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That one hurts. You should have just ended the sentence right after for the sake of running hogs.[/b]
Aw, you don't have to be too sensitive about your stock dogs just cuz they can hunt anything that doesn't belong in a farmer's pen! They make nice pets, too! http://www.jesseshunting.com/forums/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smiley-wnk-yellow.gif
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I've often wondered why a 300 lb. ball of teeth, claws, and muscle would run from a few flea ridden mutts.[/b]
I guess it basically comes down to a family tradition otherwise known as inborn instinct; the ancestor of the bear was running from the ancestor of our dogs since the dawn of time.
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Besides the dogs sometimes getting wacked up, most of the time it is much easier to bay a big boar than it is a 100 lb'er.[/b]
Yep, I've experienced the same thing; the big boars will turn to fight the dogs a lot sooner than the smaller ones. Bear are no different; the big bears will bay sooner while the smaller bears will run the pads off the dogs if they feel like it.
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The big boars aren't scared of some dogs.[/b]
I think that the boars are reacting to the dogs in the same manner they would a pack of coyotes. The large boar figures that if he stops running and faces the dogs, they will eventually give up and seek an easier meal.
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I think it is more likely that the bear is less aggressive than the boar hogs. I've watched many boar hogs making runs at the dogs and not just a single burst either. I've watched them hook the dog 6 or 7 times while tossing them like a rag doll before spinning back around. If a bear did that, he would pull the dog in on the first charge and bite him in half.[/b]
This may be due to the defense mechanisms of each animal. The hog, more physically vulnerable to predation, must defend himself by the show of force and posturing as much as by the use of his cutters. I think the hog wins much of the battle for survival through intimidation because he is facing, not only superior numbers, but a predator of relatively equitable size. The bear on the other hand, knows that his size is a significant advantage, and is more content to stand his ground and protect his only areas of vulnerability (genitals, belly, and hind legs).
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Maybe the difference between my hog dogs and most bear hounds is that the hounds are used to a bear being more passive while bayed. That being the case, when they bay a hog they are not expecting the charge that is coming.[/b]
I think you have got yourself a point there, but I think that it goes far deeper than the mere habituation of the dogs to the behaviors of hogs and bear. I think that the hound and cur react differently because of how they were developed and what they were developed for. The hound is a dog that was developed for, and excels at, the pursuit of game--his superior nose, endurance, and range is testimony to this design. The cur is a dog that originated in large part as a herding dog and excels at the confinement of game--his agility, reflexes, and innate sense of knowing how far to push the quarry illustrates his purpose.
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Either that or the curs are just quicker, stronger, and probably quite a bit smarter than those damn hounds.[/b]
Touche! You got me back for the swipe about the "less versatile cur." Although, I will have you know that my 1/4 Blackmouth, 1/4 Lacey, 1/4 Catahoula and 1/4 Plott gets cut up as badly as my other hounds, if not more! Must be the Plott in him, I guess.