Chow

The woods around my office building are full of wildlife. I have see deer, rabbits, a fox, wild turkeys, and (you may recall) the area was even home to cougar for awhile. This week the local fauna was joined by a chow. When we originally got the email, it was termed a "stray" dog, but this is clearly not the case. This dog is a runaway.

Today he was out of the woods and in the employee parking lot. He is a beautiful dog with a fox-red coat and a tail to match. He will approach humans with a curious, friendly air as long as he is not too close and they pretty much ignore him. They were trying to ignore him today, but it was clear that many people felt uneasy about turning their backs on him while cleaning their cars in the parking lot. At about 2pm, the animal control guy showed up and tried to entice the dog into the back of his jeep. There ensued an OJ-like chase around the parking lot with the dog trotting briskly up and down the rows of cars and the animal control jeep in hot pursuit at five miles an hour. Very amusing to those of us watching the "Buddy" show. That is, apparently, his name.

We know this because his owners showed up a day or so ago and tried to get him to come home, but he would have nothing to do with them, preferring to fend for himself in the wild. Now teenage runaways--that's sad, but everyone knows that teenagers are volatile and unreasonable at the best of times. A dog, though, Man's Best Friend, that's just plain embarrassing. Especially a dog named "Buddy."

At this point the place is littered with traps and food in the hopes that Buddy will get hungry. After watching him outsmart the animal control guy, I think it is more likely that they'll end up with a fox, a raccoon, or maybe a carnivorous turkey in those traps.

Lots of possible outcomes here--I'll keep you posted.