The things we miss in front of our noses

The piece below appears in this week's INM Irish regional newspapers.

By Michael Commane
Out walking with a colleague and accompanied by my dog Tess on Monday in Co Tipperary, Tess went missing in a wooded area. Suddenly we heard a loud flurry of feathers. At first my friend thought it was a pheasant but it was far too large to be a pheasant.

And then we realised it was a peacock. A fabulously coloured bird in a terribly excited and agitated state trying to escape from the clutches of my dog. I froze for a second or two while my colleague berated me for being such a clown.

The last thing I wanted was my stupid dog to kill a peacock. After all I was on private ground and presumably the peacock was the property of the owner of the land. And besides that, I simply did not want my dog killing the bird.
My previous dog had, over a number of years, killed five or six hens, a guinea pig and a pet rabbit. She had cost me a lot in 'blood money' and she had done no good to my already 'flawed reputation'. So under no circumstances did I want Tess to head down the same road. I have Tess for just over a year.

She is about six-years-old and so far, at least since coming to live with me, has committed no heinous crimes. As far as I know, she is not a murderer. Under no circumstances do I want her to get a taste of blood, hence my panic and scare on Monday.

There was a lot of coming and going. The peacock managed to get on to a tree branch. At that stage all Tess could do was growl. And then to my consternation the peacock was back on the ground, running, walking, waddling, whatever you call it, with Tess in hot pursuit. I could do nothing. In total panic I turned away.

Tess and peacock best of mates

And then seconds later to my complete amazement and bafflement, I saw my dog Tess walk along side by side with the peacock. It looked as if she was accompanying the peacock and they were the best of mates. Tess went hunting again for a short time in the nearby lake before coming back to us. Of course from that moment on she was on her leash. No more freedom for her on this land.

How glad I was that the peacock had escaped with his life.

It certainly set me thinking about nature. Tess is a labrador, so it might well be in her nature to hunt and raise birds but not to kill. But since she has no training in the art I was mesmerised with her seeming kindness and benevolence on Monday. But most of all was I a relieved man.

The following day I told my story to a friend of mine, who in his younger days was a keen hunter, and he expressed surprise that Tess did not kill the bird. But another person told me that labradors have two ways of dealing with prey; one is ‘soft-mouthed’ and corresponds with Tess’ antics. Phew, I even feel more relieved having heard that.

Later that day driving back to Dublin with Tess as quiet as a mouse in the car I kept thinking about the wonder of nature. Maybe I was also saying to myself how little I know about a reality that's within metres of every step I take.

It also made me conscious of how we run around the place missing out on so much. At least I do. We travel to all parts of the world and talk about the great things we see and do. And just look what's on our doorstep.

Okay, at first I was frozen in fear but the sight of that peacock, the wonder of the whole thing really was amazing.

It's so easy to miss what happens right in front of our noses.