Boo!

Scary, aren't I?

Sorry for the long post, but we are such proud "parents" of Boo...

We finally got around to moving our semi-portable chicken coop this weekend. Our Great Pyr, Russian, lives for hunting mice and rats, so she was ready when we backed up the tractor to pull the coop to the new site. John and I were ready with long sticks (for clubs), since we knew the rats have been pretty bad this year and we expected to find bunches under the coop. Boo was absolutely clueless, but hung around to see what the excitement was about.

When John pulled the coop away, one VERY large rat discovered himself exposed and tried frantically to follow behind the coop. Russian pounced, but not being particularly graceful (think of those cartoons where the big dog is looking for the rabbit, saying "Duh, where did it go? Where did it go?"), she couldn't keep up with the little beast. Boo, my husband, I, and Russian all chased the monster this way and that, until John finally landed a hit and stunned it, giving Boo a chance to dispatch it. John, Russian and I continued to look for more rats while Boo paraded around with her trophy in the back yard. A few minutes later, Boo started yelping and hollering like she was snake bit - which was close, as she had found another (smaller) rat that had snuck away in the confusion, and when she tried to bite it, it bit her! John and I ran over to assist - mainly by poking it out of a corner by our house - and Boo finally jumped in and dispatched this one too.

Meanwhile, Russian had not given up on the ex-coop site, and had been patiently excavating the now exposed rat holes. A short time later, excitement reigned again as another rat took off, with Russian and Boo in hot pursuit. Boo was able to dispatch this one too, with a much improved grab, shake, and release method that kept her from getting bitten this time. Not much later, another rat made the same mistake, and Boo made this kill also. In all, of 5 rats under the coop, only one of them made it to safety, and Boo dispatched most of the rest without assistance. I was very impressed that even after getting bitten she was willing to go back for more... and her killing technique is so improved now.

We let her keep her trophies until Sunday - littering the front yard! When AirBorne Express made a delivery, the guy pointed out a big rat near his truck. When I told him that our puppy had killed it, he was very impressed, saying that he had a Pit Bull that wouldn't mess with a rat!

Stacy Charland