Dead Cat Corner

Llama Drama Hill at Tennessee Valley Hunt's Opening Meet in 2011. Photo by Gretchen Pelham.

When I lived in Middle Tennessee in between the grand metropolis (*sarcastic) of Fly and the trendy town (*actually true) of Leipers Fork, I would give directions to my home that went, "When you see the yella dawg, turn left.” Because there was always this yellow dog laying right in the middle of the street at the required turn. Every day. Rain or shine. That yella dawg - er yellow dog - kept vigil on his post for years.

One of the fun traditions of foxhunting is the tendency to label landmarks with distinct names that are easy to remember. Some of these names make sense, while others are head-scratchers. Mostly, the stories that go into how the places got their names are just silly fun, unless it was your name that was immortalized on a crashed coop. Full disclosure: never have I had a coop named after my unplanned dismount and dismantling of a coop (it was for flipping over a coop to land in the middle of a paved road in front of oncoming traffic.)

"Meet at Dead Cat Corner" is a fixture for Big Sky Hounds in Montana. The story goes that hunt member Laura Knapp saw that a "Siamese met their fate" right by the fixture gate. She said, "The carcass laid in the road for WEEKS. Nothing carried it off, not even a coyote! So much time went by it became an empty hide that finally blew off the road."

According to Ann Lane, Misty Morning Hounds in Florida has the Panther Tree, a hundreds-old oak that held a deer carcass in high branches. There were claw marks on the tree, and it was surmised that a panther must have taken her dinner up the tree.

Marcella Thacker-Norman with Briar Creek Hounds in Texas named a questionable gully Bull Crossing. The Field was proud of themselves for surviving the navigation of the gully. That is until a young bull that was hiding in the tall grass just on the other side of the gully announced his displeasure at having his nap interrupted. Yikes!

Other landmarks from various hunt clubs include the Bermuda Triangle for Tennessee Valley Hunt (where foxes and hounds go to drop off the face of the Earth without a sound); the Port Tree for Caza Ladron in New Mexico (which assumingly held a bottle tucked up in the tree); the Ditch of Death for Metamora Hunt in Michigan (sounds fun); Useless Coop and Not Helpful Gate from Chula Homa Hunt in Mississippi; the Draft Killer Hill for North Hills Hunt in Nebraska; and the Brassiere Woods for Longreen Hounds in Mississippi (now that must be a story).