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Friday, August 6, 2010

On The Fly

We seem to have a new sport here at our house.  So far, Bunny and Morgan are the only participants, but I've seen Lilac give it a shot.  Blueberry probably has, but she's never lower herself to letting anyone catch her in the act.

What I'm talking about here is fly catching.  For some reason, Bunny and Morgan have both decided this is an entertaining pasttime this summer.  I would prefer they found something else to do, but at least the flies don't bother us much in the house.

The funny part to me is that they both seem to have different styles.  In that respect, it is entertaining to watch.  At least, until they actually catch it.

Bunny is fast.  Actually, she's so fast about it that if you blink or sneeze, you'd miss the whole thing.  She sits still for a second, waits for the fly to buzz near her nose and then with a snap, it's completely gone.  Her head barely even moves!

Morgan on the other hand, takes her time.  She'll stalk the fly all over the living room, pouncing and watching it for an hour before she catches it.  The fun doesn't end there, though!   She'll hold it just so in her mouth, then drop it to the ground, presumably to play with it.  I saw one crawling across the floor feebly the other day, no doubt calling "medic" after her third catch and release.  Then she gave a pounce and the darned thing crawled behind the computer desk and away from the jaws of death.  He was a lucky one.  The other ones she has killed, as well as a hapless spider who decided to make a web on the window ledge the other morning. 

It grosses me out to watch them, but at the same time, it's like an accident you can't look away from.  Am I the only one with such strange dogs?  Does anybody else out there have a dog with a habit that grosses them out?

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30 comments:

  1. Barbie and Bender both go after flies, but Bender is very clumsy, and will catch them against a window and slobber all over the glass trying to get them. Barbie also just snaps but I don't think her success rate is awfully high.

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  2. Beryl will catch flies but Frankie is more interested in bees, wasps and bumble bees! Great!! The other day I squashed a bee (thinking it was a wasp) on my back patio. Frankie started licking the concrete where the bee remains were (after the honey I guess?) I heard him yelp and within about 5 mins the left side of his mouth swelled up. Luckily I found the sting on the outside of his mouth and removed it and within about 1/2 an hour it had gone down. I was watching him very carefully. It was a Saturday so I wasn't going to race him down to the vet if I didn't need to! He looked so funny (and he knew it!) but I wasn't mean enough to add insult to injury by taking a photo of him, lol! So, even if there's no bee attached, the sting can still sting!! I didn't know that.

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  3. Oh fly catching is a great spot!
    Mika can catch flies AND mosquitoes!

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  4. Dru, Willow and Breeze also love to catch flies. They have the same technique as Bunny. (Maybe it’s a greyhound thing?) Wait ‘til the fly circles their heads, then it’s a quick snap and some happy chewing. My favorite is watching the girls when they can hear a fly in the window but the blinds are closed so they can’t see it. Drives ‘em crazy :)

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  5. You've never had fun with flies until you've had four cats ALL going after the same fly - sailing though the air, not caring one twit where they are going to land - happy, little kitty faces just beaming at the thought of bagging their intended prey!

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  6. Murphy and his feline brother used to tag team spiders. They would bat it around back and forth until Murphy got bored and just ate it. Gross but I can't really complain about them killing annoying bugs!

    Kira

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  7. All we can say is that fly catching is clearly a sport for dogs that don't have fringes that cover their eyes.

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  8. I don't go after flies, but I do enjoy watching my feline sisters on the hunt.

    Your pal, Pip

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  9. Oh yes dat is a fuuuuuun sport. My method is just like Morgan's. Catch, release, catch, release, then catch again.
    Buuuuut, da best part is hearing it crunch.

    Puddles

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  10. We don't go after the flies, we leave that up to our kitty brothers and sister.

    Pugs & Kisses,

    Yoda & Brutus

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  11. I only wish I had a gross habit!! hahahah...Would rolling on a dead seal carcass be considered disgusting and revolting...I don't know!? Anyway,just give me another chance...last night was a perfect roll....so I guess the aloe/vanilla shampoo bath was warranted..!

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  12. Are you sure the new sport isn't Friendliest Catch? ;-)

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  13. This might sound gross--but when I have a fly I need to get rid of I let the cat try and get it, but if it goes too high I just catch and feed to her. She LOVES buzzing flies, they taste the best. Who wants to eat dead insects when you can swallow them alive and kicking? ;)

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  14. I pritty much leaves the bugs alone unless they buzz my head then I has to put the bitey on them and nom them. Yum.

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  15. No, my Minnie is a fly catcher too. It grosses me out, but what can you do? It must be fun! :)

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  16. Macy is our fly catcher! She takes more of Morgan's approach though and likes to pounce on them or jump up in the air to get them. Puddin and Buford have no interest though. Macy goes after any type of insect actually - she likes to chase bees too, I just hope she never catches one of them!

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  17. Oh, I likes to chase flies, too. But Brudder Ranger just HATES 'em! It's his own personal goal to rids the world of flies. Between you and me, I think he's kinda skeered of 'em. One got in his crate the other day, and he tucked his tail and wouldn't go in there for anything. Oh, um, but pleeeeze don't tell him I told you, okay?

    Wiggles & Wags,
    Mayzie

    PeeS. I'm pretty sure my mom isn't grossed out by anything we do. No. She hasn't actually said that but I can't think of anything we would do that would gross her out. Sorry. Gotta go lick my butt now.

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  18. Ciara is the bug catcher here. The other night, she snapped a cicada midair and then was so grossed out by it that she dropped it and did a little hop - wished it had been caught on video.

    They do keep us entertained.

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  19. I thought fly catching was only for insane cracker terrier dogs. Guess I was wrong. Momma says I don't need to do anything special because my slobbers are totally the grossest thing ever. Hehehe.

    Slobbers,
    Mango

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  20. Haha, funny that you posted this now - I discovered just last night that Argos chases flies! I already knew that he'd snap at bees. No other odious habits, though the cats completely gross me out by tormenting and then finally killing stink bugs.

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  21. hee hees!! oh 'dats funny stuffs!! My sister Izzy does stuffs likes 'dat ALL 'da times!! She eats ladybugs..only Mommy says they are 'dose fake ladybugs.
    Izzy will sit 'dere and have ones hanging out her mouts and Mommy will hear 'dere shells crunch's...
    gross!!
    'da shells hangs outs her mouts..
    Mommy keeps telling Izzy 'dat if she keeps doing 'dat.. she will get spots!! hee hee...

    wells.. Izzy has turned into a LadybugPug several times!!
    SNORTS!!

    Hugs!!
    Josie..who else

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  22. I'm raising my hand to that question! And you'll have your answer Monday morning. ;)

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  23. Oh, I lost a big long comment. It's out n cyberspace somewhere, I guess. What I was going to say is that before my time, the family had a string of 3 fly catching dogs that spanned about 20 years, the first one teaching the next and the next one teaching the last. This was during the years when there were always kids in and out letting the AC out and the flies in all summer, so it wasn't a bad deal, they say. I don't catch flies myself and I don't think Franklin is going to either, but apparently the flies they ingested didn't seem to hurt the dogs and the house remained a no-fly zone so it's not such a bad thing.

    lotsa licks, Lola

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  24. Catching flies is a good sport!
    But... I am not very good at it! I try.. and try... and try... but... so far no luck!
    Sure is interesting to know your techniques!
    Kisses and hugs
    Lorenza

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  25. Yep we have lots of bug catchers in our house. Texas HATES bugs all I have to do is get out the fly swatter and he goes nUTS!

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  26. Just be careful and don't swat flies at the windows...

    The only thing that grossed us (mainly me) out with Sophie was her ability to drag in half-eaten rabbits and/or squirrels..."Look! I have dinner for us tonight!"

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  27. I do it too. But it doesn't hold my interest as long as it does for Morgan. I chase and move on. The fly in the mouth sounds fascinating :)

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  28. oh yeah! me and asa both love catchin' and eatin' flies!! asa also likes to hunt bumble bees outside...she's not even scared of their stingers one bit!
    *woof*
    the booker man

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  29. Of course we have dogs with habits that gross us out? We have dogs, don't we? LOL!

    Sid's favourite is a double whammy. He'll settle down to sleep on the floor as near to my head as he can get, but with his tail towards me (I fondly imagine this is a 'must protect Beloved Alphabitch' kind of look-out position) and then he'll produce a cloud of the most obnoxious gas and look at his bottom and then at me, accusingly. THEN he proceeds to lick his bits in the noisiest way possible, with the gloopiest sounds I've ever heard coming from a dog. He does it with relish and obvious enjoyment, and even my ear plugs don't block it out. LOL!

    By the way, he does exactly the same 'look at the problem and then at me' thing with flies too, should they dare to land on his beautiful golden hide.

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