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Wednesday, April 13, 2005
Urban Wildlife
If this were out in the wild wilds somewhere...instead of the urban wildness of 38th Street... the noise occurring outside under my car would scare me badly. Dreadful screaching, caterwauling, yowling, wailing. Somewhat like a baby on steroids and filled with rage. Pork Chop reacts like a fire siren. Vaguely I ascribe the noise to sea gulls. This close to the ocean we have them everywhere all the time; in the grocery store parking lot, by the dumpster at McDonalds, carrying on in trees around my house like all the other birds...I'm used to that loud mewling. Gradually, though, I come to the conclusion that Pork Chop and I are being serenaded by cats, cats doing a bit of reproductive activity. Why do they need to make this much noise about it? And whatever happened to the tradition of cats doing this at night under the moon in a back alley? Don't they realize it's 9:00 A.M.?
Pork Chop bristles with indignation. Pork Chop yells, "You out there! Stop that cat squalling! I won't have it! I'll bite your ankle! I'm comin' out there. Don't you MAKE me come out there!..."
The cats don't care.
They rave on and on in their frenzy of springtime reproductive enthusiasm. Yeesh. Cats.
Now, dogs....
I don't usually have trouble with neighbor dogs owing to the local leash law. Dogs are not allowed to run free. I have worried about the likelihood of a pitbull on a leash passing Pork Chop and me on the sidewalk and deciding to take some weight off Pork Chop the fastest way. Hasn't happened yet, quite, not exactly.
Yesterday while out doing our trip around the neighborhood, Pork Chop and I noticed a big dog a fair distance up the sidewalk, dog with a collar not attached to a leash and a human. Just running around having a great time. We saw the dog. The dog saw us. Oh, dear. It bounded toward us. I scooped up Pork Chop who barked bravely, but her little heart beat a thousand times/minute.
I thought, "Here's where I get chewed by a dog that really wants to eat Pork Chop." Yikes. The dog was almost upon us. Terrified, I yelled in my most teacherly teacher voice, "NO!!! YOU GO HOME!!!"
The dog stopped and considered, turning it's head this and that way, "She can't stop me. She's only a little old lady and I'm a pit bull. She's holding a nice sized snack for a dog like me. I want that snack." Dog came forward.
I yelled,"NO!! Go HOME!!"
Dog reconsidered.
I stomped my foot and roared in the loudest voice I can muster, "NO!! NO!! YOU. GO. HOME."
The dog turned and ran away. Amazing. Thankful moment. Your ordinary pit bull is not so easily diverted from its intended victim.
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