It was time for the first of two daily walks we take. Would Heidi be standing at the door ready to go along with Sadie and Stella? Not quite. She was stretched out on my bed under the sunshine that was filling the room.
As I attached the leash to her collar ... she didn't move. Did she not want to go on the walk? As I started to walk away with leash in hand, she got up and jumped off the bed ... heading for the door, she was reading to go.
Like yesterday afternoon I took the leash off at the edge of the yard and field and let her walk at her pace.
With the bloodhounds way up ahead and Heidi falling further behind from all the nose exploration she was doing ... I decided I would do what I did in the past at times with her and Winston ... let her go at her own pace and meet her on the way back.
You can barely see her and more interested in snooping than walking ... that's fine because she is outside enjoying her time in the field.
Stella cleaning out the area where either deer sleep or the hawk hangs out. I'll still call that large bird from the other day a hawk until someone that knows birds can tell me what it was.
No sign of Heidi attempting to catch up to us.
Stella is at one of her normal spots. Not only does she like to clean up after something but she also likes to sprint to catch up to us. Sadie and I are at the point in the walk where we turn to make the homestretch of the walk.
As I look forward I see no sign's of Heidi ... basset hounds have a white tipped tail for a reason ... to find them in tall grass while hunting. This is not the first time she has done this so it's okay that she is not around.
I tell Sadie to "go find Heidi" and she puts her nose to the ground, following our worn path and most likely picking up Heidi's scent from yesterday. For the upcoming story, notice toward the house the field is slightly elevated where I cannot see what is near the house.
What I do know is I start hearing Heidi barking (baying) loud but cannot see her. Then all of the sudden, in front of the house from the lower elevation a deer hops out and is heading straight for me and Sadie ... but a long way off.
The deer looks in a panic coming at us but when it smells or sees Sadie it darts to our right, with that short legged basset hound chasing it and baying nonstop. The deer is darting from spot to spot looking like it is trying to find a way to escape.
MY CAMERA DIDN'T FOCUS during that time and by the time I could get it to take a photo the deer was three lots over and running fast to get away from the loud sounding basset hound still in pursuit.
At this point in time the deer is 'flying' ...
Stella is out in front of the other two hounds but way behind the deer - yet Stella is flying on her run, she's fast.
Sadie was in pursuit of the deer ... and this is only a guess .. she heard Heidi baying loudly and possibly thought Heidi was in trouble or hurt and turned around to come back to check on her. Sadie as always thought of herself as a "leader of the pack".
Sadie hears me yelling "come on".
Sadie sees that Heidi is okay and has decided she needs to tell me what was happening and how they chased the deer away and out of 'their' field.
All three hounds have decided they are going to backtrack the path the deer came from. I wonder if they think there might be more deer to chase?
By this time the excitement for the morning is over and we are back on the worn path to head home. Heidi in the meantime is going to track the path of "her" deer all the way to the place she started barking.
Heidi leads the way back to the house and all three hounds are pretty proud of what they have accomplished this morning. While editing, download photos, writing this blog post ... all three hounds have been in a deep sleep. It's past noon and not one of them has woke up to let me know it's time for their lunch. Heidi barks and Stella howls daily when they want to eat their lunch.
I am just happy that when Sadie or Stella runs out of sight chasing deer, on all three occasions they have come back on their own and not ran off. It will be hard to top that morning excitement but let's see what the rest of the day brings ... we'll head out for another walk probably early evening since it will be too hot in the afternoon.
Fast times in 'the tropics' of Southern Indiana.
