In the way that sparrows do with the coming of warm weather, some four or five were busily twittering and chasing each other around outside the door today when one obviously got a little over-excited and came fluttering right into my sister's room. I thought it would either find its way out again or my sister, in bed with her seasonal sniffles, would take care of it. Not so. An hour later I walked into my room to find a dead bird neatly left smack in the middle of my bed. My sister's naughty 3 year old poochie Kuri she'd adopted from our neighbours a couple of years ago, had struck again.
My sister says this is possibly the seventh bird Kuri's exterminated. We think it's appalling that she goes around mauling these fragile little creatures. Not that she's done it for a while. When she wasn't yet a year old and an exuberantly energetic little puppy, she'd gambol around and somehow keep nailing the sparrows that seem to love our terrace but to our relief, she seemed to have slowed down with time. No more dead or injured birds. Until today. Hopefully this will be the last.
Of the 15 or so dogs that we've had over the years, there was just one other that seemed to share this kind of predatory instinct. Except in her case, it wasn't birds but rodents. When Teii smelled a mouse, she just about morphed into a cat, albeit a barking, yelping, highly excitable one. She'd get into a tizzy, chasing the probably highly puzzled mouse around tight corners while we shrieked and hoped the mouse wouldn't come running in our direction, and after relentless hounding, Teii invariably ended up with a kill. At which point, she would lose all interest and we'd quickly get rid of the little unwanted creature.
I suppose the predatory instinct is just a little more pronounced in some animals than it is in others and with individual preferences hardwired into them as well.
Of the 15 or so dogs that we've had over the years, there was just one other that seemed to share this kind of predatory instinct. Except in her case, it wasn't birds but rodents. When Teii smelled a mouse, she just about morphed into a cat, albeit a barking, yelping, highly excitable one. She'd get into a tizzy, chasing the probably highly puzzled mouse around tight corners while we shrieked and hoped the mouse wouldn't come running in our direction, and after relentless hounding, Teii invariably ended up with a kill. At which point, she would lose all interest and we'd quickly get rid of the little unwanted creature.
I suppose the predatory instinct is just a little more pronounced in some animals than it is in others and with individual preferences hardwired into them as well.
Picture: Kuri looking demure with a neighbour's kid
Chawngzawng hi kan inah a tam ve thin lutuk a, ka la hriatreng chu kan naupan zual deuh lai khan kan inkil inchhun awng ah hian bu annei a, a note 3 vel an awm a, kan unau hian bangrel ah lawnin kan sikul ban velah kan in en chhawk laih laih thin..chawngzawng hmuh a khat ve ta hle mai a..helam ah hian hmuh tur a awm ve vak lo aniang...
ReplyDelete"I suppose the predatory instinct is just a little more pronounced in some animals than it is in others and with individual preferences hardwired into them as well." I agree :P
ReplyDeleteAlthough one cannot help feeling sorry for the hapless bird, I guess it is in Kuri's nature to hunt her down, and you can't really blame her, though you've surely done your best to control her. The thing is, she's being true to her nature.:)
Quite an agile canine for its size, I must say.. :) I don't think dogs are exactly predators, more like territorial animals. They just don't like other animals (strangers for that matter) invading their space.
ReplyDeleteWe've had dogs since childhood and I've noticed the only reason they kill other animals is because they protect their own.. They don't really have any use for the dead remains.. :)
Try cats for once...they are F-U-N - fun! Bawl an nuam lutuk...*I'm laughing and thinking about Katie as I write this :))* - they REALLY are fun - an mawl si, fing-angah an in ngai bawk si - Cats are the coolest :)
ReplyDeleteazassk, ka mitthla in in skul bang bangrel a lawn a sava bu in bihthla vel tur chu ka hmu che u hehe. Nia in khaw lamah chuan choak a tam zawk ang chu. Nakin Zoram lama awmhmun in khuar hun chuan an hram ri te khan in lung a la len viau ang..
ReplyDeleteDDB, yes I guess it's just an inherent part of her and there's nothing we can do to change it. It's just that birds, and sparrows especially, make such innocuous victims.
red, I think my sister's really quite secretly proud of her poochie's agility ;) I've heard her speak admiringly of how fast K's reflexes must be etc. And yes, perhaps our killer dogs are just that much more territorial than the others.
ReplyDeleteNHD, cats? Been there, done that. At one point, we had 16 of them in the house so I guess you could say we've tried and know them rather purringly well.
Hmana kan ui thi ta min ti hrechhuak. Sava um hi nuam a ti lutuk a, inchungah hian sava lo awm ta se tlema fuihpawrh deuh chuan a um darh chum chum zel. Sazu man hi nuam a ti lutuk bawk a, ka u nen hian an combi a fuh tawp a, bangkilah hian sazu hi lo tawm ta se ka u chuan a va hawlh anga hmunphiah in emaw, ani chuan lehlamah a lo chang anga sazu rawn tlan chhuah veleh chuan a lo man chat zel. Hnehsawh tak hi ani. Bangkilah thil a rik rek tawh chuan a lo phur nghal tawp zel. Aa...lung a ti leng reuh. She was our best dog ever, kan ngai ve hle ni tur ani kan sawichhuak leh thin.
ReplyDeleteHaha ambs, in uite chu kan Teii nen an chezia vel an in an duh hmel. Kei ni poh kan inleng or nula te'n hmunphiah nen an lo chanpui chang a om thin alom. Mahse Teii kha chu sava lam a melh aih ngai lo thung
ReplyDeleteI didn't know dogs could chase mice, hell, even birds for that matter. That's a big surprise! Woops.
ReplyDeleteRan vulh reng reng chuan a neitute an chhun an tih kha maw :). I tet laiin sava i veh thin a ni ngei ngei ang :P. Tak takin ui hi an mak khop mai, hmana kan ui pawh sazu man hi nuam a ti tlat pek a, a lian sia zanah hian a ri khup khup zel.
ReplyDeleteHaha vana, nia kan naupan laia sava veh kan chin thin kha tuman an hre lo emaw kan tia...
ReplyDelete*joonbird, I guess wonders never cease with animals. They must be somewhat like you...don't really run true to stereotype :)
about how to place the 'letter', just be sure to click on a button called 'compose' which is on the top right of the box in which you write your post in blogger. (nearby is another button called Edit Html, that's the one you dont want to click). after which just use one word in a sentence and use the space bar to put the word into position.
ReplyDeleteHmanah ui kan nei a, a hmingah Thangmawia kan sa a. Inleng lo kal bauh a ching hle a, kan awmpui nula-in a hau a, "Thangmawi, lo lut vat rawh, i sual lutuk", a ti tuar2 a. Kan inleng pakhat chuan mak ti deuh hian a en ha a, chupa hming chu Thangmawia a lo ni ve reng a.
ReplyDeleteOk thanks madhavan, I had a problem with that kind of thing last year. Glad to know there's an easy solution. Will try it out sometime. Thanks for dropping by and do come again.
ReplyDeletesamupa, haha ani duh khop ang. Hmana kan zawhte 1 chu Thangkura kan tia, huan a zing leng vel hi ka nu in Thangkur Thangkur, lo haw roh a ti thin kha kan thenawm a coaching class kal ho hi an nuih a lo za thei em em chu ni in
kuri is such a nice n friendly girl...oops i must say lady! hihi
ReplyDeleteShe definitely is friendly. All our neighbours keep sending over their chicken bones and that's sth they never did earlier!
ReplyDeleteHet minlo bauhtu kha a ni em? haha... insawiloh daih kan sawi ve teng...ran ngaina deuh hi hmangaihna an ngah duh a sin..chik ve ngai em?
ReplyDeleteA dik viau maithei a ni...80% vel tal chuan a dik ang. Chuan ran ngaina deuh hi lainatna an ngah bawkin ka hria.
ReplyDeleteyour post reminds me of jhingi.. she used to go about bushes, shakes them up standing on her hind legs in search of nests and if a baby fell, would promptly devour it.. we got to know this after quite some efforts of following her habit.. she died leaving her month old brats, and now, the four of them are big and very much a family.. demand their food when it's the time and make a huge fuss in winters to come inside..
ReplyDeleteOh bad bad jhingi, shaking baby birds out of their nests and eating them, tsk tsk. Sad she died leaving her puppies behind though it's nice to hear they all survived.
ReplyDelete