Loud Swear Words

The Upper Inverroy air was blue tonight.

I took the dogs for a quick early evening stretch up there tonight. The loss of my wee camera tripod sees me humphing a rather weighty theodolite type with me if I desire such support currently. This definitely allows me to secure shots my shaky hands would not permit. This bit of kit is not swift to operate and some may say even a distraction.

After taking the last photo I looked round and Bruce was gone. I had inadvertently strayed close to the "danger zone". While the rights and wrongs of poaching is a debate for another day their actual house keeping is not. These people carelessly leave all sorts of carcass waste scattered about the woodland here. Bruce, if he catches a whiff, finds it impossible to resist and nothing can distract him.

Since Caley's arrival we have been able to train him to seek out Bruce on those occasions but there was so much of this stuff about he was similarly diverted so his search and rescue skills didn't kick in. I was tripping in ruts and getting scratched scraping between saplings and then realise Caley had just found another bit of deer leg.

Accepting defeat I sent M a text and she came up (drove to the road end and walked about a mile to meet me) and actually found him very quickly, which was a bit annoying and a relief in equal measures. However his jaws were wrapped round a skull and M and I got a foot on it at either side of Bruces's snout and it took a colossal bit of wrestling to separate him from the rotting body part.

Providing Bruce has had a morning walk I think I may just take Caley if it is for a quick blip stretch at Upper Inverroy. Even if he finds something smelly he can be easily distracted with a ball or stick.