Lickity Split Tonka

January 4, 2002 - March 30, 2008

Seems lately there is no end to the grief and heartache here at Rancho Fiasco. If you have a lot of terriers, you will suffer a lot of pain when they leave you. Our little Tonks was just a precious little guy. He was a soft and kind little soul that we loved very much. I came in from doing some tractor work today and he was gone. Died of a seizure or aneurysm. At any rate, he was taken much too early and he will be missed badly. This little terrier loved life. One of his favorite things to do was ride on the golf cart. If that thing started, he was on it and going for a ride. He loved to lay next to you and have you scratch his chest. If you stopped, he would paw at you until you started again. Everything was an adventure to Tonka. He loved life to the fullest. This little guy won more Working Terrier Championships than I can count over the past 6 years. Our home is filled with ribbons and Perpetual Trophys that he had won over the years. Words can not express the amount of pain we are feeling at his early passing.

For if the dog be well remembered, if sometimes he leaps through your dreams, actual as in

life, eyes kindling, laughing, begging, it matters not where that dog sleeps. On a hill where the

wind is unrebuked and the trees are roaring, or beside a stream he knew in puppyhood, or

somewhere in the flatness of a patureland where most exhilarating horses graze. It is one to a dog, and all one to you, and nothing is gained and nothing lost - if memory lives.

But there is one best place to bury a dog.

If you bury him in this spot, he will come to you when you call - come to you over the grim, dim frontiers of death, and down the well-remembered path and to your side again. And though you may call a dozen living dogs to heal, they shall not growl at him nor resent his coming, for he belongs there. People may scoff at you, who see no lightest blade of grass bent by his footfall, who hear no whimper, people who have never really had a dog. Smile at them for you shall know something that is hidden from them.

The one best place to bury a good dog is in the heart of his master...

Lickity Split Lotta Sass

Lickity Split Lotta Sass
July 29, 1991 – March 11, 2008

Come here Lads and
Come here Lass
Lets raise a toast
Lets lift a glass
To terriers present and terriers past
There are very few who were as fast
So come here Lads and come here Lass
Lets lift a glass to Lotta Sass
The best terrier there ever was

She is our best old girl and we miss her. We’ll see you again Lotta,

and we’ll run together in the green fields of Heaven

Preserving a Fox Sette

Had a skunk filled weekend here in Colorado. My neighbor called me to complain that some skunks had moved into a fox sette under her garage and wanted to know if I could trap them for her. Well she is a 70 YO widow and I wanted to help. Since the vixens are all most likely preggers by now I wanted to save this nice spot for them as they used it last year to whelp their kitts. Her garage was smelling very bad when I went over there. Set a large box trap the first night using some old meatballs for bait. Nothing the first night. Figured the skunk did not like Italian. Left the trap and the second night got one of them. Was not sure how to manage this black and white critter in a large coon sized box trap, so I called upon my excellent long range shooting skills with a .22 rifle at 50' and shot him in the head. He fell like a rock but not before he sprayed a good dose of green/yellow spray and made a big 6' spot in the snow. Skunk spray all over the damn place. I went home stinking to high heaven. A friend of mine that has done some trapping said to set a smaller box trap in a trash can and that way they won't see you walk up on them and you can put the lid on it and fill it with water. That way they won't spray. Well I went right ahead and set one of the double door Havahart traps in a trash can. The next morning I checked it and sure enough there was another skunk. Well I went to tip the trash can up and neglected to notice that the trap was about 3" longer than the trash can. The minute I tipped it upright the darn skunk sprayed. Could not get the lid on the can and things got real stinky right off. Stuck a hose in the can and when the water started to fill the panicked skunk sprayed again. Things were really smelling bad now. With this fine Havahart trap on end, I failed to notice that the bail that holds the door closed had lifted off the trap door and now the skunk was climbing out the now open door. I taped the door closed and back in the water it went. Not discouraged by my tap on the door, it made it's way back out again and this time I tapped it in the head with a piece of steel flat bar that was laying on the ground. It fell into the water and showed me that skunks can spray even under water. A big oil slick came to the surface and the minute it hit air, seemed to atomize and this is now the third time this critter sprayed me. Did I mention that the temps were at about 20 degrees F and the wind was blowing 35 to 40 mph Just to make my morning more pleasant? Am sure the last love tap dispatched the skunk. I put a log on top of the trap and left it to turn into a large ice cube. Will deal with it later today. My wife would not let me in the house. Had to shed the skunky clothes in the garage and run to the house and shower in this fine weather in my shorts.

An update as of 3/11/2008 Have set this trap 9 times and have caught 8 skunks. All but 1 are males, some of which have serious telltale signs of fighting for territories and females.