An update on the story about the Mexican Gray Wolf below. The Albuquerque Journal reported this morning that the wolf had been found dead. Cause of death or location of her death has not been confirmed. Very sad.
Two stories in the news last week about canines caught my attention. Both showed how clever these animals can be.
In the first case, another Mexican gray wolf has slipped into northern New Mexico, hundreds of miles from where she was being held in Arizona.
Last year, you may recall, a female wolf named Asha who had been released in southwestern New Mexico was tracked roaming as far north as the Taos area. She was eventually recaptured and returned to her “approved” roaming area in the Gila country of New Mexico and southeastern Arizona.
The latest roaming female wolf was spotted last week somewhere near Mount Taylor, north of I-40 and Grants. She had been captured in late January and then cleverly escaped from a holding pen in Show-Low Arizona.
As of this writing, the wolf’s location is being monitored with a tracking collar, but she has not been recaptured. Wildlife experts suspect she may be looking for a mate, just as Asha apparently was doing when she wandered around northern New Mexico.
It always amazes me to find out how much territory these animals can cover in a short period of time, avoiding the dangers of crossing such a busy thoroughfare as Interstate 40 and finding sufficient water, food and shelter to sustain them. And yes, I understand that ranchers worry that they’re endangering their cattle operations, but you still have to admire their tenacity.
I’ll keep you posted if I hear any more about Wolf F2996 — especially if she finally gets a proper name and maybe hooks up with a guy.
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The next canine caper involves the discovery of a smuggled shipment of — guess what — Mexican bologna. (Please look up my previous posts about my smuggled bologna investigation “:^).
In this case, a man from Albuquerque was caught at a checkpoint in El Paso when a dog trained for sniffing out drugs managed to catch the scent of 22 giant tubes of Mexican bologna being brought over the border for delivery in Albuquerque from Cuidad Juarez.
The dog, a black Labrador retriever named Harlee, alerted his handler after the owner of the vehicle claimed he had no “fruit, vegetables or meat products. This “crafty” smuggler had already been caught once trying to bring bologna into the United States from Mexico. Instead of trying to stuff the bologna inside a spare tire or a mattress — which are techniques used in previously bologna smuggling escapades — this time he merely heaped a bunch of junk on top of it. He was apparently hoping he’d be dismissed as a just another sloppy vehicle owner.
(photo courtesy of Albuquerque Journal)
I’m not saying Harlee wasn’t a well-trained smart dog who was good at sniffing out drugs, but I think our dog Chester might have been able to point out a large stash of bologna in the same cirumstance.
As my wife and I have learned, Chester can hear the sound of a “Milk Bone” treat box being opened or the sound of cellophane unwrapping a cracker from five rooms away in our house. And his keen sniffer knows the instant when a package of any kind of packaged meat, raw chicken and especially cheese has been opened. His instant alert for food happens even while snoozing on our bed while twitching and yipping in the midst of an action packed doggy dream.
I have also realized Chester has the talent for validating times set by the international atomic clocks we rely on for everything from our phones to our watches and clocks. At precisely 4 p.m. every day, Chester knows it is time for a “Minty,” a dog treat that supposedly cleans his teeth and his breath.
At that moment in the day, he will begin scratching at his kennel, annoying my wife or me in whatever task we’re doing at the time, until we finally realize “It’s time for his Minty.” As I was writing this today at exactly 4 p.m., he wandered into my office and as I was attempting to type, he stuck his nose under my hand to lift it away from the keyboard and get him the treat he wants.
So I interrupted my chain of thought, got up from my desk and gave him a Minty, then let him go out in the back yard to chew it up. The process allowed me to continue my writing but unfortunately has done nothing to de-fumigate his noxious breath. Maybe some day I’ll be clever enough to find an application for his vile dog breath scent that wakes us up every morning about 6 a.m.
aero-cordero.com 