{"id":19208,"date":"2021-11-20T23:12:06","date_gmt":"2021-11-21T04:12:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19208"},"modified":"2021-11-20T23:14:00","modified_gmt":"2021-11-21T04:14:00","slug":"fwd-episode-476-why-would-anyone-be-interested-on-other-peoples-pets-two-reasons-taranga-and-tara","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19208","title":{"rendered":"Fwd: episode 476 WHY WOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED ON OTHER PEOPLES PETS? TWO REASONS…TARANGA AND TARA"},"content":{"rendered":"
NOTE:  EARLIER VERSION GOT OUT BEFORE CORRECTED\u2026WRONG PUPPIES (THEY BELONGED TO DAISY)<\/p>\n
CORRECT PUPPIES ARE BELOW.  
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On Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 2:23 PM ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com<\/a><\/a>> wrote:
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EPISODE 476    WHY SHOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED IN OTHER PEOPLE\u2019S PETS?   TWO REASONS\u2026TARANGA AND TARA<\/p>\n

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alan skeoch<\/div>\n
Nov. 2021<\/div>\n

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Look closely\u2026.centre of the wintry scene is (was) our cat Taranga.  She was more like a dog than a cat because she loved<\/div>\n
to follow us whenever she could \u2026 even in deep snow.  Why should you care about our pet cat? Many of you who read these episodes<\/div>\n
probably do care because you have a cat or a dog\u2026or a duck or kangaroo\u2026.or a guppy;  Most people have pets that they love.  Names?<\/div>\n
Naming pets makes them very personal.  We named Taranga after a mountain in New Zealand where Marjorie, Andrew and I nearly got<\/div>\n
swept out to sea on a fast incoming tide.  She was named after an adventure.<\/div>\n

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WE  have always had pets around our house.  As close as the breath we breathed. So it is with a lot<\/div>\n
of people.  When the Mississauga Train disaster happened and the prospect of chlorine gas flowing<\/div>\n
down upon us happened we loaded the car.  First in went  the pets, then the kids and I suppose later<\/div>\n
the spare underwear.<\/div>\n

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Now here is a closeup picture of Taranga.  Like pin-up movie stars, Taranga knew she was pretty.   She also could climb trees\u2026.roll over\u2026purr\u2026and get attention<\/div>\n
from people passing  by.   W do not know how or why she died. Andrew found her body down by Mary Fix Creek.<\/div>\n

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My brother and I had lots of cats as pets.  Marjorie had rabbits and dogs.<\/div>\n
When we got married we were given a cat by Faye Nichols.  She named her \u201cPresque Neige\u201d because she was white with just<\/div>\n
a dusting of gray on her head.   We kept the name even though we had re=naming rights.   \u201cPresque Neige\u201d was a rather loose<\/div>\n
lady and got herself knocked up if I might use that crude but clear term.  When she reached term she knew things were not going<\/div>\n
right and one night she got into bed with us\u2026between us\u2026.and began the birthing process.  But the kittens<\/div>\n
were  not coming out like water mellons in the summertime (poor image).  So \u201cpressure\u201d asked Marjorie to <\/div>\n
pull the first one out as it seemed to be stuck.  Marjorie became a midwife that night.<\/div>\n

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Years later, when we bought our home, we got our first dog.  \u201cTara\u201d was name chosen… after the southern estate in Gone With the Wind. <\/div>\n
She was a great dong. A hunting dog who never got the chance to hunt.  She did not resent the fact that we do not worship<\/div>\n
guns and settled right in.  There were times when the wind blew in sudden gusts that she picked up the smell of raccoons<\/div>\n
and looped down the back field.  But she always came back almost immediately.  We got Tara when  Marjorie got pregnant by some strange process and as her stomach<\/div>\n
expanded she got the notion that if we were going to have children we damn well better get a dog.  Did I say dog!  Slip of the tongue.<\/div>\n
Marjorie located a coonhound stud..a couple of them really.  In one year Tara had a load of puppies..  I tried to feince in  the first litter by<\/div>\n
building a wall around their corner of our lot.  It was a failure.  Coonhound pups climbed walls just like TAranga climbed apple trees.<\/div>\n
Our pups were loved by our two boys.  There were so many little creatures on our lot that year that the Mississauga News sent out<\/div>\n
a reporter and photographer.   Tara became famous for her 15 minutes\u2026just like all of us.  <\/div>\n

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Next problem was finding homes for all these pups.   Marjorie put up a sign. \u201cCoonhound pups need good homes\u201d<\/div>\n
The term \u2018good home\u2019 had a special meaning to Marjorie. A lot of men came around lured by the coonhounds.<\/div>\n
Marjorie asked them a simple question \u2026<\/div>\n

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\u201dDo you hunt?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cYes\u2026just love hunting season\u2026would be even better with a coonhound”  <\/div>\n
\u201cSorrry, no pups to hunters.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not?  Coonhounds are hunting dogs\u2026.hounds!\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNever sure dogs will be cared for\u2026we had an abandoned hound<\/div>\n
arrive at the farm once\u2026alone..no owner.    And another hound was<\/div>\n
chained up most of the year near our farm.\u201d<\/div>\n

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So all of Tara\u2019s pups went to what Marjorie thought were good homes.<\/div>\n
All except for one which we named Shadow.   We kept him.  Lovely dog who<\/div>\n
was just too obedient and also prone to wander.  One day he wandered away <\/div>\n
following a scent.   Not far.  When called he turned and began to run back to us.<\/div>\n
A car hit him\u2026killed him. We were devastated as was his mother, Tara.<\/div>\n

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This is Tara.  She is taking a moment to think about something.  Perhaps to worry about her pups.<\/div>\n

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Tara is up the hill with her nose picking up information that none of us can detect.  Pete, mom and dad\u2019s dog, is watching me<\/div>\n
while everyone else if tinkering with my 1953 model of a W6 Internaionals.  Note the fine plowing job.<\/div>\n

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I think Marjorie is carrying Tara\u2019s pup Shadow in this picture.   If he had lived we would have had lots of coonhounds.  I remember one<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

of the hunters asking if Tara had a good tongue.   Odd term.  Ar least I thought  the term odd until Tara smelled a raccoon.  Then she hollered<\/p><\/div>\n

like a kid in an echo chamber\u2026great whoops.
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What is our coonhound thinking here at a campground somewhere in Canada?
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NOTE:  EARLIER VERSION GOT OUT BEFORE CORRECTED\u2026WRONG PUPPIES (THEY BELONGED TO DAISY) CORRECT PUPPIES ARE BELOW.   On Sat, Nov 20, 2021 at 2:23 PM ALAN SKEOCH <alan.skeoch@rogers.com> wrote: EPISODE 476    WHY SHOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED IN OTHER PEOPLE\u2019S PETS?   TWO REASONS\u2026TARANGA AND TARA alan skeoch Nov. 2021 Look closely\u2026.centre of the wintry […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19208","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19208"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19208\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19208"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19208"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19208"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}