When I was checking
out opposition websites, I came across the Clan Grant site
(www.clangrant.org). v.
slick.
I noted with great interest that their 'clan
dog' had sadly just died. It was a wolfhound owned by the clan chief,
lord strathspey, and it was obviously held in great affection by the
clan. Is there any room for a kennel at Claxton Grove,
Malcolm?
There has been reference to dogs over the last week and I wonder if there
is a typical or specific clan dog-type. Some people say that dogs
are similiar to their owners in looks and temperament. Would it
be true to say that Clan members have curmudgeonly or bloody-minded
breed(s), and if so, what types are best. I have two German Short Hair
Pointers, whose first litter of pups is now 6 weeks old and they are quite
adorable. The parents are hard headed, and active dogs in the field, indeed.
Mark Anderson
Cape Town
When I was in Africa I had Rhodesian Ridgebacks because they were
excellent hunting dogs. My 'lead' dog killed a dog baboon and a hyena
which will give you some idea of his power. A hyena has the strongest
jaws in the animal kingdom and dog baboons have lethal dog-teeth
(which inflicted severe injuries on my dog but he made a remarkable
recovery). I was plagued with leopards killing my animals (because
we had killed most of the wild pigs on which they normally lived) and
I hunted them with a pack of four Ridgebacks working as a 'team'. -
seeing the dogs in action was poetry in motion. They worked together
in perfect harmony until the leopard was forced to seek refuge in a tree
from which I would shoot it down!!! If you think that was being 'unsportsmanlike',
I agree but, with a leopard, there can only be one winner. You don't
get a second chance. The leopard is an animal of great beauty but he
is a killer. I lost 50 pigs in a single night. The leopards (possibly only
two of them) took two pigs to eat - the rest were left where they fell
with hardly a mark on them because the claws of the leopard find the
heart of the pig with unerring accuracy. On the other hand, a lion will
only kill what it needs to satisfy its hunger. Therein, lies the difference.
Later in Africa, I had an experience (a 'conversion', if you prefer) which
forced me to put down my rifle and, since that time, (half a century ago)
I haven't killed anything. That 'conversion' was brought about by an animal
which I had in the sights of my rifle and which was within seconds of being
killed.......... it was one of the most profound experiences of my life but
that is a story for my memoirs.