Dueling Banjos

It was one of those nights when everything was wonderfully weird.

Jade needed us to pick him up in the next county as he was dropping off his truck for some repairs. We did so, but decided to return on a back road we sometimes bird, as there was a messy tangle of construction out on the main highway.

We were tooling along, watching the fields in hopes of a return of last year's Cattle Egret, when we spotted a gigantic Rottweiler at the bottom of a big hill...right in the road.

The roadside was lined with tall trees and thick brush, and there was no sign of a civilized dwelling, although there was something of a shanty nearby, half hidden in the overgrowth. As we drove down the hill I heard evenly spaced eager, but soft, woofs from the woods beside the road...maybe one every fifty feet or so. How strange....

I figured somebody maybe had dogs tethered in there or something.

As we hit the bottom the giant Rottie lunged at the door of the car. Airborne! Leaping like a stag! I snatched my arm, which had been resting on the windowsill, back inside and shuddered at the sight.

Because talk about fierce! He was matted and filthy and looked just like you might imagine a great big, black Cujo would. Drooling and flinging spit all over. Great big yellow teeth. Truly a wild and terrible beast.

But wait, there's more.

Out of the woods all along the road, where I had heard those little woofs, came FOUR MORE great big Rottweilers to chase the car. I swear if they had wanted to they could have grabbed the bumper and dragged us into the woods for supper.

As we drove away they gathered at the bottom of the hill behind us for a good sniff and wag, delighted at having routed yet another car full of innocents. 

Can you imagine dogs that figured out how to hide, nicely spaced out in the woods, to await the meager traffic on this rural farm road like that? Mind boggling. I swear I heard Dueling Banjos as we drove off into the sunset.