The Petersons had many dogs that they spoke of from time to time in there conversations but there was one that was spoken of as being a little bit special. His time was long before I was around and I doubt that anyone ever gave a discription of what he looked like but there were many stories about his exploits. Maybe they grew better with age.

      I will try to remember some as told by the Peterson clan.

      He was an all around dog that learned all of the hunting tactics of the animals of the time. even taking a turn at snakes. He seemed to know that week ends meant that the gang would always go rabbit hunting.

      On Sunday morning after breakfast it was only necessary to show him a shotgun and let him out of the door. By the time everyone got there coats on and out the door he would have a rabbit running in the woods near the house.

      If you wanted mink or muskrat he would address his attention to that type of hunting .Once a man came around and wanted the Peterson boys to earn a little extra money collecting snapping turtles to be sold on the New York market as a delicacy in the restaurants there. They went out with a shovel and a long stick to use as a prod in locating the turtles in the mud of the swamps. It wasn't long before the dog caught onto what they were looking for and he would locate them and bark over the spot that they were buried. A prod soon gave the exact depth that the turtle was . and a little digging brought the trophy up. This went on all day long and eleven barrels of turtles were shipped out of Nunica at one time. I never asked if they were shipped live or how much the boys received for them.

      Snakes seemed to have a special loathing for the dog . When he located one he would stand and bark waiting for someone to give him the go ahead to attack. He would then dive in and grab the snake somewhere near the middle and start to shake him back and forth until the snake flew apart in peaces. Some of the old wood snakes were so big that he would have trouble wrestling them. There was one special snake that he hated to tackle. They always knew when he had found one of them as he would always shake and tremble at their sight. He would wait for the command to attack and make short work of them but he always vomited after finishing the job.

      There was another dog that the Peterson household had . He was a collie and very friendly. He stayed shut up in the barn nights and was always around when anyone was outside. So when the neighbor came over and said that a dog had attacked his sheep killing several, No one would believe that the dog was the culprit. The next morning a close watch was put on the dog. He stayed in the yard all the time they were doing morning chores. As soon as the family went in the house for breakfast he made a beeline for the neighbors pasture to do his dirty work and was back by the time breakfast was over. Needless to say the dog never woke up to another dawn.

      At about the time that we bought this farm some people in Spring Lake gave us a beautiful dog of bright brownish hair . She was a family dog and not much good for hunting although she would look for woodchucks. She stayed both here and at the other farm traveling back and forth at her or our going and comings. She had one fault. She was deathly afraid of thunder and lightning. She would head for cover during a thunder storm. So when we had an unusually strong storm one night she disappeare d. We never saw her again. I looked for her for weeks . We hated to lose her as she was so good around children.

      Now that deer have taken up residence around here it is very difficult to keep a hunting or family dog . So we have not had one for several years now.

      My uncles told of another dog that was strickly a cow dog. She was gentle but firm in bringing the cows to the barn. It was only necessary to tell her to fetch them and she would do it on her own. for several years after her demise it was only ne cessary to call her name and the cows came on their own.

      When my brother Gordon was small learning to creep my dad had a collie. She stayed in the house. She did not like children and would snap at Gordon any time he came near. My parents became afraid that some thing might happen so they got rid of him.