Why did someone throw a cooked chicken, and potatoes, into the woods behind our building where we walk the dogs?
So, one day, we were walking in the backyard of our co-op building, a nice big yard with a hill up into the woods, and Cricket spotted a squirrel, and Butterfly spotted her sister hopping like a bunny rabbit to catch the squirrel, and I let go of Butterfly’s leash (not Cricket’s, because I am not crazy), and Butterfly ran towards the squirrel, and then took a swift left turn towards a section of ivy we usually do not bother to explore. Cricket pulled me up the hill and over to the spot and I saw what I thought was an enormous, pale grey mushroom. I stepped on Butterfly’s leash and held both girls back from the strange thing until Grandma, our nature guide, could take a closer look. She looked at it, touched it with the toe of her shoe, and said, “I think it’s a chicken.”
“Of course you can trust me off leash, Mommy.”
I did not believe her. Really, I thought, Mom has not had enough rest lately. What would a chicken be doing in our backyard? On the next walk, I was careful to keep hold of the leashes, and promptly forgot about the strange mushroom in the ivy. But later in the afternoon. After a long nap, I convinced Mom to hold Butterfly’s leash for me, while Cricket tried to drag me to the street to visit the cars up close, and when Butterfly pulled on her leash, Mom let her run free. Instead of running ten feet and finding the perfect pooping spot, as usual, Butterfly galloped the length of the yard, up the hill, around the corner, and into the ivy. By the time Mom caught up to her, Butterfly had her face down in the greenery. Mom pulled the leash and managed to get Butterfly a foot away from the area, and saw that she was eating something. It looked like a potato.
The ivy patch, or potato patch.
“A potato?” (This was me, when Mom and Butterfly met me and Cricket half way across the yard, Butterfly looking back at her ivy patch with longing.)
“A potato. And it was definitely a chicken, not a mushroom, probably split down the middle and flattened with a brick.”
“A cooked chicken?”
“And potatoes.”
“Why did someone throw a cooked chicken and potatoes into the woods?”
Mom could not answer this for me, though she had a suspicion that it was the same woman who throws huge chunks of French bread on the lawn to choke the birds.
“But Mommy, I want the bread!”
I held both leashes while Mom took an extra bag from her pocket and used it as a protective glove with which to remove the chicken and potatoes from the woods, so that the girls would no longer be drawn to it as if it were, well, chicken.
Unfortunately, Butterfly was able to find a potato hiding under the ivy the next morning, and stood around chewing it ostentatiously in front of me at seven o’clock in the morning when I didn’t have the energy to fight with her. And Cricket found another potato that afternoon, which inspired her grandma to search through the ivy more carefully for any other leftovers.
We seem to be safe now. And I say it that way because, almost immediately, when I was told it was a chicken and not a magically appearing mushroom of unusual size, I started to think that someone was trying to poison my dogs. We’re the only ones who seem to go up there – because that’s where the managers told us to go since we insist on not walking the dogs in the street four times a day. And Cricket is kind of annoying, and some of the grass in front of our building has clearly been peed on, so maybe someone has a grudge against my dogs and wanted to hurt them and what better way than to cook up an entire chicken, and potatoes, and inject them with poison, and throw them in the path of my babies.
“I am not annoying.”
My paranoia started to wear off after a few days, when it was clear that my dogs were not dying. I had to remind myself that some people are just weird. Some people throw their dinner into the woods, for the magical fairies (aka raccoons) to enjoy, instead of into the garbage cans in the basement in well tied black garbage bags.
Both dogs still rush over to that spot in the ivy to check if any new snacks have arrived, and Cricket has decided that there may also be snacks hidden in the adjacent leaf pile, and insists on shoving her nose in as deep as possible, and burrowing, every time she has a chance.
Cricket’s leaf pile (there are no potatoes in there, that I know of).
It makes me wonder if I’ve been failing as a dog Mommy all of these years, by NOT burying treats in the yard for them to find on their walks.
“Chicken!”
rachelmankowitz 
Your dogs are adorable, what kind are they? I don’t see how they could ever be annoying. My first thought was poison too — people have done worse to dogs, sadly. i’m glad they’re ok.
Cricket is a Cockapoo and Butterfly is a Lhasa Apso. Cricket, unfortunately, can be very annoying. She prides herself on it.
Awww anything crossed with a poodle can’t be but so annoying;) Lhasa Apso’s are too cute for words!
Better safe than sorry. That is so odd…and chicken bones are so dangerous for dogs. Someone was either thoughtless or really careless. Why not just toss the food in the litter bin? But if you have raccoons, perhaps they are the culprits..someone did throw the food away, and the raccoons got in the garbage and carried it off for future consumption? I don’t know. But I’d keep a careful eye out for future encounters of the edible/non-edible kind…if some woman is trying to kill birds by choking them to death (huh?) there could be some unpleasant sort who doesn’t like dogs. Even the cutest, on-leash and well behaved babies like yours!
Here’s hoping my neighbor is just a little weird, and not mean spirited.
I will never complain about my neighbors again.
Ha!
What kind of a mother are you, Rachel, to not throw your dinner outside for dogs to enjoy?! 😀
That last picture of Butterfly is absolutely adorable. Cricket, bless your little heart, you are not annoying. You are one of the cutest dogs ever!
Cricket agrees with you entirely!
Your dogs are sooo cute!
Be careful..especially of your neighbor..
Chicken bones can splinter, and potatoes, the skin is toxic to a lot of dogs. If it is peeled, it is ok.
I knew a person when I was young that poisoned a dog and a cat just because they didn’t like them and they got into her yard…
Some people are so mean and ugly.
Someone may be trying to bait them. You never know…
Thank God the girls don’t go anywhere alone. But they are faster than me, when chicken is involved. I’ll have to sharpen my reflexes.
I agree. Very weird. Maybe they as you aptly said now want to choke the raccoons, opossums and who knows what else.
Interestingly, I have not heard any fancy racoon screechings lately. Hmm.
Yes, what’s up with the lack of scavenger hunts for the doggies???? (I think they might just be okay, anyway…)
The lady who throws the big crusts to choke the birds sounds like a scary person…
It’s hard to fathom anyone wanting to hurt beautiful pups like yours. Even if they’re just thoughtless–or even trying to leave treats, it’s frightening. Our little dog got a bone stuck in her innards this winter and was seriously ill and hospitalized. Completely recovered, thank goodness, but we are VERY careful of what she picks up on her walks now…
Cricket found chicken bones out on a walk once – someone’s garbage had overflowed – and the look she gave me when I yanked her away from her treasure was murderous!
We must seem mean and random to those little friends sometimes…
Someone shot my Rottie with a bb gun while he was minding his own business in our backyard. He was AKC registered HOWEVER I did rescue him from my sister as she was neglecting him. I had a cop offer me serious money for him because I would throw a stick into a huge pile of branches and he would bring the same one back every single time. He would have been a great drug dog but I couldn’t part with him. Why would someone shoot a dog who was in his own yard. I know most of that had nothing to do with the topic being discussed. Being disabled, I spend most of my time speaking to my boring white walls. I get overly excited when I connect with humans!
Thank you for tolerating me.
I am overjoyed the babies are okay.
Hugs,
Leah
I can’t fathom how people can be so cruel to beautiful creatures!
I just don’t understand
Did the bb do real damage to the dog? That’s awful!
He had to have surgery and a drain in for 10 days. Cost a pretty penny but you just can’t put a price on them!
Oh lord. That poor baby.
It was heartbreaking but i just loved him back to health. I cried for months when I had to give him away. Will explain that shortly. It was because of a very evil man
How dreadful for you. Did you ever find out who did it? Hanging is too good for them. I get really mad when people mistreat animals, especially dogs as I am a doggie person through and through. Maggie is ruined, and it’s all my fault, but her love and loyalty counts for far more than some of the peope I know.
Barney, her predecessor, would also bring back the exact stick thrown from a pile.
Maggie will fetch one, but not give it back, just in case we ‘lose it’ again.
I knew it was the next door neighbor because he wad always telling me how dangerous he was and i needed to get rid of him. Hah! The only danger was you getting licked to death. One more danger. My bad. If something scared him, he would literally jump over the back of the couch and into your lap and give you this look as if to say, “mommy, save me!). It was historical. We had hardwood floors and one time the ironing board fell over and you have never seen a dog move so fast. He flew over top of my couch and into my lap. I almost wet myself.
I trained him very early on to be extremely gentle with children. I made him lay down and not move until i gave the command allowing him up. Now, mind you, i never allowed tail pulling ,eye poking or any other form of abuse. He used to play fetch at the baseball field with kids ranging from 6-12. He would fetch for hours. He just refused to drop it when he came back. Those kids had to retrieve it from his moth every time. As soon as they put their hand in his mouth, he would release the ball. Never clamped down or bit anyone.
Tragically, I had to give him let him go live on a farm up north when he was about two and a half. Let me get another cup of coffee and i will explain the painful situation – if you guys are not tired of me running my mouth yet!
Please do. I love to hear about people and their dogs.
I would have worried that someone was trying to poison the dogs too! Glad all is well.
The girls are pissed at me for not letting them have the chicken. Mommy is so mean!
Ha! They can sure have a one tract mind can’t they?
That was a scary story! I am glad the pups are safe. Do you have coyotes in the area? A chicken might draw them to your yard.
No coyotes that I know of. Just really hungry puppy dogs.
I can understand your concern about poison, so glad they are okay. Sounds like the person may just want to feed the wildlife with her leftovers rather than them end up in the garbage heap. Living on a farm, I used to throw all of my old food out rather than have it stink up my garbage. Since I’ve had Tippy, I put it in the freezer until time to take the garbage off. I like to think most people are good hearted, but can be misguided.
I like that way of seeing things. Thank you!
yes what a brilliant idea
Glad the boys are okay, but like others say, I would definitely be ‘watchful’ of the food left out. Especially if you do have those ‘weird’ neighbors that like to choke the birds…
What a bad lady, wanting to choke birds. We’ll wait until she has her hair done and we birds will do a dive bombing run.
Ha!
I have to watch Benji or should I say the ground, when walking in town, near the take away shops. People love to discard their food and Benji will pick it up. Yesterday a rib bone but when she dropped it to get a firmer grip I pulled him away. What is the matter with people today????????
If I tried to grab a rib away from Cricket, I’d lose my hand, and probably half the arm as well.
How odd…. and worrying, but I’m glad they’re OK.
A neighbour three houses ago used to put cheese out for the foxes. Barney was very partial to cheese, and cleared a six foot fence from a sitting position!
Yep, that sounds like something Cricket would do.
First we digs the spuds, then we finds the truffles!
Butterfly is so ready to be a truffle dog!
You are very lucky. I had two dogs and a horse poisoned before I found out just how crazy a neighbor we had was. The first little dog was old and I did not suspect poisoning, but then the other dog got suddenly ill and died on the way to the vet. We thought age and a seizure. But when the horse went down and the vet came, he declared poisoning. The woman behind us had threatened me because she didn’t like that I turned some people in for abusing a little donkey. I had no idea she would go that far. I couldn’t prove that she did it so she got away with it. And yes, we moved. You are probably safe, and you appear to be careful about your babies. I’m glad they are ok. but please don’t let them ever eat anything off the ground, ever.
Wow, just wow.
Oh good both of them are OK 🙂
That is so odd-I wonder what the story behind it is..glad your babies are ok!
It’s a mystery!
In our local parks, someone has been leaving chicken with what seems to be rat poisin in it. One dog ill as a result. Other “leavings” were spotted before dogs could eat them. There are some sick people out there 😦
People really are doing this?!!!!! But why?
I love your insight about burying treats–I never thought of doing it, but it would make my dog so happy. She loves to paw through grass and leaves looking for something to eat and is so proud when she finds something. Great idea.
Cricket is reading over my shoulder. Expectations have gone up very high now.
Rachel, I love reading your posts with such beautiful pictures of your dogs. I originally thought you meant a live chicken, but how strange it is to find a whole meal dumped out there. Makes me wonder if some wife cooked a meal for her husband who didn’t come home when expected, and she angrily threw out the meal. This would make a good writing assignment! 🙂
Now I’m seeing a man digging int he ivy, looking for his dinner! Thank you for that!
I LOVE the “chicken!” photo. Another great post!
Thank you!
All I can think of is that someone in your neighborhood is really a bad cook, and their family had finally had enough.
Yes! I love that!
just as well, your posts radiate warmth thank you for share your posts with us! With lve maxima
I too am glad the dogs are alright. I enjoyed the way you told the story.
Thank you!
That is certainly bizarre! I’d be concerned about poison too. When I was younger my cat was poisoned, and so was my neighbor’s dog (the sicko actually put poisoned meat in the dog’s bowl when the owner wasn’t home!). There are some weird people out there, that’s for sure!
Freaky!
Nothing would surprise me – we often find strange things in our yard that is thrown in, so are careful with our dogs. We have a fenced in yard and let them run but peek outside first. We have neighbors who blame our dogs for everything – but have 7 other dogs in the neighborhood. The one time he called over to get the dogs in because they were out all night barking – the neighbor should check to see if our cars are in driveway because we were gone all night and just got home – we never leave dogs out when we are not home – and he should have checked to even see if they were out dogs…nope they were the neighbors. I much prefer my doggie neighbors to the grouch across the way. Glad your precious fur babies are ok.
Dogs are so much more understanding than people.
Fabulous photos of your dogs, especially that last action shot.
Thank you!
It seems like a really weird answer to the “why-did-the-chicken-cross-the-road”-question.
Ha!
This is fascinating. You do have to be very careful as there are places in the country where some weirdos really are trying to poison pets. Kemo Sabe always becomes agitated when we find anything ‘interesting’ to eat when we’re out! Pip
Cricket would like it if she could sort through every garbage can we pass. She doesn’t understand why this is not allowed.
Glad to hear it wasn’t poisoned. You can never be too careful these days.
It was an incredible relief.
Wow…well, maybe it was some good-intentioned person looking to feed local wildlife or stray cats!
We do have some feral cats on the property who like chicken.
Glad it turned out well! I was worried about the girls getting a cooked chicken bone…
If they could have reached the chicken without interference, we would have been on our way to the vet right away, if only to get some anti-anxiety meds, for me.
ok, i confess…i have thrown chicken, and potatoes, and fruit cocktail out in the back yard- because i left it all on the counter for a day and a half, and felt SO BAD for the starving mommie raccoon who came around at times to eat the cat food. but wait…it gets worse! I am so ashamed… She brought her little babies to see me(sure), so I made it a routing to set out leftovers… until, that is, when I went outside one night to throw out the trash and was swarmed by SEVEN raccoons!!! They were putting their feet on my legs and begging like dogs, and they could have eaten my babies, they were THAT big!!! Oh , NO, I do not feed any wild animals anymore. I saw a possum out there( before I quit) who probably was the size of a VW.
In my (feeble) defense, we live where there are woods all the way to the St. Lucie River behind the house, and we have seen bobcat, foxes, hawks, eagles, wild boars and even a small alligator, so I think of the area as rural. Like I said, the excuse is feeble.
How small is a small alligator? And how did it get along with the huge raccoons? I understand the impulse to feed the hungry babies, you are duly forgiven.
The little alligator was about 3 feet long according to my Pop, who also said he saw bears walking down the street when we lived in Pittsburgh Pa,,, He had Dementia, we later discovered, so we always doubted the wild animal sightings! But I was walking tiny puppy Kiko in the backyard in 2005 when a bobcat, about the size of Cricket, took about a six foot leap and swiped a squirrel out of the feeder. Kiko and I hurried inside. Puppy Kiko was oblivious to the near “death by big cat” experience.
Eek!
You have perhaps missed one possibility, I once saw my cat dragging a whole frozen chicken across our yard. I suspect this was a cat that had managed to steal an entire meal while the family wasn’t looking.
I never thought of that!
It sounds as if your neighborhood is just like mine. My pups are always finding discarded meals while we are out walking. For a while I thought people were just too lazy to put the stuff into the dumpsters, but now I’ve seen stray cats jumping in there and pulling the stuff back out. I’d say the cats probably are responsible for about 60% of the leftover food we find. The rest, I think, is just lazy people. I also thought of poisoning as a possibility at first. Mickey got terrible diarrhea after I let him chew on an old T-bone steak bone that he found. The vet assured me that poisoning would have had a much different effect and gave him an antibiotic. Now I am much more careful though. We also have a woman (or a man?) that throws whole slices of bread out for the birds to choke on. My dogs think they are on a scavenger hunt every time we go outside! Lol.
I’m gonna have to keep a closer eye on the feral cats in the neighborhood, they’re starting to sound like secret superheros. Maybe that’s why Cricket is always so eager to hang out with them!
When we lived in the city, we had a neighbor who’d throw moldy bread and cheese popcorn out in her yard, closer to our yard actually. She said it was for the birds. Gross green popcorn and bread with fuzzy blue stuff. Our little cocker spaniel would nab some and throw up about a half hour later. I was always worried that one day it would make her really, really sick. It never happened but still… I understand your worry. So glad the girls are ok thanks to your and Grandma’s excellent care:) Love the photos!
Moldy bread?! Butterfly would love it!
LOL, yes she would and she would smile after she ate it. I love how dogs find joy in the grossest things.
You start to get an understanding of what someone was thinking when they said, “the more people I meet, the more I like my dog.”
People are strange.
Yep.
I love than last photo and the caption. You got the ears just right. I can imagine what Johnny would do if he spotted such a delicacy. Clare has more sense.
Seems like someone in your neighborhood dislikes someone’s cooking. Hmmmmm!
Ha! I never thought of that! So it wasn’t the cook who threw it away, it was the potential eater, and that’s why it had to be hidden away in the woods!
We pet parents have to be soooo careful! You just never know what people are up to “out there.” But your vigilance is obvious in this story. Go Cricket and Butterfly!
I have read that cooked chicken bones are not digestible in dogs stomachs and potatoes are bad for them too. Although, our dog raided our bin once without us knowing until it was too late, and ate quite a few cooked chicken bones. We kept on eye on him for a while and he seemed to be ok. I hate it when people litter, especially with food, it’s bad for the animals.
Bad lady giving the birds big bread to choke them. I loved your story but most important your babies are ok and there was no poison. Your little dogs are SO cute.
Thank you so much!
Thank you so much for liking my story about Micah. I’m new at this blogging business so I appreciate it very much. I have a 14 pound Cockapoo too. Her name is Rosie and she also likes chicken. And potatoes. And ice cream. And
cucumbers…..but you get the picture. 🙂
Cricket is a big fan of red bell peppers and Parmesan cheese and grapefruit, and….yeah, I totally get it.
Cricket and Butterfly running back to the same spot even after it was cleaned up reminds me of an article Dave Barry wrote about his “primary dog,” and “emergency back-up dog” occasionally licking the spot on his kitchen floor where a pork chop had fallen years previously. And the post as a whole reminded me of the nasty things my Hershey dog has found and downed over the years (shudder).
These dogs have long memories.
Do they ever get any supplementary human food?
The puppies? Of course. They share whatever their grandma is eating fro dinner.
When I read this my first thought was that someone (your oddball neighbor?) is trying to poison birds and dogs. I had a neighbor who did something similar when I was a child.
I hope all the little pups are fine and happy.
BTW… another well written piece. Thank You.
John (Down the Hall…)
Thank you!
Perhaps Cricket is looking for the peas and carrots?
She loves carrots!
Nice little piece! And I always love the photos of Butterfly, well, FLYING!! No other way to describe it!
Thank you!
Read this this morning while sipping my morning coffee and had a good laugh. I have a Beagle/JR mix so I know all about “Nose shenanigans” while walking. Why someone would throw a perfectly good chicken and potatoes in the woods though is really beyond me!!
Miss Cricket thinks she has to sniff every blade of grass in the yard, every day, four times a day.
Great photos. Make me smile…
Thank you!