Call me Fishmeal. In many ways, being a land surveyor is quite dangerous... even deadly. Some of the biggest difficulties a surveyor encounters are Meat Bees, Poison Oak, grumpy neighbors toting guns, Black Berry bushes, "steeps" - combined with excessive gravity, and dogs. As for the latter-most, the majority of K-Nines are simply happy to have someone around, but unfortunately, other pooches aren't as playful, and seem to have something to prove.
While conducting a routine property survey in the mountains, I discovered that an encroaching fence, where a neighbor was apparently enjoying about a half an acre of the property I was surveying. I had calculated coordinates to determine where the property corner should be, and was on the encroaching side of the fence looking for a survey monument to validate my calculations when I looked up to see that an attentive German Shepherd had just arrived to investigate the curious sounds of the Schonstedt*. As I stood motionless, I realized that I was about forty-feet equidistant to the gate, and the dog when, the Shep spotted me. As far as the dog new, I was an intruder on his turf. He had no perception of property boundaries and was likely not interested in negotiating. I had one chance... get to the gate before the dog could chew me to pieces. Knowing that if I ran for it, the completely capable Shep would be in hot pursuit and would easily overtake me before I could reach the gate. I removed my cap and tossed it high into the air, distracting the dog long enough for me to take three long strides before the dog could react. I ran with all the speed I could muster, and with one last lunge, I dove toward the gate, closing it as I dashed through. Gnashing teeth snapped at me from between the four inch gap of the gate and fence post.
I'd rather be whaling.
* The Schontedt is a fancy metal detector.
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