Fw: Howling, sniffing body bags

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" Merritt Clifton " <anmlpepl

" Merritt Clifton " <anmlpepl

Sunday, January 23, 2005 6:08 AM

Howling, sniffing body bags

 

 

One unconfirmed report is that in some areas, dogs run from the flattened

villages to a stopped vehicle and cry and howl, we assume for food.

 

 

Heads up. I'm hearing lots of reports like this from various parts

of the tsunami zone, and also reports of dogs sniffing at body bags and

howling at night, that people are grossly misinterpreting.

 

 

The dogs may be hungry, and I'd be surprised if they are not, but

this is not what hungry dogs do. This is what dogs do when they are

desperately looking for lost pack members, including their humans.

 

 

A dog who was pushed out of a car and abandoned, or last saw

his/her people rush off in a car, not knowing that they had a fatal

accident and won't return, will rush up to cars for weeks or months, sniff

eagerly, and then howl with grief. In some cases this behavior can

continue for years--the remainder of the dog's life.

 

 

Dogs who sniff at body bags are not scavenging; they are trying to

identify remains. Dogs who are scavenging will tear open a bag in a split

second and greedily devour whatever is inside. Dogs who sniff are doing

something else entirely. After we bury deceased dogs and cats in our

garden, our dogs will sniff the graves for more than a year, as if

visiting the deceased.

 

 

Studies have now established that some dogs are able to distinguish

the remains of one kind of animal from another, even buried six feet

underground, for several months, and I would not be surprised if they can

distinguish specific individuals for as long as any trace of an individual

odor detectable by dogs persists.

 

 

Howl is absolutely NOT a food-seeking behavior. This vestigial wild

canine behavior. When coyotes, jackals, or wolves first emerge from their

dens in the evening, they will howl briefly to let each other know where

they are before they hunt. If they hunt successful and have prey to share,

they will howl again to invite the others to the feast. They will also howl

to attract mates. But they don't howl to say, " I'm hungry. "

 

 

Canines have three basic howls: " I'm here, " " I have food to

share, " and " Eligible bachelor wants girl. "

 

 

When the dogs of the tsunami zone howl at night, they are chiefly

trying to relocate the missing. This is nothing for anyone to be afraid of.

 

 

 

 

 

 

--

Merritt Clifton

Editor, ANIMAL PEOPLE

P.O. Box 960

Clinton, WA 98236

 

Telephone: 360-579-2505

Fax: 360-579-2575

E-mail: anmlpepl

Web: www.animalpeoplenews.org

 

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