Prey Drive can be very sad - NOT

Mike describes perfectly:
>That's the way Jason caught grackles and a friend's dog caught a crow.
They lay with their heads down until the birds got used to them and flew
too close.

This is exactly the late, great Guerillera Alexandria's infallible hunting method, only she was VERY good at it. She would simple turn herself invisible. Her prey would wander about all relaxed and oblivious to the lethal huntress lying in wait, until suddenly 60-some pounds of fur and teeth would rematerialize RIGHT THERE in their midst and it was goodnight, Irene. She was pulling down 30-lb possums and huge, nasty grackles up til her death in August, 2007.

Allie was my first Mal, and a revelation. I've always been a complete wuss and gone into hysterics when a cat would barf up cricket parts or present me with a mouse. I could never watch a nature program on TV. When Allie first started hauling home the prey - and I have no idea where she found all the wildlife in our essentially urban backyard - and leaving corpses exactly where I would be sure to step on them, I had the requisite hissy, and the first time she killed a cat, I seriously freaked out and called Lynn at Texas Alaskan Malamute Rescue, sobbing and asking what sort of monster I'd adopted. But when Lynn offered the option to return Allie, of course my answer was no. I read up some more about Mallies and learned to respect the predator. I can now watch a lion pride hunt and admire their technique, and their role in thinning the herd. I took Sascha (Rhodie x) lure coursing and enjoyed the overt hunting patterns of the runs.

I will never be happy about the death of a cat, and still despise human hunts (unless mano a mano, fair is fair), but I see nothing whatever sad about the prey drive of our great, great-hearted, fantastic creatures who helped the first Americans cross over Beringia and the Mahlemuts survive in the hostile Arctic. Dammit, without a very lively prey drive, our superb companions would never have survived these thousands of years, and would not be who they are. The miracle is the patient breeding of the cuddly, human-friendly temperament into the mighty hunt(ress). If breeders try to get rid of the prey drive, shame on them!

I have learned to treasure, honor and respect nature red in tooth and claw -- it's not a Disney movie, predators play an essential role, and in many ecosystems, we have seen the havoc that ensues when the big predators are wiped out. We are privileged to share our homes and hearts with these special creatures, not stuffed animals or frou-frou dogs. I treasure that.

Missing Allie every day

MALAMUTE-L post