Shortly after moving into our home we adopted Jeff. He was born head strong. He always walked his own path and was just plain hard to warm up to. He was and still is a strange dog with some odd peculiarities. When he was a baby he only wanted to be petted with your feet. Petting him with your hands would drive him crazy and not in a good way. Lord forbid you pick him up that would send him over the edge. Some of his peculiarities have disappeared over the years, some intensified and some are the same like hating ANYTHING that flies. Birds, bees, flies, you name it, if it flies he wants to catch it, defeat it and eat it. Many, many days I would be cleaning the kitchen, look out the window and see this crazy dog running in circles barking and jumping in the air for no apparent reason. (I always looked to see if the neighbors were watching him do this. They already think he is a little rabid he-devil. Seeing Jeff preform this ritual would seal the deal.) After closer inspection, I realized he was chasing little flying insects. It seems his favorite were little sweat bees. Many times he would come in the house after a good day of chase with a blown up snout. Before I really knew what was causing it, I thought maybe allergies.
One evening I was sitting on the back porch with Mutt and Jeff. I noticed Jeff's head bobbing back and forth. After a few seconds of bobbing, he would stand perfectly still then pounce the ground with his front paws. At first, I could not see what he was after but I could smell it. He had found a stink bug. It didn't take long before I saw that it . It would crawl a little bit then try to fly. Of course, that would drive him crazy. Stink bugs have sticky legs with tiny barbs. They can hang on to anything for as long as they want. A few times it would stick to his snout. Oh my, that would send him into orbit. I kept telling him to stop messing with the bug. He would, for about 2 seconds, then go right back at it until I made him go in the house. A few nights after that incident with the stink bug he was wanting out into the fenced back yard. I let him out while I stayed inside to watch a movie. Around 2 hours later, I noticed he was not back yet. I opened the door and found him sitting on the step. In he walked, then he stopped in the middle of the floor. As I watched him, I noticed something seemed to be stranger than normal. He was staring into space and swaying back and forth. You know that dipping deep kind of swaying. The kind that almost looks like you're leaning into a strong wind while trying to climb up a 90 degree hill. All of a sudden, he rared up straight then fell over stiff. I FREAKED OUT! OMG What is going on? MY DOG! I raced over and held him in my arms crying like a baby. I could not figure out what was wrong but I did notice his breath. UGH! He had the strongest stink bug breath I had ever smelt. In no time at all, he popped out of it and was looking at me like, Why are you touching me with your hands??? I was so confused. I went outside and looked around. Nothing, I found nothing but I smelt that nasty bug smell. I followed my nose until I came upon a hole in the ground. There I saw the remains of hundreds of dead stink bugs. Jeff had dug them up and eaten them. Apparently, stink bugs can make a dog drunk!
The next day he was showing no signs of illness. In fact, he was barking his brains out chasing another flying thingy. I ran out to make sure he did not have another stink bug. One heart attack a year is all that I can handle. As I got to him, I noticed it was not a stink bug but a little butterfly. It must have not been as exciting nor as enticing as the stink bug because he spat it out on the spot.
(And here is where my ADHD comes into play..... )
Butterflies? Did I say butterflies? At the Bird House, we have all things butterflies. From butterfly houses to feeders, butterfly nectar to plastic butterfly yard stakes and beautiful butterfly books. Come on in to The Bird House for a look see. You would be surprised at all the things that are available for the care and love of butterflies. If you mention this post I will give you a one time 20% off anything butterfly while you are in the store.
Until next time,
Ruth
A quick note: Kazumi and I want to welcome Chris to the Bird House. She will be working on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays for the rest of the summer. Please stop in and welcome her.
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