I know I'm prone to prattle on about my dog at probably all-too-often intervals, but for the Scout fans out there, this may amuse: She caught a swan. Yes, a big ol' black swan that lives on the pond in the middle of campus who tries to bite anyone who comes near. He had it coming, if you ask me. You see, every day when I get out of class I hop on my bike and take Scout running down the large grass promenade that bisects the campus. This is arguably the high point in her day. After laying in the grass by my bike for 2-3 hours, she is ready to RUN so we tear out across the place, scaring pedestrians and tormenting all the squirrels we see. And every time we get to the pond Scout leaps into the water and swims after the swans, who keep just out of her range and hiss to beat the band. I think she's pretty much convinced she'll never catch them, but lately, when she does finally give up and heads back to shore, the swans have started to chase her, biting at her tail. Absolutely hilarious. She gets freaked and swims even harder for shore, then stands there and barks at them. Whatever it is she's saying to them, I agree.
Well today they were off their guard. Scout comes swooping down the grass only to find the swans were resting on the shore. By the time they realized what was up, she was on top of them and tackled one into the water. I yelled for her to stop but I was laughing too hard to do much good. All you could see was this big spray of water and big black wings flapping, the swan hissing and squawking, Scout somewhere under the water. When she finally emerged, the swan had flown off but Scout had the biggest grin on her face I've ever seen. Aaaah yeahhh.. She climbed up on the shore, shook her fur and just sat, watching the swans with utter satisfaction. Peace, one might say.
I should probably feel bad for letting Scout torment these poor swans, but the way I see it, they're assholes and they need the exercise. I would never let her kill them, but as for the chase, let it be. Mr. Jose Ortego y Gasset, in his book "Meditations on Hunting," put it best:
"The only adequate response to a being obsessed with avoiding capture . . . is to try and catch it."
