Here's a partial list of things that have scared Hannah on our walks in the last month or so. She has either jumped back into my legs or stopped and stared with her tail tucked.
1. A half-full cup of red liquid in a clear plastic McDonald's cup that was tucked in some bushes. (Maybe the smell was bad?)
2. A small landscaping rock that was on the sidewalk. (I mean, it was an unexpected "obstacle" on the sidewalk.)
3. This car. (In her defense, this is the same yard where she once freaked out about a black trash bag on the curb. I touched the bag with my foot to show her it wasn't scary and tried to get her to touch it with her paw. She was NOT having it. A guy comes around the corner and tells me there is a deer carcass in that bag. So. This car might be a legitimate crime scene.)
4. A hummingbird. (It did just sort of come out of nowhere and buzz her. But it's tiny?)
5. This flower. (I cannot defend this one.)
6. Our trail cam. We have a bit of a raccoon problem in our yard. They're using the side of our garage and part of our backyard as a toilet and it's sort of gross. We put up a trail cam to see if they were living in our garage or shed and my husband kept moving the camera. One day he just put in in the driveway facing our shed and Hannah freaked out. HOW DARE IT BE IN HER DRIVEWAY?
Anyway, we've learned that there are a lot of cats in our yard at night, the raccoons use it as a highway to wherever they are going at night, and that our dog cannot handle change in her yard.
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Has anything new taken you by surprise recently? Do you handle it better than Hannah?
Awww, Hannah. The world is a scary place!
ReplyDeleteIs a rock on a sidewalk scary, Nicole? Really? Maybe you should have been Hannah's human.
DeleteWhat a strange beast she is.
ReplyDeleteYeah. I can't defend her. She's a little weirdo.
DeleteHannah is unique and quirky! She has her reasons for being scared of these things- we're just don't understand it with our limited senses. She probably is smelling all sorts of things we can't. The flower has me baffled though.
ReplyDeleteMaybe another animal peed on that flower? I mean, there has to be a reason. I'm not doubting her! I'm just a confused human.
DeleteA DEER CARCASS????? that's what I really want to know about!
ReplyDeleteHannah is a creature of habit, I guess. I feel you, Hannah. So am I.
I don't handle surprises well. My work colleagues say I have a terrible poker face.
Yeah, I thought I blogged about this, but I can't find it, so maybe I didn't. Hunting is a thing here in the rural Midwest. I never thought about people who butcher and prepare their own meat and what they do with the stuff they don't use, but I guess the answer is that they put it in a black plastic bag and sit it out by the curb? The guy was really amused by me trying to tell Hannah to touch it. Hannah must have thought I was a real idiot.
DeleteI mean, some of those are justifiable. Perhaps you thought she was scared of the rock and the flower, but there was something weird that her super sensitive nose picked up. Trust her, she’ll keep you safe. #teamhannah
ReplyDeleteThings that freaked Mulder out:
A person carrying an open umbrella
A fire hydrant
A person doing tai chi in a parklet
A person doing squats in a parklet
Ted walking up the stairs backwards with a creepy smile on his face (he was doing this to get a rise out of Mulder, so well done I guess)
A toddler
The (very handsome) dog with no smell in our bedroom (aka, the mirror) - to be fair, this was just the day we first brought him home
I don't doubt her at all. I'm positive it's something I can't smell or see. It's just that she handles any change so POORLY.
DeleteOh, Mulder. It's so good to know Hannah isn't alone in her freaking out over completely normal things. Why are people doing such weird things in the parklet anyway?!
Awww, poor sweet Hannah! I wonder if she’s having vision problems? Who knows. The cup of red liquid does sound ominous. We’re having some raccoon trouble here too. They’re so cute, but they love to break open bags of grain and make a mess. And they can be fiercely mean when cornered. Our dog won’t even try to chase them away.
ReplyDeleteThere is so much raccoon scat in our yard. *sigh* I keep telling myself that they have to live someplace, too. And it's true. I feel a bit NIMBYish though that I wish it would be somewhere else!
DeleteOh Hannah. I laughed at ‘this flower.’ Well I did come across a coyote on my run this morning. He was crossing the street but had I arrived there a minute earlier and we would’ve bumped into one another. I e also beeen unsettled yo see enormous carpenter ants in the family room. A few a day. Why? Where are they coming from? Well I paid an insane amount to the exterminator and if I do not see another large black ant in my house, then that amount will no longer bother me.
ReplyDeleteA coyote! Oh, no! It's never great when they come into urban areas.
DeleteCarpenter ants are no joke. I'm glad you paid the money for the exterminator!
I dunno...that flower is a bit scary...
ReplyDeleteI would love to put a trail cam in our backyard. It's crazy to think that, with all the wildlife we see during the day, there's probably a ton more we don't know about overnight.
You can get a cheap trail cam at Menard's for about $30! I know this FOR A FACT.
DeleteAw, Hannah is as much of a wimp as my dog, Trixie. My pup jumps excitedly about going out but is terrified of everything outside. She came to us as well cared for puppy and its just in her nature to be skittish. Trixie doesn't like to go much past our yard. Her impulse is to pull HARD towards home when she freaks out about other dogs barking, other people walking, birds, rain, trucks, Christmas lights, and the list goes on. Pretty much every walk is trying to keep her walking calmly and controlling her pulling.
ReplyDeleteYes, Hannah is also a puller as soon as she is scared. She was never well-adjusted and we just do our best to be patient with her. It's not her fault, right? Poor Trixie and Hannah. Just scared girls.
DeleteOh poor Hannah! Riley also gets scared by funny things. Caution tape flapping in the wind is a big one. He has also been scared by the metal black cats spiked into someone's nature strip for Halloween, barked at a painted bollard, gates swinging in the wind, anyone up on a ladder near his garden, and always hot air balloons. We used to have to jump out of bed and bring him inside when the early morning balloons would pass overhead. Once inside, he would prowl around the windows growling.
ReplyDeleteBlowing caution tape is also a trigger for Hannah! She and Riley could be friends. Has Riley ever seen regular, non-hot air balloons? Hannah cannot deal with those, so I can't even imagine her reaction to big ones!!
DeleteI fully duck and cover when I get buzzed by a hummingbird also, Hannah! They may be tiny, but they are LOUD
ReplyDeleteFair enough. Maybe I shouldn't have been so hard on her for the hummingbird reaction.
DeleteHannah is a fraidy cat! Does Zelda know?
ReplyDeleteI wish that my granddog Zydrunas were afraid of things. His reaction to anything new/strange/different is to bark and get into his Power Stance. And charge it if he is able.
I've heard that constantly playing a radio in the area frequented by raccoons discourages them. Also mothballs, I think? We have a lot of raccoon activity in our neighbourhood, but thankfully they stay away from our yard. Other homes are more hospitable to them, I think.
Yes, it sounds like Zydrunas IS scared, but his reaction is to stand and fight instead of cower and hide like Hannah. Different reactions, but same cause!
DeleteI honestly don't care if there are raccoons out there as long as they don't come inside or live in our shed or garage. They need to live somewhere, too!