At the risk of turning stomachs, I am purposely not including photos.

CSI Log, Stardate 2006

Two days ago

Three days ago

November 4, the big white barky dog otherwise known as Tala disappeared. When last seen she was headed for the back of the property and barking. Nothing new there. Bark, bark, bark. Run, run, run. Such is the life of Tala.

When we returned from swim lessons three hours later though, barky dog was still not home. {insert loud and suffering sigh}

NOW, many of you don’t know it, but waaaay back when I had that internet kafluffle with the leaves interrupting my signal, barky dog and diggy dog disappeared. Together. They were experimenting with their inner selves, expressing their repressed wolf emotions and letting loose with their pack mentality.

In short, they took off.

It took an entire day for us to find them (they were unharmed, but very tired and cold). So hence the long and suffering sigh. I figured Tala had gone “wolf” again and I was about to lose a good day of writing searching for a dog that didn’t care to be found.

Perfect.

So, I trudged off, following her tracks in the snow and doing that CSI thing. (Just so you know, Horatio’s got nothing on me!)

I soon found myself deep in the woods and wondering about cougars and other large carnivorous mammals and so I thought maybe I should make some noise. I called and called and called, mustering bravado and strength and wouldn’t you know it? She came!

Color me stunned.

Especially when noting all the blood on her face.

Hoping she’d found something dead and not brought it down herself, I investigated. And cautiously so as not to trample the crime scene.

Further investigation brought me to a deer that had been shot (but not tagged — which is poaching) and it was soon revealed that this particular deer, a doe, had already been partly skinned out. For whatever reason the poacher had left her. The perpetrator’s rubber gloves were still at the scene, tucked under a log, and I thought about taking them as evidence, but what were the odds Fish and Game would fingerprint the latex and match it to some previously incarcerated poacher and/or conduct a search for the perp?

Not bloody likely (pun intended) especially since most of the evidence was inside my dog.

I finally coaxed Tala away from her feast (hindsight – when hunting for a missing dog, always bring the leash! grumble, grumble), but not before she ripped off a rib to bring back home for an afternoon snack.

Thus setting a precedent of sorts.

Back at the house, I tied her up, not wanting her to wander that way during the night and be taken down by a pack of coyotes or wolves.

The next day though, she went back to her prize and came home with a leg.

Hoof still attached.

Today she proudly dragged home the hide.

She’d better not return with the ribcage tomorrow. I don’t think I can tolerate a ribcage in my yard.

Does anyone else have problems like this or is it only me?

I’m just wondering.