{"id":19311,"date":"2021-11-28T23:56:25","date_gmt":"2021-11-29T04:56:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19311"},"modified":"2021-11-28T23:58:43","modified_gmt":"2021-11-29T04:58:43","slug":"episode-480-pets-tara-the-coonhound-to","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/?p=19311","title":{"rendered":"EPISODE 480 PETS: TARA THE COONHOUND TO"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Note: Readers are reminded to search their memories about their own pets otherwise this<\/div>\n
exercise is a little too self centred<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

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EPISODE 480    PETS CONTINUED— TARA THE COONHOUND  and GEORGE the female cat whose name did not fool Tom Cats, etc.<\/p>\n


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

<\/div>\n
DATELINE  1964<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
JUST couple more pictures of Presque Neige when she lived in midst of wolves and bears and geophysicists<\/div>\n

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MARJORIE loved the Biblical story of Noah\u2019s Ark which she tried to replicate<\/div>\n
in our daily life.  But that was the 1960\u2019s.  First let me tell a story of George<\/div>\n
in the 1950\u2019s.  Before marriage\u2026the teen age years. The story will likely make you angry.<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
DATELINE   1950<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
GEORGE was our family cat after SMOKEY died.  We did not have a family dog<\/div>\n
until Marjorie got TARA THE COONHOUND from the SPCA.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
GEORGE was chosen as a name in an  attempt to fool Tom cats.  To discourage them<\/div>\n
from hanging around as they are prone to do when a cat comes into heat.  The ploy  did<\/div>\n
not work.   George had a bushel or so of kittens which we distributed to homes in west<\/div>\n
Toronto in the 1950\u2019s.   In those years cats were abundant largely because pet owners<\/div>\n
refused or could not afford to neuter their pets.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
GEORGE (Dad set us all a fine example using George as bait)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Dad gave Eric and I a BB gun about 1953.  At least he put a dollar downpayment on the<\/div>\n
gun and mom paid the rest.  Guns are dangerous things we discovered.<\/div>\n
Dad believed in leading by example.  Rarely a good example .Our house at  455 Annette Street<\/div>\n
was not an architectural marvel.  It has been built without much thought.  No kitchen There was no kitchen<\/div>\n
in our part of the house.  Second floor of three rooms.  Cramped.  A previous owner had tacked<\/div>\n
an 8 x 10 frame oddity on the back of the house which became our kitchen.  There was a small<\/div>\n
window.   And it was here that Dad sat in the dark on Christmas Eve with the BB gun.  Like a sniper<\/div>\n
in World War II, he waited patiently puffing on the dead stub of a White Owl Invincible cigar. Waiting<\/div>\n
for George to spread the word the she was receptive for clandestine visits by the opposite sex.<\/div>\n
In no time at all two or three Tom cats began to howl  on the back fence\u2026\u201dhowl\u201d\u2026like the Mills Brothers in concert.<\/div>\n
Then dad poked the BB gun slowly out the back window.  Took aim and fired.  I don\u2019t know if<\/div>\n
he hit anything because mom caught him and chastised him with the usual \u201cOh Red, you<\/div>\n
fathead, a fine example you are for the boys.  Put that gun away.\u201d  George continued to spread<\/div>\n
the word and the Tom cats continued to howl.  Our cat was personal property.  Others were<\/div>\n
fair game.   George always had her kittens at the bottom of the narrow stairway under our tiny<\/div>\n
kitchen.   One bad result of that was fleas..  We could not get rid of the fleas and I remember crushing them<\/div>\n
between my finger nails as they spurted my blood.  Ah, yes,  lots of nice memories of George.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
DATELINE  1970<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
TARA (The hound who never got a chance to hunt)<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
TARA was the first dog we had after Marjorie and I tied the knot.  Marjorie got her from the<\/div>\n
 the SPCA.   She was a registered Coonhound but not quite big enough for purists.  So she was given to the SPCA to sell or do whatever had to be done.<\/div>\n
Maybe TARA WAS not aggressive enough for She would follow a scent only a short distance always keeping us<\/div>\n
in sight.  She was motherly… liked to mother our two boys as if they were her own kin.  Her gentle nature<\/div>\n
and mothering instinct gave Marjorie an idea.  <\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy don\u2019t we find a male coonhound?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201c  Do you want any male, let\u2019s say a Jack Russell<\/div>\n
or a Great Dane?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNo, we must find another coonhound\u2026black and tan.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Aside:  Now I must be circumspect \u2026 ie. careful\u2026in what I write says Marjorie.<\/div>\n

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\u201cAlan, I found a stud owned by a man in Clarkson\u2026he\u2019s willing.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cIs his dog willing?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOf course\u2026I\u2019m taking Tara over today.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHave you supervised a sexual act before?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cI told you to hold your tongue, Alan.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMum\u2019s the word\u2026my mouth will be sealed with duct tape.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
And so the breeding got underway.  Rather unusual<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, \u2026 something has gone wrong.  The male has turned around\u2026he could hurt himself\u2026Tara is facing<\/div>\n
north while the male is facing south\u2026terrible situation\u2026I  must do something\u2026\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
So Marjorie rushed to the garden faucet\u2026got a pail of water and threw it on the dogs much to their surprise\u2026.Marjorie<\/div>\n
was relieved when they separated.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Have you ever heard of the term \u201clocked\u201d?  I thought not. When dogs have sex they \u201clock\u201d \u2026one faces one way, the other<\/div>\n
the opposite.  Their sex does not usually entail a pail of cold water.   But it worked.  Tara got pregnant and had 11 puppies<\/div>\n
one of which was the stud fee.   The others all went to non hunters as mentioned in an earlier episode.  Maybe worth <\/div>\n
repeating.  <\/div>\n

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\u201cDo you hunt?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cOf course, Coonhounds are great hunting dogs,\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cNot my coonhounds.  Sorry\u2026no puppy for you.\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cWhy not?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cMany  reasons the foremost of which is the sad life lived by a neglected hound in a barn near us…  chained up inside for<\/div>\n
most of the year.  Never gets free until hunting season.  One week.  Most of the time He paces the circle of his life in the darkness of the old stable. .  Not going to happen<\/div>\n
to Tara\u2019s pups.  Sorry.”<\/div>\n

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We kept one pup that we named SHADOW.   HE was as lovable and obedient as Tara until a<\/div>\n
car got him as he bounded home to see us one spring day.  All of us were devastated including his mother.<\/div>\n
That\u2019s him looking at you in the picture above.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
SPARTACUS (the gelding and both coonhounds out for a ride on a November afternoon._)<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
Just to get these stories straight, Marjorie is the prime mover with regard to animals..  I am just a witness.  In the 1960\u2019s Everything seemed to<\/div>\n
happen all at once.  Marjorie got pregnant \u2026 not in a locked manner.  Then she adopted Tara at the dog pound.  Then she<\/div>\n
got Spartacus, her gelding. Rescued by a friend from the horrors of an estrogen farm.  We still  had the cat, presque beige, and<\/div>\n
i think we had a couple of chameleons that got loose in our apartment never to be seen again.   In due process Marjorie got pregnant <\/div>\n
again and had to sell Spartacus as bouncing around on a horse is not good for babies.<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
We were not an unusual family.  Most of our friends also had babies, dogs and cats.  The horse may have been an exception.  Seems that the term<\/div>\n
extended families meant animal adoptions.<\/div>\n

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TARA watches Marjorie and Kevin.  Her thought?  \u201cWhat is this baby bottle routine\u2026unnatural.?<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
\u201cAlan, can\u2019r you find something to do other than babysit while the dogs and I take Sparky for a run?”<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n

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So I began collecting horse manure\u2026piled sacks of the sweet smelling crap on top of our Renault 16.<\/div>\n

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\u201cWhat in hell\u2019s half acre are you collecting that for?\u201d<\/div>\n
\u201cHorse manure is best for growing mushrooms\u2026.piling it in a huge box at home\u2026need a couple of tons.\u201d<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n
The mushroom venture was a failure\u2026produced one mushroom and that was tiny and warted looking.<\/div>\n
But I enjoyed the venture.   Sweet smell.  But had a bad effect on sale of our car which went to a scrap<\/div>\n
dealer I seem to remember.<\/div>\n

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PET STORIES WILL CONTINUE IN FUTURE EPISODES\u2026WHETHER YOU LIKE THE STORIES OR NOT<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
Names of PETS yet to be renembered<\/div>\n

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DAISY<\/div>\n
SONNY<\/div>\n
SAM<\/div>\n
SPARTACUS<\/div>\n
ORONYATEKHA (TIKHA short form)<\/div>\n
SYDNEY<\/div>\n
CINDERS<\/div>\n
WOODY<\/div>\n
  -and others<\/div>\n
FAYLA  (The hero dog)<\/div>\n
NORMAN<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n
Here is Andrew and a dog  I do not recognize speeding on a skateboard in Ohio<\/div>\n

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BELOW IS A WONDERFUL PICTURE TAKEN THIS MORNING\u2026NOV. 28,2021\u2026AS OUR FIRST SNOWFALL ARRIVED<\/div>\n

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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: Readers are reminded to search their memories about their own pets otherwise this exercise is a little too self centred EPISODE 480    PETS CONTINUED— TARA THE COONHOUND  and GEORGE the female cat whose name did not fool Tom Cats, etc. alan skeoch nov. 2021 DATELINE  1964 JUST couple more pictures of Presque Neige […]<\/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-19311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19311","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=19311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/alanskeoch.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}