Moment Bronx man, 33, falls 15ft through sidewalk 'sinkhole' and is 'swarmed by so many rats he couldn't yell for help for fear they would crawl in his mouth'

Daily Mail ^ | 27 Oct 2020 | Mathew Wright

[DUMBGRUNT]

Leonard Shoulders, 33, had been waiting on a bus at 3rd Avenue across from Saint Barnabas Hospital on Saturday when the sidewalk caved in Surveillance footage shows him falling into the dark hole Shoulders was unable to get out of the hole for more than 30 minutes He refused to scream because there were rats in the pit, worried they would crawl into his mouth

Surveillance footage shows the moment that Shoulders falls into the sidewalk, trying to hold on and ultimately plummet 12 to 15ft.

'The Full Vacate Order is still in effect, and a construction fence has been erected around the building in the interest of public safety.'

[Tennessee Conservative]

We used to have Catahoula’s. That’s another breed that was created by mixing compatible hounds to get the breed the same way they have done the Feists. They are used around here to hunt wild hogs.

[Western Phil]

Feist - Must be what our dog was. She was about that size, but her coloring was more like a German Shepard. She showed up one day and adopted us. About that time, I was doing road races and marathons. She would always go along on my early morning training runs. Even the 18-22 long Saturdays. It was her favorite thing. One Sunday morning after a snow left about 6” of fluffy white stuff, while helping #3 son deliver papers, we spotted a squirrel that had decided he wanted to be in the other tree. It was too far to jump, so he was hopping in the deep snow. Bad mistake. Dog was a bunch faster in that terrain. It was a sad day when my wife took her to the vet, but she was completely used up.

In her younger days, she took to attacking the clothes on the clothes line. I rigged the electric fencer to the clothes line and watched to see what would happen. She approached the sheet, didn’t touch it, and never bothered anything on the line again.

[Tennessee Conservative]

They are special for sure! It sounds like she was special. I have had a lot of good dogs in my life but none like Abby. Thanks for taking in your girl. Strays often make the best dogs.

[Veto!]

Indeed. But some people are idiots.

[hellinahandcart]

Have you ever seen a rat terrier at work? It’ll take your breath away.

[Salamander]

Formidable dogs.

I *really* want a Plott, too.

I love me some useful, gutsy dogs.

:)

[Himyar]

Mountain Curs and Blackmouth Curs are great small game hunters and ratters. Good guard dogs too. For pure unrelenting prey drive though, you can’t beat a Jack Russell. Absolutely fearless when after something. My son used to make good money when he was a teenager going to peoples barns and cleaning out the vermin. It was nothing for a pair of Jacks to drag a hundred or more mice and rats out of a barn.

[hellinahandcart]

Yo.

[sauropod]

I guess he was up to his Shoulders in rats.

[Tennessee Conservative]

I miss my old Jack Russell so much even after 4 years. A Jack will always be my “heart” dog. My Feists have enough Jack in them to be the same way.

Mountain Curs have the size to be formidable.

[Tennessee Conservative]

I could be wrong but I think the Plott is one of the hound breeds that created the Catahoula Leopard hound.

[Salamander]

Wildly different origins made two incredibly awesome breeds :)

---

History
In 1539, when Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto landed in Florida and began his expedition through the Southeastern United States, his scribes noted there was only one species of domestic animal in North America: the Native American’s dog, who looked like a wolf but barked like a dog. These native dogs were crossed with the “bloodhounds, mastiffs, and greyhounds” brought by the Spanish explorers. In Northern Louisiana, the Native Americans called these new dogs “Wolf Dogs.” Once the French arrived with their hounds, they were crossbred again, resulting in today’s Catahoula Leopard Dog.

How the Catahoula obtained his working instincts is another story: The early settlers of Central Louisiana, specifically the Catahoula Lake area, used these crossbred dogs to pen and catch the wild hogs and cows that were rampant in the area, and this practice turned into a planned method of managing the wild herds. The Catahoula developed a unique way of working the stock that sets them apart from other herding and working breeds; they create a “canine fence” around the herd, and within this “fence,” the wild herd is directed by the dog’s master. This natural working instinct is of the utmost importance to Catahoula Leopard Dog breeders. Regardless of appearance, he must have these working instincts to be a pure Catahoula.

---

I don’t understand why the idiot AKC calls them “coon hounds” when they were created for bear and boar.

https://puppytoob.com/plott-hound/

Either way, both dogs are magnificent!

[Salamander]

Today I saw an Australian Cattle Dog waiting in a car and admired him greatly, but then felt sorry for him because the car had a DEM oval sticker.

Poor dog.

[Tennessee Conservative]

This is just my opinion but breeds like the Catahoula and the Feist that were created by mixing compatible breeds together to get the best traits from them make some of the best dogs we have now that are called “breeds”. The genetic mixing, when done properly, draws the best traits while eliminating the worst traits. That was done a lot in the past.

The designer dogs of today aren’t always well planned and result in a new “breed” that has physical and other issues.

IMO, you can’t beat a good old hound or Feist type dog like a Jack Russell or a Rat Terrier. I have had a Bloodhound, a Bluetick, two Black Mouth Cur/ferals, a Jack Russell, two Catahoulas, and a Redbone. Can’t beat a good hunting dog.

[Salamander]

I grew up with coon hounds.

Walkers, Blue Ticks and Black & Tans.

Will always have a place in my heart for them.

“Designer dogs of today” are insane mixes of incompatible breeds solely for the purpose of looking “cute”.
No attention is paid to shared genetic/physical issues that can exponentially multiply in the resultant “mutt”.
[cardio, cancer and hip issues are really rampant]

The one exception *might* be a Labradoodle because both breeds are water dogs and don’t really have any overlapping genetic problems.

[many don’t know that Poodles were once great hunting dogs]

Other crosses, like Dachshund/whatever, might look “cute” but then you afflict the dogs with the Doxie achondroplasia and all its attendant issues.

Same with Bassett and Corgi mixes.

Why do that?

Don’t even get me started on the brachy breeds.

Last year I was on my way into Hobby Lobby and a couple came out with a dog so naturally I squealed and ran up to them.

I said “OMG I love your Plott mix!” and they looked shocked.

The wife said “You’ve heard of Plotts??”

[duh]

We spent a good half hour talking dogs and I got to pet the Plott, which is the only one [so far] I’ve ever gotten my paws on.

Some day.

Still, I have to admit, I love every dog I meet and I’m sad when I have to part ways with them.

:)

[Tennessee Conservative]

Exactly! Mixing compatible breeds make good dogs. The others make me sad. You need to get a Feist someday. Big dog in a little dog body. They are not a frou-frou dog.

[Tennessee Conservative]

Exactly! Mixing compatible breeds make good dogs. The others make me sad. You need to get a Feist someday. Big dog in a little dog body. They are not a frou-frou dog.

[Salamander]

They're on my list of wants. :)

This is my little Gypsy, a Portuguese Podengo Medio.

They are used as rabbit and vermin dogs in their native land and here, by Portuguese immigrants.

That is Bubby, who was 8 weeks old, there so you can see how small she is.

*However*, he and all my other Dobes live in fear of her because I call her the little Velociraptor.

She IS the boss dog, here

She's old now and slowing down but she was once a vermin killer without equal.

Just the other day I had dig a dead mouse she had killed and left laying around somewhere out of my boy Dobe's mouth, so she still has spunk left in her, even at pushing 14

[she used to kill mice and feed them to Bubby, who was "her puppy", so I always had tapeworm tabs on hand]

[Tennessee Conservative]

Beautiful! It’s funny how many big dogs are afraid of little dogs. My 140 pound Bloodhound was terrified of my Jack Russell.

[Salamander]

“It ain’t the size of the dog in the fight...”

:D