He looks pretty innocent, doesn't he? Don't let that fool you. I went to the Missouri today to do a little fishing and playing and just getting away from my house. (The back yard to be specific. I'm getting a little tired of pulling up plastic weed barrier and old carpet that was used to protect plants that I can only distinguish as weeds...) It was at the river that Cutter showed his true colors.
I was putting my waders on and getting my gear together. I was far enough away from the main road, down the narrow two-track that winds around to the river at Spite Hill, where I could let Cutter burn off some nervous energy. (I don't know if you ever have driven in a car with Cutter but to say it's painful would be an incredible understatement. He whines constantly.)
Anyway, I grabbed my rod and started walking up-stream. Cutter came running out of the grass and willows with a green head in his mouth. With head high and a firm grip on the duck; he was feeling pretty proud of himself. The duck, on the other hand, wasn't so happy. Hanging out of the mouth of the 75 pound lab, its head bobbed with ever step Cutter took as he trotted towards me.
"Drop it," I ordered and Cutter laid the duck at my feet.
The mallard didn't wait for me to tell him he was free to go as it jumped up and took off flying across the river. You can't really reprimand him for doing his job.
This isn't anything new for Cutter. A couple years ago he caught a pin-tail while I was getting my decoys out of the boat. Again, he brought it to my feet and dropped it and it took off. I didn't have a gun ready so all I could do is watch it fly away with Cutter chasing after it and then looking back at me as to say, "What the f#$@?"
Cutter doesn't like rodents either. There was a day I was wade-fishing and I heard a commotion back up-stream. I turned to see Cutter with a muskrat in his mouth.
Again I yelled, "Drop it!"
He did but not before shaking really hard once, which broke its neck. I always told him not to mess with muskrats because I thought they would get the better of him but I guess I was wrong.
A few years ago the temps in January reached 50 degrees and grounds squirrels were out in force. He would run all over the Sterling Island trying to catch one. There's no fricken way he would catch a ground squirrel. All they have to do is go down their hole. Well...I don't know how he did it. He's not smart enough to sneak up on them or wait them out as they come up from their dens but somehow, just by running around like a moron, he got one.
The craziest thing I ever saw though, wasn't from Cutter at all. It was what my last lab did while wade fishing on the Missouri one spring.
Chase, my chocolate lab that only weighed 54 pounds, dove into the willows on the island I was fishing. I could hear him running around in the brush and then everything got quiet. For those of you that have kids, you know that's not a good sign.
"Chase," I yelled for him and then busting out of the willows, he came running with a fawn by the scruff of its neck. The fawn started bleating, screaming for mamma, which could have been bad.
"Drop it!"
He did and the fawn took off.
I think Cutter and I are spending way too much time together. I hope this carona-thing ends soon. Although I have the luxury of getting out to fish and explore in the mountains, I could use some social interaction.
As for Covid-19, our numbers out here doubled in 4 days. Now there's a bias that happens when you start with such a low number but we're up to 177 cases now and it's not slowing down. Our Governor has been pretty aggressive with the closing of schools, bars and restaurants and then putting in place a "Stay-at-home" directive but it's hard to tell if it's helped. Today he issued a mandatory, 14 day self-quarantine for folks coming into the state. I'm glad he's being aggressive at addressing this. What this means, however, is if you come out fishing in the next few weeks, you better plan on taking a couple more weeks for some alone time.
Keep 'em where they live...
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