Nature is a Bitch

Being a dog walker requires being out in nature. It's dangerous.

It's baby bird season and one of my clients had a crow's nest in their front yard. Over the weekend, two of the babies left the nest and instead of soaring, they took a nose dive into the driveway. One died on the spot and one was rushed to the animal hospital and is recovering nicely. Unfortunately, papa crow blames the dog and any humans attached to the dog. That's me.

Every time I pick the dog up, I have papa crow swooping at my head. He hasn't made contact yet, but he gets close enough to have my bangs sway in the wind of his wings. Plus he's tracking me, and that freaks me out. I park in a lot across the street from the house and he greets me from the branch above my van. One big squack when I get out, then continuous yelling as he hops from tree to tree all the way across the parking lot, across the street, and into the front yard. When the dog comes out, he starts swooping back and forth, all the way back across the street, across the parking lot, and back above my van.

It's not that I think he could kill me or anything, but I've seen what those birds pick at in the middle of the street and I don't want a new wound opened by one of those nasty claws. Roadkill residue festering in my scratch. That's a guaranteed infection.

Dog walking is dangerous, don't do it.