The Bone Caper

Meadow loves finding bones in the forest. She'll pick one up in her mouth, and carry it throughout our hike or run. She'll even ignore treats I offer; she doesn't want to drop the bone and risk having Maia steal it from her.

Two days ago - Tuesday - the girls and I went for a hike in the forest behind the house, where we could still find plenty of snow to play in. On the way up, Meadow found the bone you see in her mouth in the first photo. Maia sniffed it, played a little tug-of-war with Meadow, who refused to let go, then let Meadow keep it. Meadow proudly pranced after her victory while Maia pretended she didn't care.

Ah, but Maia was scheming (second photo).

She waited - a long while - until Meadow dropped her bone. Maia pounced, grabbed the bone, dashed several feet away, plopped onto the ground, and started gnawing.

Meadow never chews the bones she finds in the forests; she's much more into carrying and and having something Maia doesn't.

Maia quickly started breaking the bone, which was old and weathered, into pieces. I didn't want any splinters in her gut, so I took it away and threw it down a steep hillside.

"All gone."

We headed down the forest road toward the car.

Within minutes, Maia went a little off the road and started digging in the snow.

She found another bone (third photo)!

She showed Meadow, eh? And me, for that matter. How dare I throw her bone away?

Maia made a big show of chewing on this new bone, but it was thick and sturdy and she was unable to break it. Since she doesn't like carrying bones with her on the move, she promptly deserted it.

Meadow picked it up (fourth photo) and carried it back down to the edge of the forest. Meadow wins - in her mind, anyway.

The games they play with each other. Mind games. Intriguing.

(Note: if you look closely at Meadow's nose in the first photo, you can see a bright pink spot, on the upper edge of her right nostril. That scar is compliments of that raccoon Meadow had a disagreement with two weeks ago.)