Animal Tails

To build a little more on my Falling, Falling, Falling Fall post of yesterday, here is a collage of the Great Blue Heron right outside my window that I was photographing. He/she hunts/fishes at the pond here almost daily yet is always a thrill to spy. He/she landed in my camper front yard for this series and sauntered down the bank, pretty as a picture. So this put me into a good position to capture the falling leaves, and one other special thing.

You see, this tiny clip of Dakota as she greets me and then sashays away, tail waving, may be the last time I see her tail looking this good. The next time I spotted her, perhaps 30 minutes later, she had had a major MAJOR encounter with a big ripe burdock (cockleburr) bush....what a disaster.

I spent a couple of hours picking out burrs that I could get free from her long, double coat. I was able to remove several hands full, but her tail will just have to be shaved. Initially, the burrs served as a sort of velcro, holding the curve of her tail firmly to her back so she couldn't even wag it until I freed that up. But there is simply no way we will ever get the mass of burrs firmly embedded in all her tail fur free.

Problem is, not sure if this is a job for the vet or for the groomer? She was a fairly good sport, intermittently, as I teased burrs free from her fur...then began to growl and to snap an me....not a good thing. I'm wondering if she'll need to be put under a general anesthesia to be cleaned up? All the fur on her rear end is also firmly tangled with burrs...where in the heck did she go and find all of these?? I haven't figured it out yet, but it's truly a huge mess and next week, I will have to find someone who can help us. So, enjoy her sweet swingy tail here because it's history for now! Poor old girl....