Guest Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Revisting your post it does have some real merit. My only issue is that there are accounts in which our canine friends back off long before any contact(or what we assume is contact). Hunting dogs will not track a BF scent. Or is there something in that scent that the dogs refuse to follow? Bloodhounds will track BF scent. You may recall an episode of Monsterquest where someone in Louisiana hit a BF at night, and called 911 because he thought it was a person in a fur coat (out in the middle of nowhere). Search & rescue came out, and the bloodhounds picked up the trail right where the motorist said it went into the woods, and there was some blood, etc. They tracked the BF for a long distance until it went into the swamp where the dogs lost the scent in the water. Also, I had a bunch of activity here at my home, even tracks in the yard, screams and whistles at night, and one that beat on the side of our home. A stray puppy came up one day, I guess she was 6 months or more old, and she was really sweet and loving toward the entire family. She is a pit bull. Now nothing comes in the yard. She barks a lot at night and chases all kinds of thing away. She even gave courage to our beagle mix, Muffin, so they pair up & keep things away at night. Now we only hear screams in the woods at a distance. I wish I could go check in the woods to see if there was any sign of the BF, but my MS has gotten bad enough that I can't be out in the heat, so I'm pretty much house-bound, and I have to walk with a cane, though I think I am about to graduate to a walker pretty soon, lol. Maybe I'll fire up the ATV when I get back home later in the week and see what I can find along driveaable trails.
JDL Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 I think dogs in a pack are generally willing to take on more than each would individually. A half dozen hounds working together may track something that three may refuse to follow. If they're hunting with a group of humans they'll probably be a bit more courageous as well. Training matters too.
Guest hoosiersquatch Posted June 20, 2012 Posted June 20, 2012 Dogs in a pack, much like wolves, are much braver than an individual or small group. If you've ever seen footage of a wolf pack defending their den from a Grizzly, then I think you'd have an idea of how a pack of dogs would interact with a BF. At least that's what my training tells me. I've worked with wolves for quite awhile in a research facility, and have come to know their behavior. A dog's behavior, especially in a pack setting, would be near the same. But as I'm writing this I can't help but to wonder that if a BF is as close to us, (evolutionarily) as many think, how would the dog that has been domesticated for thousands of years react to something that close to us? My guess would be that it would be determined by the intentions of the BF. And I agree that a dog with a previous bad encounter with a BF would want to flee the area.
Guest Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) Dogs bring the one thing they hate most, attention. Rover may also be a tasty snack if the circumstances are right, however I highly doubt Sasquatch makes Wolf Hunting any part of his regular foraging routine any more than a brown bear is likely to be on the menu. Even the mighty wolverine, that can force wolves and bears off a fresh kill relies largely on attitude and posturing over actual physical confrontation. Win, lose or draw everyone involved is going to walk/limp away with some sort of damage; it's just not worth Sasquatch's effort unless it's unavoidable. Edited June 21, 2012 by Tautriadelta
Guest poignant Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 I don't like unnecessary cruelty to animals and here's a question for all: Has anyone tried attaching POV cameras to dogs and setting them on game animals? Hypothetically, if the tradeoff for close up footage of BF would be the safety of a few dogs, would you allow it?
JDL Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 (edited) You know, during WWII, the Russians tried to apply Pavlov's research to tank-killing and some of the biggest tank battles in history were between the Germans and the Russians. They trained dogs to wear anti-tank mines strapped into a harness, then every time they fed them, they placed the dog food under tanks. They had the dogs trained and ready, they replaced the training mines with live ones and set them loose on the battlefield. Problem was that the dogs were used to finding their food under Russian tanks, not German ones. Morals of the story, if you're going to strap something onto a dog to go after a bigfoot, you might as well make it something that can knock the bigfoot unconscious. Just make sure you stay out of the way. Edited June 21, 2012 by JDL 1
Guest poignant Posted June 21, 2012 Posted June 21, 2012 Yes, I know. Fortunately in this case, it won't be so bad if the dogs came running back to the owners. And no, I do not want to hurt the bf, for now. Video first.
Guest Posted June 22, 2012 Posted June 22, 2012 Perhaps dogs happen upon BF more than we realize? They probably meet up with an aggressive predator and want no parts of it again. And of course dogs in a pack will have more courage. I wonder what dog/BF ratio gives them the most courage. As in how many it takes to make them feel brave enough to face a BF? Also, a BF has nothing to fear from dogs or wolves except attention. No it isn't like facing a grizzly because a grizzly can't think like a human. A BF may simply be too different to some dogs...something they have never encountered. Many dogs/animals are wary or scared of things they've never experienced.
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