The Neighborhood Bar

I was walking along, keeping my eye open for anything worth looking at, and noticed some paw prints in the snow. Nothing particularly unusual and not worth a second glance but, huh?, there’s a second set coming from another direction and both are headed the same way. As are several others. They meet at a tree, one specific tree, near the side of a house.

Have I discovered the neighborhood bar, the hangout for the local dogs? I know they like to mark their spots and what they leave behind gives all sorts of information to the other dogs. So is this the tree they have chosen for their local bulletin board, the table where they meet to exchange gossip, to check up on each other?

Apparently so. There weren’t a lot of prints, but they all headed this way and it’s how the critters keep in touch.

Another possibility is that they could have been squirrels who know which branches will take them where they want to go. This tree trunk will bring you up to branches that will connect with that roof, or to another tree that connects to a telephone wire which will bring you to another tree, etc. Why scamper through snow when the overhead will take you where you are going in relative comfort?

So, we have our two choices: The Doggie Bar and Grill, where you meet and greet your old friends, carry on good conversation, or The Squirrel Expressway to all points.