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Taking a walk with rain and dogs
Apr. 30th, 2021 08:38 pmI try to take a walk in the early evening, getting me out of the house and gradually increasing my familiarity with the neighborhood. For yesterday's the weather was warm but there were gray, sprinkly clouds so I wore my wool coat and hat. On later reflection, I figured that it would be better not to: I felt rather warm and, without them, sure, I could become very wet but I would be going back home and could just undress and throw my clothes into the dryer. It felt implausible that any waterproof fabric wouldn't be far too warm for me once summer hits.
Once back near my house, I saw a lady walking a dog. She had an umbrella. Doh, I should have thought of that! Again, I am served well by the detailed inventory that I made before relocating: my compact umbrella is in box twenty-five.
I also wondered more about dogs. There are large ones that bark at me from just behind a fence. There are smaller, friendlier ones I come across that are just wandering the street. Those latter, I wonder if I should learn to let them have me discover the telephone number on their collar but I don't know dogs in general, let alone these particular ones. It feels plausible that someday I shall meet a large, loud dog that runs at me from not behind a fence. After all, only recently, not far from here, two feral dogs killed a cat, though local cats typically have more to fear from the coyotes. I thus wondered if my walks should include some self-defense option.
Some searching online recommends a baseball bat as dog defense. I can't say that the idea appeals to me, of carrying it let alone bashing some animal with it. Some national parks sell special pepper spray to repel bears, observing that, if a bear approaches you, and you shoot it, maybe now you get to meet an angry, wounded bear, and those are even less fun for everybody. They also mention that they may decide not to prosecute you if you throw a stick at an aggressive mountain lion and it hits. Bears are confusing anyhow: there seem to be black bears, plenty here, and grizzly bears, and the advice for each is opposite, so perhaps I should try to look out for if they grizzle.
Regardless of the bears and the lions, which are unlikely risks for my neighborhood walks, I wonder if there is dog pepper spray or what else I ought to consider, if anything.
Once back near my house, I saw a lady walking a dog. She had an umbrella. Doh, I should have thought of that! Again, I am served well by the detailed inventory that I made before relocating: my compact umbrella is in box twenty-five.
I also wondered more about dogs. There are large ones that bark at me from just behind a fence. There are smaller, friendlier ones I come across that are just wandering the street. Those latter, I wonder if I should learn to let them have me discover the telephone number on their collar but I don't know dogs in general, let alone these particular ones. It feels plausible that someday I shall meet a large, loud dog that runs at me from not behind a fence. After all, only recently, not far from here, two feral dogs killed a cat, though local cats typically have more to fear from the coyotes. I thus wondered if my walks should include some self-defense option.
Some searching online recommends a baseball bat as dog defense. I can't say that the idea appeals to me, of carrying it let alone bashing some animal with it. Some national parks sell special pepper spray to repel bears, observing that, if a bear approaches you, and you shoot it, maybe now you get to meet an angry, wounded bear, and those are even less fun for everybody. They also mention that they may decide not to prosecute you if you throw a stick at an aggressive mountain lion and it hits. Bears are confusing anyhow: there seem to be black bears, plenty here, and grizzly bears, and the advice for each is opposite, so perhaps I should try to look out for if they grizzle.
Regardless of the bears and the lions, which are unlikely risks for my neighborhood walks, I wonder if there is dog pepper spray or what else I ought to consider, if anything.
