From the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife website
It’s important to note that not all wildlife create conflicts. Although it might not appear so at the time, the animals, which are often referred to as nuisance or problem animals, are innocent. When a conflict exists it is usually because the animal is only doing what it needs to do to survive. It is simply following its own instincts, and intends no harm or discomfort.
My humans and I have acquired a new property and it is lovely – and, all mine. There is a fence to delineate the territorial boundaries and I have been fairly good about adhering to them, with only occasional woofing at a neighbor as they move about in my line of sight on their side of the fence.
Yesterday, a deer came into my yard without so much as a by-your-leave and proceeded to nibble on plants in Mom’s garden. Well, clearly this violates all sorts of territorial treaties and had to be addressed and pronto. I did what any self-respecting hound dog would do…. I charged.
What an amazing chase took place. I must admit that the fellow was quite a good runner. We ran from the front yard to the back yard, through the woods and then, he jumped over the fence. Well, if he can do it then certainly I can and over I went with only minor scrapes and bruises.
The chase then took us through several yards (wish I’d had time to effectively sniff and explore) and into the bay and back again. Eventually, I lost him and returned to our yard (Dad had opened the gate at this point and was calling me – how embarrassing).
With our sovereignty intact, I decided I’d earned a bit of a nap.
