I went to do a lot survey last Friday. The lot is a corner lot in a small subdivision. I started out front and as I made my way around the street frontage I see a German Shepherd and a county deputies cruiser at the neighbors in back of my clients. I went back to the truck and drove to the neighbors and honked but no one came to the door. I went back to work thinking it would be alright, I deal with dogs a lot and can usually keep them out of my comfort zone. The barking started when he spotted me but he kept about 30' away. There was about 30' of 3 rail wooden fence on line where the corner was so I was okay there. I started walking down the line to go to the back corner and as soon as I past the end of the fence the son of gun charged me full throttle with lots of teeth. He backed me up about 100' up to the house and if I hadn't had my chete in his face it would have been bad. Now, as you can tell from my Avatar I am a dog man. I also carry the Governer with me but didn't have time to pull it and thought had crossed my mind that if I have to kill this dog I am going to jail for killing a police dog. I finally said screw it I am leaving, called the client (who was my preacher for several years) to tell him the going's on and he says "now you see why I want to put a fence up". I wanted to cuss so bad but I bit my lip.
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Speaking about having respect for animals: yesterday, I saw a video of a truck inching up on an alligator. Finally, the alligator had enough. Quick flurry of activity and promptly removed the front bumper from the truck. Completely off and thrown to the side.
My first thought was that I would like to see what would have happened with a truck and bumper made of actual metal instead of plastic.
Speaking about having respect for animals: yesterday, I saw a video of a truck inching up on an alligator. Finally, the alligator had enough. Quick flurry of activity and promptly removed the front bumper from the truck. Completely off and thrown to the side.
My first thought was that I would like to see what would have happened with a truck and bumper made of actual metal instead of plastic.
[USER=81]@A Harris[/USER]
Did she look anything like this?
Had my first encounter with an angry non-barking dog a couple of weeks ago. Shocked the s#it out of me. It was a pretty big pit bull and it swooshed in from nowhere with no barking beforehand. Fortunately it was on the other side of the neighbors chainlink fence.
Shawn Billings, post: 437581, member: 6521 wrote: Had my first encounter with an angry non-barking dog a couple of weeks ago. Shocked the s#it out of me. It was a pretty big pit bull and it swooshed in from nowhere with no barking beforehand. Fortunately it was on the other side of the neighbors chainlink fence.
I had a burly pit (aka Staffordshire Terrier) sneak up on me out in the middle of a hay field the other day. It wasn't as bad as disturbing a covey of 20+ quail, but it made me jump. She didn't start barking until I turned quickly to see her. We worked it out amicably. It could've been disastrous. My ears just aren't what they use to be...
In a different lifetime while camping in various places in Africa, whenever I could I would go for walks. At one particular campsite in Tanzania, I was on a trail and saw two big Rhodesian ridgeback dogs (male and female) walking my way and I just stepped aside and let them pass while they totally ignored me. They must have belonged to the camp owner because next morning when I started out for an early walk they suddenly appeared and joined me, the bitch walking about 10m in front and the dog the same distance behind. We??d being going for about half an hour when suddenly an African man, dressed in trousers and white shirt and carrying a thin leather satchel, appeared at the top of a rise in the trail about 50m ahead, sprinting straight at us. Without a sound those two dogs just flew at him and simultaneously hit him: the bitch nailed him around the waist and the dog stood up on its hind legs and towered above him in a great bear hug and with their momentum they flattened him backwards with a massive thud to the ground. Then they let go. He lay there for a few seconds not moving and I thought they??d killed him or at least knocked him out but he suddenly sprang up, looked straight at me and whimpered and gesticulated and pleaded something I didn??t understand then sprinted back the way he??d come. I know for sure I was puffed up like a cock-sparrow in a dust bowl when I swaggered back into camp with my two dogs and me having just tamed Africa.
MassSurveyor, post: 255969, member: 5999 wrote: bitten twice while jogging..
Take my advice - don't jog. I've NEVER been bitten while not jogging...........
i've been bitten a few times. pit bull grabbed onto the back of my arm and it took a knee to the chest to get it to unclamp. had a pointer one time that was PISSED i was there, he about walked straight through the shovel i was waving to keep him at bay. nipped me on the leg before my helper could distract him enough so i could move to a more advantageous position. then there was the irish setter who cowered the whole time until i went to hop the fence, then ran up and clamped on to my prettier side. common element each time: picket fences. love how many people think having a dog means taking an animal capable of tracking and hunting prey across vast distances on the daily, and locking them in a 30 x 30 walled off patch of grass all day. most of these subdivision dogs are nuts. they can't properly exercise, they can't see past the fence, but they can smell and hear each other, and half the time you get one riled up doing a survey it quickly sets off a chain that becomes a subdivision-wide chorus of back yard canine prisoners who are all freaking out over nothing.
and don't get me wrong- i've dealt with some pretty aggro country dogs too, but usually you at least get a square reading on their disposition and intent.
Felt extremely lucky one time on a very rural job. Was playing I-man and had the rodman about a half mile away. Heard something, turned to see a pack of dogs headed my way. My entire arsenal consisted of a notebook. Suddenly, one of them spotted a squirrel or rabbit or something and took off after it. The whole pack followed and forgot all about me. They were not a collection of pets simply out for a little stroll. They clearly had no owners. No harm, no foul, but it woke me up to just how vulnerable we can be while working.
One other time, but not survey related, I was walking through ten-foot high weeds on a river levee when I encountered a big buck that had been sleeping. We were both so startled we took off in opposite directions. When he leaped up he was no more than four or five feet from me.
Years ago I found myself in small town called Yazoo City, MS. We were there "strand mapping" for a company that no longer exists called Bell Telephone. Strand mapping consists of locating utility poles (woohoo...) and determining their ownership for such things as a CPR (continuing property records) and joint-attachment grounding, etc. For a surveyor it's not very much like surveying. But like a good finish carpenter that found himself on a roofing crew once said, "Work is where you find it." And the work was exactly as exciting as it sounds. Any joy at all (none) was quickly removed from one's inner peace by the humidity, heat, mosquitos....and the ever present "Mississippi Redneck".
Don't misunderstand me please. We are all God's chillins and we all have the freedom to be whomever we wish. And the whole world is full of rednecks. But Lordy let me tell you if they gave out trophies for it, they all would be on shelves in Mississippi, probably somewhere near Yazoo City.
Bell Telephone kept cable records on legal size sheets called "side by sides". Each sxs reflected an eighty acre portion of a section, being 2640' north to south and 1320' east to west. Our job was to reconcile the physical plant with the sxs records. This was a breeze in Oklahoma and Kansas where county roads were predictably aligned with the Public Land Survey System, but a real pain in the butt when the physical relief of an area depended more on topography than survey lines.
And so we found ourselves (without the help of Google Earth or even aerial photos) wandering around checking pole ID numbers and generally causing a stir amongst those indigenous folks that watched from their porch...quite the pastime in Mississippi.
Yazoo City sits east of a National Wildlife Reserve. I forget the real name, but folks around there just called it "the swamp"...appropriately. And roads around "the swamp" were few and far between. One main road that ran SW out of town had a catchy name..."River Road."...and for some reason every inhabitant of Yazoo City that lived anywhere near River Road was always in a foul mood when it came to strangers "snoop'n round". We ran into every last one of them.
One old goat in particular had a yard full of the ugliest dogs I have ever seen in my life, Catahoula Curs...or as the locals call them, "hawg dawgs". I guess these dogs are good hunters and the story goes they earned their name by hunting wild boars in the swamps. I don't know if they are good hunters or not, but two of them can chew the britches off of an unsuspecting surveyor in a matter of seconds.
We pulled up a long sandy drive one morning and stopped well short of the house. Fifteen hog dogs all began howling, barking and baying to announce our arrival. One old man in bibs sat motionless in his chair on the porch and stared at us. We needed to get through a couple of gates to follow a pole run through the bottom and it seemed like the cordial thing to do to ask permission. A co-worker named Jim exited the car and approached an old wooden gate that led up to the house. With clipboard in hand he smiled and hollered "good morning" to the old man on the porch. Luckily I stayed in the car.
The old man stood up with all fifteen dogs looking at him. As soon as he rose the dogs all surrounded Jim, passively "sniffing" him out, but seemed more curious than threatening. Jim patted a couple of them on the head..and with a smile on his face reached for the wooden gate. The old man said "get 'em" to the dogs...and then sat back down.
Jim was probably 20 or 30 feet from the car. It might as well been a mile. In a nanosecond he was curled up in a ball (to protect his tender entrails). 2 or 3 of the dogs chomped and thrashed at him with the devil in their eyes. One had him by the buttocks and was shaking him like a rag doll. Jim's eyes met mine for a second and the look he had on his face was pitiful. He seemed to be saying to me "tell my kin I loved them all..." telepathically. He looked like he knew the end was near.
I jumped out of the car and startled a few of the dogs. I realized really quick it might not have been the smartest thing I had ever done. Those dogs love to get up behind you and bite...well..your behind. But before I was forced to the ground the old man hollered "he-aww" and the dogs stopped just as abruptly as they started. Jim and I dove for the car and was a good hundred yards (in reverse) away from the house before we even started triage on our wounds. Jim was chewed to pieces and had lost a shoe. I had some nasty bites on my butt and the back of my thighs. Any dog that can draw blood that fast is a mean dog.
The only thing meaner I guess would be that old fart on the porch.
Holy Cow, post: 437627, member: 50 wrote: When he leaped up he was no more than four or five feet from me.
I had the same thing happen with a black bear. I almost stepped on him as he was sleeping in a blackberry patch. He took off like a bolt of lightning and left me there wondering what just happened.
Closest encounter I have had was 20 years ago on an old logging road in the Mountains of North Idaho. I was coming down a steep embankment onto the road, I tripped with rod in my hand. When I got to my feet on the road and looked up there was a big mountain lion standing about 40 feet up the road. I picked up the rod pointed at him and stood there it seemed for an eternity staring at each other. He finally left and I told the party chief that I was done for the day! Those dudes can stalk you the rest of the day and then have a mid afternoon snack of you.
I had a dog pee on my briefly unattended stake bag today. I turned around just in time to see him in action but it was too late.
Zapper, post: 437681, member: 6470 wrote: I had a dog pee on my briefly unattended stake bag today. I turned around just in time to see him in action but it was too late.
Over the years I've had my own dogs "mark" my work boots that I've kicked off on the stoop. And they've seemed fond of nailing the tires on field vehicles also. I've always thought that I probably bring home a virtual cornucopia of smells from my travels and the dogs are just reacting to the "business cards" of foreign unseen canines. 😉
While back I came across an old black dog on a chain heavy enough to restrain an elephant. I had to cross within range of the limits of that chain to reach a corner I needed to tie. Old boy just laid there looking forlorn and despondent, not even a bark. Reached into my vest for a piece of jerkey with the aim of making a new friend. Slowly I approached him holding out the peace offering. Nothing. I held out my hand to let him get a whif of me. That old boy waited until my hand was an inch away before he latched on and bit down with everything he could muster. Didn't break the skin, but I could clearly hear the sound of the bones in my hand getting crunched. When he finally let go I could swear that old dog had the biggest chit eating grin on his face and I walked away In pain, but just a little bit wiser.
Williwaw, post: 437723, member: 7066 wrote: Old boy just laid there looking forlorn and despondent, not even a bark. Reached into my vest for a piece of jerkey with the aim of making a new friend.
What's that phrase about sleeping dogs ... ?
Williwaw, post: 437723, member: 7066 wrote: Slowly I approached him holding out the peace offering.
Not speaking from experience, but I think I'd toss the jerky his way and let him make the association instead of putting my hand directly in harm's way.
Jim Frame, post: 437925, member: 10 wrote: Not speaking from experience, but I think I'd toss the jerky his way and let him make the association instead of putting my hand directly in harm's way.
Not much of a dog guy are you. Yea, your right, but that doesn't make for much fun. I felt sorry for the old boy on that chain and had he shown the slightest bit of aggression up until the moment of contact, I would whole heartedly agree with you and I stand corrected by the both of you. My bad.
