More deer and on the road again.

I think we’re off on holiday, not sure but Chris and Mummy are packing a bag with clothes? Usual clothes too, what I mean by that is nothing smart! mmmm I wonder what they are up to? I hope we are going with them?...

Ah, sigh of relief, we must be, our food bowls have been collected up and our giant red cushion has been placed in the boot with what looks like a three day food ration....... Woohoo.!!....!!!!!! wonder where we are going?

Considering the packing and rushing around we aren’t sure what is going on now, just as we had embarked on a very noisy play fight to while away the time for the car packing to take place, a car drew up outside. Much barking, some greetings, cheeky banter, minor human insults and an exchange of music later, we were in the garden all stood around a Chinese Water deer which needed to be swiftly prepared for the freezer, (the unusually warm weather for March meant it couldn’t be left hanging in the shed for a couple of days...shame Mouse and I prefer them like that). I have never seen one of these little deer before and from the sounds of the humans, it is not a regular occurrence either (apart from Chris of course who is starting to smell like bloody deer!)

Mummy & Brigg’s joked about as usual, Brigg’s being particularly naughty managed to get blood on her face and secure herself one of the ‘fang teeth’ which male Chinese Water deer have. I found this most curious they are huge! Bigger than Mouse’s teeth, which are bigger than mine, infact these were almost as long as my snout! I was very impressed but confused as to why a herbivore would have these teeth.

Here's the education bit: Mouse told me Chinese water deer are one of two groups of deer that have enlarged canine teeth, Muntjac males being the other who benefit from both antler and canine teeth. In the Chinese deer (that lack antlers), the upper canine teeth are enlarged and sharp and are to scare away other animals. In more drastic use, these canine teeth are used to fight fairly wicked battles which have in some cases resulted in serious injury. I remember hearing about a dog stumbling on one of these little deer, instead of leaving it alone, decided to ‘take it on’ silly dog ended up with  a serious wound that required several stitches. Mouse really does have a good memory for deer'ie facts, I am very impressed with this information and will try to learn as much as I can from her.

Chris very quickly skinned the deer and set about the task of bagging the haunches, fore limbs and loin steaks (hope these are for us but somehow I doubt it) Mouse and I stood quietly next to Chris, our patience paid off and we were rewarded with tasty cuts and trimmings in nicely sized slithers of delicious clean meat. Job complete, bags dispatched to freezer, one haunch to Briggs for her to impress her friends with her culinary genius and one on the side for Mouse and I. Yummy! Bulging bags in car, farewells, thank-you’s, more human ‘tom foolery’ exchanged between the Briggs and mummy, then we were off…To Shropshire!

The journey went via 'the favourite' chip shop, 'Rumbles' (crap name but nice chips!). The smell of fried fish was divine, sadly nothing made it s way to the back of the car, I waited and waited until my desperate squeak was rewarded with mutterings of 'sorry, dog’s don't travel well on ‘oily’ food'…hypocrites! Fortunately in the confined space, the smell was so intense that we could taste it anyway and from the sound of the paper noises coming from Chris, there was probably nothing left. I was right, he had polished off all the greasy remnants  from his lap as he drove then washed it down with liquid from a red and silver can which clattered in the foot well until mummy disposed of it at the next stop.

Our arrival home was late, we raced out into the blackness, activating the sensor light and waking the moths to a flight of fancy in the glow of the night bulb. Barking and growling, we chased each other up to the orchard around the cherry tree’s, inspected the curtilage of the property and did noisy somersaults on the front lawn…several suppressed calls, whistles and expletives to ‘be quiet’ later and we were inside having a late night supper of biscuits and tin while the humans unpacked the car, winging about forgetting milk to make tea.

Next morning we were up bright and early to chase all the birds from the garden, we ‘flew’ around the top field after the remaining cock pheasants, (didn’t manage to catch one) and inspected all the rabbit holes around the edge of the field…again, we failed to catch anything! Back in the garden, Mouse recovered all her toys from the previous visit, shared them with me, then we chilled out in the sunshine while Chris dismantled the green house.

Later in the evening we repeated the above with Mouse managing to catch a rabbit this time, mummy tried to rescue it but it was too late, so she was allowed to keep it. After parading around the paddock showing off her trophy, Mouse then ate it... all of it!!! without sharing so much as an ear! I shall etch that to memory, if I ever manage to catch anything in future, I wont share it with her, even if I can’t eat it all myself!

Saturday, more chasing, this time in the wood where the gamekeeper releases his pheasants during the season, we had a very noisy rabbit chase, ran in the ‘stinking bog’ that runs along one side of the large field behind the house and managed to cover ourselves in mud from tip to tail. Mouse looked like she was wearing spectacles as the pale soil dried around her eyes. On our return home we weren’t allowed in the house and were shut in the kennel for an hour to dry out. 'Harumph', what's wrong with being covered in mud...Tsk!