Merry meanderings #6 What got up Gunner's nose

Ginger making sure her piglets stayed in the warm 12/2010

Midday and it's minus 10 degrees 12/2010

 The winter of 2010 has already gone down as the coldest in living memory. It is certainly one I shall never forget.
At the time we had about 60 curly coated pigs and piglets. All living outside as usual. Plus 3 horses and about 50 assorted chickens and ducks. They didn't mind the cold one jot. However, for a number of weeks everything outside was frozen - including all the taps and, of course, the duckpond. Which meant every drop of water for all the animals had to be carried - several times a day - from the house. And it had to be reasonably hot otherwise by the time we got to the water bowls outside the water would be literally starting to freeze again. Memorable was just one word to describe the experience.
Gunner and I were in our 2nd season of bushbeating. "They'll never go shooting in this weather" the Big Boss was heard to say - more than once. Pfft, when did a foot of snow ever keep man from his sport??? Thanks to 'drifting' and living on a hill, we couldn't get a vehicle up our drive for a couple of months. Undeterred, Gunner and I would 'walk' up to the village about three quarters of a mile away and get on the beater's bus there or get a lift from the village to whichever shoot we were going to. I'd put liquid parafin on his 'feathers' to deter the snowballs from sticking but he still got pretty clogged up. It did not put him off one bit. If there were birds to be flushed he was ready and waiting to do it! Even at minus 10 degrees with frost and icicles all over him! It was never cold enough to cower him. Between drives he would sit, patient as ever, totally focussed on the landscape ahead of him, waiting for : "Right, nice & steady lads" which was the keeper's signal to go.......

Totally undaunted by the frosticles...... 12/2010

We were at Scamblesby (a little village high on the Wolds) one Saturday in late November - before we got 'snowed  in' - and for the last drive before lunch Gunner's 'beat' was a strip of kale about 30 yds wide and maybe a quarter of a mile long. Kale was one of his specialities: he was a favourite amongst keepers and Beat Captains for his power, persistence and steadiness. Nothing escaped his attention. At the end of the drive dog and handler were well tired on the walk back to the beater's wagon (in this case an ancient horse trailer) to take us back to the yard for lunch. I noticed Gunner sneezed violently a couple of times. When we got to the car he sneezed violently several times. He didn't want his lunch (shock, horror) and sneezed again. "I'll see how he is after lunch" I said to the keeper.
An hour later there was no change. The dog was still sneezing and by now his little eyes were quite red and watery.

What was up the dog's nose

Our (dog) vet doesn't do Saturdays so I rang our large animal vet who do a 24/7 service. Luckily there was no other emergency and the vet on duty agreed to meet us at the surgery. I got there as fast as icy roads permitted with the dog sneezing violently at intervals throughout the journey. However, whilst we waited outside the surgery for the vet to arrive he didn't sneeze once.
"Oh no" I thought "I've called the vet out and now the nose has cleared itself".
When the vet arrived I went inside with him and explained what I thought might have happened. The dog remained sneezeless throughout. "Typical" I thought. Just when I was thinking the vet was thinking I was neurotic Gunner gave the most almighty sneeze.
"Bring him through" said that man.
He looked up Gunner's nose with a light and could see nothing. No matter how he probed:
 "There's nothing" he said...... He switched the light off and looked again. Still nothing.
Light back on. We had a chat about what might be causing the sore nose.
The dog sneezed voilently again. It was like he was trying to sneeze his whole head off.
"I'll have one more look and if we find nothing I'll have to put him out and have a go....."
Lights out; down on his knees (more relaxing for the dog than being on the table he said), the vet gently and carefully probed again. The dog didn't flinch (the handler definitely did).
"Aha!!"
"Yeeess???" I said
"I -think-I've-got-it...." he said slowly, pulling out an impossibly long piece of stuff.
Holding it up he said, with Relish: "Got it - here it is..."
IT  was a four inch long piece of kale stalk - because of the freezing temperatures the crop had snapped instead of bending when the dog worked over it - resulting in this piece going straight up his nostril.... it was embedded almost up to his eyes (no wonder they were running) and virtually invisible.

"I'm so pleased I had one final look" said that man. "it could have stuck up there and caused a very, very nasty infection......"
The dog jumped for joy and I all but hugged the vet in relief.....................
The winter of 2010/11 will live in my memory for a very long time.