I have noticed that Taltos, my half wolf, half husky, has gotten a tad more aggressive as he reaches full maturity. Even those people who have been visitors to my house since he was a puppy now wait dutifully in their vehicles until someone comes out of the house to walk them in.  They wait because my little precious is sitting in front of the vehicle's door watching them, with what they all claim is a "Make my day" expression on his lovely face.  Of course the fact that he is grinning at them with a set of teeth that would make a werewolf turn green with envy doesn't encourage them to open that door either.

His latest escapade has done nothing to sooth the fears of our friends.  I am afraid that little incident has all but convinced two of our friends that visiting us unannounced is not a good idea.  When these two friends watched him gaily trot off into the barn, and then within a moment or two, gaily trot back out carrying a pigeon their awe was evident. I'll have to admit that even I was impressed with the speed shown in accomplishing his mission.  What further impressed all of us was the fact that we had heard no commotion from the barn when he caught the pigeon.

I noticed my two friends seemed a bit uneasy with my darling's habit of playing with his food.  I had grown used to this little habit and assured my two friends that he would quit playing with his dinner soon.  A few moment later the sudden sound of bones crunching signaled that games were over now.

After my two friends departed, without ever having gotten out of the jeep, I walked back into the house.  As I walked past Taltos and he looked up at me with some feathers hanging from either side of his smug mouth, I decided it was a good idea I didn't try to keep any tweety birds around the house.

I have noticed that Taltos is equal to any cat when it comes to catching birds, mice, moles, gophers, or anything else that walks, crawls or flies.  Though a few nights ago I thought he had finally outwitted himself and gotten a hold of a rattler.  After hearing a yelp of surprise and pain suddenly break the quiet of evening we rounded up shotgun and light and went outside to rescue our canine friend.  Our assistance was neither needed nor appreciated.  No our little precious had not met a rattlesnake, but a mole.  In dragging the mole out of his hole he had been raked by one of the moles large front claws.   The sound of a skull crunching told us there would be one less mole tearing up our yard.  As we walked back into the house my son once again pointed out what a disgusting sound a crunched skull makes.  He is quite right too.  Nothing I ever heard in any horror movie is as disgusting as that sound.  Watching an animal make a kill on a nature show, and seeing and hearing your own pet make a kill is two entirely different animals.  And even someone who respects mother nature as much as I do, would sometimes prefer not to confront her that up close and personal.