Tag Archives: natural history

When is a dog not a dog?

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Human visual perception is a funny thing. You can be absolutely certain that you see a particular thing, and unless  you look a little further you may never know how wrong you were.

On a recent walk with Zeke, I saw this.

Look into the woods

Look into the woods

Does that dark object slightly above mid-picture look like anything to you? For a few seconds I was convinced it was a dog sitting on its haunches. I couldn’t tell what kind it was, but I thought either a German shepherd or a doberman. Once my mind had made that identification, that’s what it looked like. I began to fill in details and the longer I looked, the more it looked like a dog.

Then I asked myself why a dog would be sitting out in the woods like that, calmly watching us approach, without a motion. So I went closer.

A log is not a dog

A log is not a dog

Up close it doesn’t look much like a dog.

Why would I have identified this as a dog? From a distance this object had the rough outline of a sitting dog. Even the coloring suggested a dog, although part of what I saw as coloring was actually the leaves behind it, seen through the gap between its “legs” and its “body.” It was considerably larger than a dog, but at that distance, the scale was not immediately obvious. Also, abandoned dogs are far from rare on our rural mountaintop. And, probably most important, my wife and I have been discussing the possibility of getting another doberman. So, wishful thinking?

Would you have seen a dog, or something else?

 

Zeke and the leaves

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Our dog Zeke and I took a walk Saturday afternoon along one of the old roads that criss-cross Lavender Mountain*, where we live. It was clear and mild. The leaves were just past their peak of color. Hickory trees provided the most color. They’re usually bright yellow. I believe they are pignut hickories. Maples are relatively rare, but they provide some of the best color. They are sometimes yellow but are usually bright red. Chestnut oaks are the most common hardwood. They sometimes have some nice yellow color, but their leaves are usually brown.

Fall scene on an old, abandoned road on Lavender Mountain

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Zeke is not the best dog for companionship on the trail. He likes to roam. Here he is just after I took him off the leash. The surface is almost completely covered with leaves, mostly from oaks.

Zeke on the trail

It’s entertaining to watch Zeke run through the woods, if you can catch a glimpse. I’m not sure of the best word to describe it, but reckless comes to mind. The mountain is pretty steep. I have seen him come running full speed down the side of the mountain, reach a rise in the slope where the ground drops off even more steeply just beyond, and just jump. There is no way he can see what he’s leaping into.

The old road we took for this walk goes all the way down into Texas Valley from Fouche Gap*. The current road crosses the gap just where this remnant starts. There appears to be the remnant of another road on the other side of the current road. I have wondered whether it’s the original road over the gap, but there are so many old roads on the mountain that I have no way of telling. The mountain has been logged, so some road were almost certainly cut for that purpose. I have been told that the area around our house was once an orchard, and some roads would have been cut for that, too. I have looked for evidence of an orchard, but there is nothing but the old roads. No stray peach trees hiding in the forest.

Zeke and I walked down the road all the way to the bottom, where logging has left the area looking like a war zone. There are a few stands of maples but it’s mostly bare earth and piles of weathered trees and limbs. Some blackberries have started to colonize. Zeke usually takes off when we reach the bottom, so I have to start back without him. I stop and call him occasionally and he usually comes panting up the path after a while. I put the leash back on to make sure he doesn’t take off again.

Zeke after his run, ready to go home

Zeke loves his runs, but he’s pretty good at relaxing, too.

Zeke relaxing on the front walk at home

* I have read that Lavender Mountain is actually named for a man and not a color. He apparently spelled his name Lavendar, but lavender has stuck for the mountain. Fouche Gap is the road that leads over the mountain from the western side of Rome into Texas Valley. I have heard it pronounced Foo-shay, Foosh (our GPS likes that pronunciation) and Foo-she.