can and do carry off small dogs, and can attack and maim a large one. Cats are routine snacks for them. Sometimes they do mate with domestic dogs. A friend here had one, a collie-coyote cross named “Fish”. He never barked, but was always in stealth mode, and rocked back and forth like a guppy in a fish bowl.
Coyotes can cross with the Timber Wolf. The resulting hybrid is said to be smarter than either parent.
My younger sister has just got Covid and is really quite poorly. I don’t think that we can forget about it just yet. I like the idea of transatlantic sarcasm.
I hope she has a good recovery. I joke about Long Covid but it really did take me a long time to get back from it. I’m not sure we really understand it yet.
I’m thinking of going on WhatsApp just so I can institute the sarcasm without having to wait for him to ring. 🙂
Good scheme.
It seems a shame to leave it to chance. 🙂
We have coyotes in the woods out back, but as far as we know, they have never come into our yard.
Probably scared off by the bears . . .
I am really glad to live in a small boring country. 🙂
Believe it or not, we seldom see any wild animal bigger than a squirrel. As a rule, wild animals are usually very leery of people. As well they should be.
Experience does suggest that they have more to worry about than we do when it comes to us meeting head to head.
Great post! I found it interesting that in Canada, having a dog requires protecting it against coyotes. I never would have thought of that. I wonder, what other challenges do dog owners face in foreign countries? Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experiences!
Mr W
http://www.primarytinting.net
Probably snakes. Not sure what else. I may tell the story of my South African dogs in a later post. 🙂
This whole post made me chuckle….
In that case it hasn’t been a wasted week. 🙂
😂
I’m trying to imagine a cat wielding a can opener 😊
Anyway, in general, the Covid pandemic is receding into the realms of folklore. Except when I hear my neighbour’s daughter is quite poorly with it. Too young to have had all boosters, perhaps.
People are still getting it, but nobody remarks on it as we are all worrying about out of season salads. I hope she recovers fully.
I’m not worried about out of season salad 😊
Anyway, thank you! Just heard my daughter’s learning manager at school is poorly with Covid for the third time.
We just saw a customer today who has only just had it for the first time. It’s still around.
The cat wielding can openers made me laugh too. But look at the eyes in that photo. They don’t need to wield them. They just stare at us like that until we submit and OPEN THE CAN.
One of ours used to sit on my chest at weekends – no time for a lie in when I was supposed to be opening cans. Not sure which was worse – the dream about suffocating or waking up to look her straight in the eye from three inches.