A few paragraphs from a story about Barney,
Barney got acquainted with the wildlife in many different ways. First was the doe antelope who obviously had a new fawn over in the brush next to the irrigation ditch at the ranch. I was leaning on my shovel at the headgate while Barney was taking his usual investigative swing out through the sagebrush when one of the resident does ran chasing him back towards me, through the fence, with sharp hooves flying. She stood several yards away and stomped and snorted - at me! Not at him - as if to tell me to keep my damn dog over there where he belonged! I wasn't sure I wouldn't have to use the shovel in self-defense.
There were skunks and porcupines with the usual results - baths in tomato juice and getting quills out of his nose and mouth with pliers. I felt terrible when I sent him out of the cabin one night to chase away some "small" creature that was scuffling around the door, and it was a porcupine. The funniest acquaintance came soon after we went to the mountains and he and I were taking a walk through the pines and aspens with a misty spring rain falling. He was out ahead of me when I heard a great crashing and thrashing in his direction. He came running toward me, and I burst out laughing because his eyes were as big as saucers. He had a split lip. I knew he was saying, "You never told me there were things like that out here". I'm sure he had come across a moose bedded down. And I'm grateful it went the other way instead of following Barney like the antelope doe had.
One by one he met each animal. He was kind and respectful and seldom chased wildlife. Except the squirrels. He and the squirrels continually vied for the leftover pancakes set out on the back porch every morning. Even though he didn't want them, he didn't want the squirrels to have them either. Squirrels were always fair game for chasing, but I never saw him catch one.
