The Pack live on a 2 acre lot, mostly wooded, that backs into the White Clay Creek nature preserve. The huskies have about an acre of that; sloping, forested, surrounded by a 6 foot high wire fence. At the bottom outside the fence is a creek. All in all, prime habitat for various wildlife, or as Bandit would put it: My Nature's Smorgasbord.
Huskies have what is known as high "
small prey aggression" natures. In English, this means:
if its smaller than a horse, it moves, can't be identified as human, and you can get away with it, Eat It! This has the practical effect of making our fence a natural boundary. On one side, we have Nature's Bounty; on the other, a Wildlife-Free zone.
I've had the dubious pleasure of taking away from Bandit: the various remains of creatures such as squirrels (a major husky food source); mice; lizards, toads; snakes, many varieties of birds; possums; box turtles (crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside) and probably Bandit's greatest hunting success: a pair of Live Maine Lobsters! (sorry, no pics).
I've should have seen it coming. On our first trip together, we visited the town of Woodstock, NY, which is a kind of arts & crafts tourist town. We were enjoying the town streets; Bandit enjoying the attention that a 4 month old cute puppy receives, when the 1st incident happened. Standing outside of one of the shops was a stuffed sheep, one of those lawn ornaments. I didn't see it, but suddenly I was jerked off my feet by a snarling, barking husky in full attack mode. The poor sheep didn't have a chance. Luckily I was able to pull Bandit off the sheep without too much damage and melted into the crowd. Later that same day, someone was showing off their pet pot-bellied pig. This time though, the pig was 10 feet way, not 2, and my 5 foot leash was up to the task. Otherwise, we'd be eating (very expensive) pork chops over the campfire that night.
Here is a series of photos documenting Bandit's early training in the art of hunting by Tigger Cat. This was Tigger's first job teaching Huskies. Tigger has since trained four Huskies in the art of the chase. He continues to offer remedial training to this day.
His reward? To be covered in dog drool. Bandit accepted Tigger as part of his pack, allowing him to eat with the other huskies, but only after him of course.
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Target Acquired & Locked,
Prepare for launch ...
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| Initiate Launch Sequence ... |
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| "Mercy" is not in my vocabulary.. |
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| Target taking evasive action engage .. |
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damn! that one got away. I need to work on my execution...
but remember, Huskies are very, very patient ... |
I've should have seen it coming. On our first trip together, we visited the town of Woodstock, NY, which is a kind of arts & crafts tourist town. We were enjoying the town streets; Bandit enjoying the attention that a 4 month old cute puppy receives, when the 1st incident happened. Standing outside of one of the shops was a stuffed sheep, one of those lawn ornaments. I didn't see it, but suddenly I was jerked off my feet by a snarling, barking husky in full attack mode. The poor sheep didn't have a chance. Luckily I was able to pull Bandit off the sheep without too much damage and melted into the crowd. Later that same day, someone was showing off their pet pot-bellied pig. This time though, the pig was 10 feet way, not 2, and my 5 foot leash was up to the task. Otherwise, we'd be eating (very expensive) pork chops over the campfire that night.
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