My German Shepherd, Shota, loses his stuffy toys with some regularity—a fat turkey, a floppy bat, a hot dog in a bun, a duck. He loves them, mind you, but he gets distracted by one thing or another on our walks along the dirt track by the bear gardens. His favorite seems to be dropping them in our wetlands, now frozen over.
He is pretty good at retrieving them over the months, with great delight and recognition. However, quite a few have been missing now for quite some time. We attributed this loss to being buried in the snow maybe? But Tayler, one of our animal care team, went on her regular rounds down into the wildlife corridor to retrieve the cards from our trail cams and found… Shota’s favorite toy. Shota is not allowed down in the corridor. It was not Shota who brought it there.
A mystery.
We have a suspicion though. We are often visited by wild foxes, their jaunty pawprints all along the track Shota and I walk. Foxes are known for stealing, yes, but the thought entered my mind… do wild animals like stuffy toys too? Beloved Loki the fox and others have loved their stuffies, cuddling with them into an ultimate state of bedragglement.
How many are down there?
Are we unwittingly a supply store for the wild ones in the corridor?
We all do need our comfort…