Fair warning once again, delicate friends. Even our veterinarian found Lilly’s latest wildlife adventure pretty gross, so proceed with caution. (No worries … I didn’t post photos.)
Memorial Day weekend, we got what we hope is the last of the season’s snow. So, I finally got around to planting seeds in our greenhouse.
Dog Behavior: Something Amiss
Lilly and Ginko were poking around the middle pasture before I lugged my sorry self outside. We’ve talked before about what people perceive as “guilty looks” in dogs and how such dog behavior is really something else entirely.
So, I won’t say that Lilly looked “guilty” when she finally responded to my calls. I simply wanted to check on her and let her know I’d be in the greenhouse, but I could not see her or hear her … after several tries to recall her.
Ginko typically yips when I call or whistle for him, just to let me know he heard me, but Lilly doesn’t do that. So sometimes, I begin scouring the pastures trying to figure out where she is and why she isn’t responding.
Suffice it to say when she slunk up behind me, I could tell something was up, but I didn’t know what.
Dog Behavior: Yerp!
So, I opened up the greenhouse and got to work, leaving the doors wide open as relief from the heat and as window to Lilly’s antics, if necessary.
It wasn’t long before she crawled down the hill, through the tall grass below, and barfed. Even that wouldn’t have made me worry to much because, especially this time of year, the dogs eat / borrow a lot of green grass.
Lilly, however, did something she only does if she feels like what just came up is of any “value.” She laid down and guarded the vomit.
My first thought? That Lilly had eaten a mouse.
So, I stopped what I was doing and traipsed down the hill to see what was up … literally.
What I found indeed shocked even me, and I’m somewhat accustomed to the unique brand of grossness that is rural dog living.
A pile of intestines … at least a pound’s worth of blue / red / green guts.
I suppose the silver lining in all this is that Lilly:
- Vented everything back out
- Did not (as she often does) re-consume what she yerped up
- Was still on antibiotics from the recent spider bites dog thing
- Was due for her heartworm meds, which include intestinal parasite protection
Dog Behavior: Sleuthing
Oh, I’ve relocated or buried Lilly’s various cuisine-related indiscretions over the years, but this one really creeped me out because I had NO idea from which kind of animal these guts came.
Tom … bless his heart … agreed to investigate.
“Honey, you’re not going to believe what Lilly just threw up,” I said, urging him to take a look and make an expert diagnosis.
Once we made our way back down the hill, I asked just to be sure, “Guts?”
“Yep. Guts … maybe from a good sized bird. See if you can find the body.”
I asked Lilly to “show me” where she found the guts … mostly by walking around the pastures with her, asking her to “show me” and watching her sniffing patterns to see if I could find a carcass.
I’m fairly certain that something ELSE must have killed the animal, and Lilly just happened upon the body. She has indeed pursued and killed mice and a few bunnies over the years. She has eaten some of the mice (whole), but we’ve NEVER seen her eviscerate something she caught.
Most of the time, it’s the chase she wants. Most of the time, the untimely death of the rodent seemed somewhat unintentional.
BUT, what stumped me most was that I could not imagine a wild animal who is hunting for food not eating the guts.
We walked and walked and walked, but we never found any carcass. The guts remained a mystery.
So, I went back to work in the greenhouse. Tom disposed of the guts. And, life returned to its normal holiday weekend thing.
Dog Behavior: Eureka!
Hours and hours later, while walking past the front door, I looked out and saw Lilly trotting up the driveway with something sizable and fuzzy hanging out of her mouth.
I dashed out. Asked her to DROP IT, and discovered the back 1/3 of a grown rabbit — hips, one leg. That’s it.
So, that mystery was solved, but how it all transpired still stumps me.
The pile of bunny guts seemed “fresh” to me. While they looked pretty gruesome, they did not reek as if they’d been fermenting.
Maybe our weasel friend did it.
Maybe one of the roaming domestic cats made the kill.
Maybe a fox or coyote got the bunny but got scared off (can’t imagine).
Or, perhaps indeed our rough-and-tumble mountain girl is a bit of a bunny killer.
The Raw Dog Food Thing
So, I know some of your dogs eat raw dog food, including tripe (which is essentially guts … yes?). Trust me, I know all the arguments about feeding a “more natural, raw diet” to our canine carnivore friends … but I had to wonder about Miss Lilly and her inability to keep this down.
I’m not complaining, mind you. Just curious … Do you think she just gorged too much? Was there another reason her body rejected it?
… Either way, it took days for Tom to stop squealing when Lilly tried to kiss him … “Don’t you kiss me with Bunny Gut Lips!” The more he protested, the most insistent Lilly was.
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Dogs can be so silly with their eating habits. My little Shih Tzu and I went to a nearby Pet Supply store and roamed the aisles. Suddenly my dog spotted something on the floor and l and dashed for it before I could pull him back.
When I approached him, he reeked of chocolate. I commended him to drop it but he wouldn’t. So, I try to pry it out of his mouth and so he swallowed it.
I immediately rushed him to the nearest pet emergency where they induced vomiting. What came up were two whole Godiva Chocolates still encased in their golden wrappers.
My story is certainly not as gruesome on yours but it was very scary!
I worked with raptors and we fed frozen rats. Each feeding was documented by noting which half of the rat the bird was given (front or back). The next feeding would be the ‘other’ half. Birds, at least, eat the entire critter and then ‘vomit/pass’ up a pellet that is a neat bundle of bones and fur. All the rest of the meal is digested.
I guess I need to explain that the birds (from red tail hawks and down to sparrow hawks) were only fed 1/2 a rat. Bigger guys got the whole thing. We hacked the rat in two with a big old machete. One of my more memorable life chores. N.B. It’s REALLY hard to hack a frozen rat in half!!!!!
Actually I believe that the tripe is actually stomach (with content), rather than gut.
Recently I heard an argument that the guts actually don’t get eaten at all. As I didn’t witness it myself one way or another, I wouldn’t know. Thought the fact that they remained at the scene to be found in the first place would kind of prove that theory.
But since it came out that quickly, I’d assume it might have simply just be too much.
When JD stuffs himself with inedible stuff it usually gets sorted out first and only some of it comes out much later, usually next day.
Interesting. I wonder why I thought the wild beasts would eat everything (guts included). Well, the silly goose for eating it, then.
That is some adventure. Ewww. But I must say, you DO know how to tell a story!
Pure speculation but I wonder if the volume and the richness of the guts was too much for Lilly. Let’s face it. She’s a spoiled little girl and hasn’t had to fend for herself.
Lilly would probably have to scavenge for food a while before she could eat a large portion of fresh guts without vomiting. Just like us.
I’m kinda amused by Lilly–shy, fearful Lilly–showing her wild side. Of course, I wasn’t the one who had to clean up after her either. 🙂
That’s quite a story. Yuck. Bird guts. And Bunny parts. Sheesh. And here I thought border collies only dreamed off chasing sheep around pastures (kidding, slightly. My aussie dreams only of chasing the horses next door.)
I wish I had any idea about why her body rejected the … can I call it food? I’d be curious as to the answer.
It’d be cool if she was trying to imitate a rat; they throw up their food a couple of times to make sure it won’t kill them,right? o_o (ew.)
Well.. Ko throws up if she eats too fast. But that’s about all the insight I have…
Well, we think the guts came from the same bunny, but who knows. Lilly is pretty adventurous (at home) for such a nervous girl.