Bush Collie

It is surprisingly difficult to photograph Gus on his own. When I am alone with him, if I stop to raise the camera, he immediately sits down next to me. If, as is usually the case, we are with Wifie, he sticks very close to her. In any event he never stays still for long. In this case Wifie had quietly retreated out of shot before he noticed.

As a sheepdog he does appreciate bushes in the landscape, they provide good cover to hide behind when he's rounding up his flock (Wifie and me).

The poisoning I mentioned yesterday looks like it could be due to natural causes rather than malicious intent. Three dogs are known to have died. The thinking is that the deaths have been caused by the ingestion of a toxic fungus. The mild and damp weather may have favoured the - later than might normally be expected - production of fruiting bodies by something like a deathcap. I can't say I have seen any around, but there are likely to be more fungi species in the more ancient woods on the Knott where we have not spent much time since he arrived. We are therefore now confining our walks to the grasslands and secondary woodlands, and keeping a close eye on him. Unlike some dogs, he isn't one for hoovering up anything vaguely edible that he comes across, so all in all, we think the risk is low.

As for the weather, for a brief few minutes this afternoon I actually saw the sun before it retreated back into the cloud blanket.