I was working in my workshop this afternoon when I popped outside to empty a bag of wood shavings onto the waste heap. I noticed what appeared to be my black Labrador Hector with another larger dog at the bottom of our field.
I whistled to attract attention and then realised that, firstly, I had not heard the front door or anyone let Hector out and secondly that Cookie, our small Collie cross was not nearby - she and Hector are usually inseparable.
The dogs were close. In fact that they were so close, yet facing in opposite directions that I soon realised that they were engaged in mating and locked together.
I remember watching a documentary with David (bloody) Attenborough many years back when he filmed foxes and explained that a vixen would often contract during mateship and trap the male while he his swollen penis was still inside her vagina.
Have a look at Birds and Nature for a picture of two foxes 'tied-in' during mating.
Initially I was concerned for both dogs because I remember from the documentary that there is a chance that both the bitch and the dog can be damaged. The male can be twisted and the bitch torn internally.
The dogs stayed interlocked for a further thirty plus minutes and I decided to go about my work as I realised that if there was problem I could not do anything. I might even get a bite if I tried to intervene in the (misplaced) thought I was doing some good.
My voyeurism turned even more surreal when, as I checked the dogs from a distance, a Hen Harrier passed through on a late afternoon hunting session.
Camera in hand, I started filming the Hen Harrier (although fairly distant) which in itself is not an every day occurrence and, while filming the bird I had the two dogs locked in combat in the foreground - again, not something you are likely to see every day.
(please excuse the video but I had reversed the colours and I didn't have time to reset and capture the moment).
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