Well, now I have a dilemma.
I usually root for the wildlife, if the wildlife is just doing its own thing. However, after events of August 19, 2007, in Arizona, where 3 javelina were in my backyard, and my dog chased them, and killed all three, but died herself - I have to root for a dog. Those javelina were dangerous, some had killed a woman on a STREET just 3 or 4 weeks previously - knocked her down and gored and sliced her up, pretty much.
Then, a couple of months ago, a doe killed our next door neighbors dog - and the dog was on their back deck. The same doe tried to kill the other neighbors dog, who was quite helpless, being tied up.
I also hunt - and part of my hunting has a dog going with me. I see no difference between a dog chasing a wild animal that has done nothing and a human chasing a wild animal that has done nothing. (except that the human uses a tool the dog doesn't have - boom!)
My wildlife story deals with the death of my Little Girl last August. The following morning, after her death, at first light, we heard an awful howling and yapping. I woke Mr. Oro up, and we looked out the window to see two coyotes in my yard. I put on my slippers and went outside, with Roy grabbing a gun, just in case.
They howled and talked for 3 or 4 minutes, and I walked closer to them (I know, not smart, but something was really strange and different).
One, the female, stayed sitting in front of my truck. The male got up, walked around in a circle about 4 or 5 times, howling and talking the entire time. As I got a little closer, they moved back about 10 feet, and continued to "talk" and howl. I walked over to where they were sitting. They were sitting where my Little Girl used to lay down during the heat of the day - in the shade of my truck. They moved back a few feet, and I walked the extra 2 or 3 steps - and found they had brought something for us. They brought the full head of one of the javelina that my Little Girl had killed - as it turned out, the one that killed her. They had chewed off the head, and brought it to the front of the house, in front of the truck where my Little Girl slept everyday. It was uneaten. We went down to where the 3 javelina had been killed, and sure enough, they had not eaten any of them, just taken the head and brought it to the front of the house.
As far as I can tell, they figured it was her kill, and they couldn't eat until she had hers. (pecking order) (by the way, watch them buzzards, they DO attack).
I did alot of reading on coyotes after that, and I think they saw our huskies as another "pack" rather than your garden variety dog. Especially since we had a coyote pup that used to come every morning for several weeks before that to "wrestle" with our male Husky.
The "cats" (mountain lions) didn't come until the evening.
We took the head (and buried it), the coyotes left, and a few hours later, came back, several times, with pups and worked on the carcasses.
That's my wildlife story.
B