The Most Feared Animal In The North Woods - The Dreaded Miji-Manidoo
In the deep forests of pine, birch, maple and willow in the great Minnesota wilderness there is a story, believed by some, feared by all.
In a land of many predators, the black bear, wolves, cougar, wolverine, badger, bald eagle, hawks and the great horned owl, there is a creature that all fear.
It's torpedo type sausage shaped body, ripples with muscle. It tail is straight and long. Powerful hind legs, offset by stubby front legs that flank a massive chest. It's long soft ears pick up distant sounds. It's eyes cut through the darkness of night. It's nose can pick up a human smell a mile away. A long snout with vice like jaws that can crush whatever it locks on too.
Unlike most of the predators, it is short haired, even in the extreme winters of the north land. Ice water runs through it veins.
All of this, combined with unlimited courage, is a creature not to be crossed.
The predators of the great north woods cut it a wide berth.
The original people of the north, the Ojibwe, call it ''miji-manidoo'', simply, ''The Devil''.
Others call it by it's real name, The Dackel...
A mistake is made by many when seeing a Dackel for the first time is laughing and not taking is seriously. It looks like it was put together with left over parts and needs to go back to factory for addition repairs..
Make no mistake, few survive an encounter with the Dackel.
Now that you have the background of this scary creature, let me tell you what happened this morning at the Kavika wooden tipi.
At 5 am, Wiki the Warrior Wonder Wiener started barking and banging into the bedroom door, trying to get. out. This is very unusual for her, she sleeps in till 8am regularly.
I stumbled out of bed and opened the bedroom door. Wiki shot out like a rocket straight to the front door, barking and growling. It was then that I suspected that this was not a pee call.
At 5 am it's blacker than a well diggers ass in the Ozarks. Grabbing the flashlight I opened the door. Wiki was out in a flash. To the left side of the front porch is a small flower garden. Day lillies and azalea abound.
Annie was trailing behind, a back up in case one was needed. Annie, in her own right, is tougher than any Rez dog I've very meet. She's battled most everything that runs wild in the Ozarks including an epic battle with coyotes. (that's another story)
I shined the light around, but Wiki didn't need a light, she spotted it in the flower garden. She did a perfect swan dive off the porch into the jungle of flowers. All the while I was screaming, NO WIKI, thinking that it was a skunk or porcupine.
Annie, looked into the flower bed, sensing no danger she laid down. I shined the light into the abyss, and there it was...A armadillo rooting for bugs in the mulch. Wiki was ripping up flowers and was right in the face of the armadillo. Oh no Wiki, it's Amos our pet armadillo, but the Wickster knew different. About that time, Annie growled behind me and it scared the crap out of me, as I fell into the flower bed. All I was wearing were my Valentine Day Boxers and a Bass Pro Shop T-shirt. I was sure that a black bear was on the porch.
About this time, the armadillo headed out of the flower bed at warp speed, followed by the Drackel. As they raced across the lawn headed for a steep hill, I was yelling, Stop Wiki.
Finally Wiki stopped, as did who I thought was Amos. Amos rolled up in a ball and rolled down the hill...Oh no, there are coyotes and fox down there, Amos was in big trouble.
Wait, Amos lives under the porch on the other side of the house and has his own little garden there to root around in. I've never seen Amos venture to this side of the house. In a near panic, covered in mulch, bare foot, hair on fire, I headed to check the Amos dwelling. Stubbing toes, stepping on rocks I finally made it to the other side of the house, down on my hands and knees, which by the way were bloodied by now. I looked for Amos.
Since armadillos burrow into the ground, I had build a small wooden cover, kind of like a dog house without the floor, Amos goes in there and buries himself in the dirt and mulch. (he loves mulch)
There he was, when I shined the light into the Amos house, I could see his armored shell sticking up through the mulch. Thank goodness, Amos was safe.
Wait, I had left Wiki and Annie on the other side of the house, in the dark. Running back to the other side of the house, Annie was nowhere to be seen. Wiki was sitting on the porch, tail wagging, with that, ''Wasn't this fun'' look.
I had left the front door open and found Annie back in bed.
I had to get in the shower to get the mulch, dirt and assorted thingies off me.
I finally crawled back into bed, as Red rolled over and said...Did Wiki have to pee?
I buried my head under the pillow and said, please don't wake me till I'm damn good and ready to get out of bed.
That, my friends, was by Monday morning.
When you own a, miji-manidoo or Dreckel, life gets interesting.
Kavika 2016 All Rights Reserved.
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LOL what a killer!
Fun story Kavika, hope you didn't get any burs under your saddle when ya went off the porch!
:~)
Not sure it they were under my saddle, but they did end up in some places that I can't mention on NT....
LOL good Call kavika, we have a CoC as well as the ToS we have to clear!
Yep, he was black and, tan and, had a Mohawk running from the top of his head to his tail. He was mixed with badger dog and, wire haired terrorist.
Great combination. Wiener and Terrier...
Yep, he didn't fear anything and, he loved to chase squirrels, if there was a hole in the fence I didn't find, he found it and, would be gone before you could say Windigo. (Don't know if I spelled it right)
Ha, typical Doxie...
There are a number of ways to spell Weendigo...Each is correct.
His best friend and, brother was a German Shepherd/Malamute cross we called Jack, he had seen 48 of the states and, Calgary by the time Doobie came to live with us and, he taught Doobie everything he knew, he got Doobie in more trouble than any brother could but, they were both loved and, spoiled to the point were you could see who actually ran the house.
They sound like quite the pair...Dynamic Duo.
Lol, what a cutie.
Reminds me of how Stephen King (the writer) talks about his dog Molly a/k/a the Thing of Evil.
The Warrior Wonder Wiener is much more like Cujo than Molly, Lady....
Thanks for stopping by.
oh....she is not 
I love Wiki stories. May we have some more?
I'm sure that I have a couple of more that I'll be posting in the near future Trout.
She's a sweetie.
I posted a Far Side cartoon in honor of Wiki down below
Sorry just getting to this ... been in the garden for days.
I'm trying to establish a population of Milkweed around my property as attractors of butterflies.
BTW, I may, with your permission, try to come up with an illustration for your tory.
BTW, I may, with your permission, try to come up with an illustration for your tory.
Yes, of course. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.
LOL, you won't find any dave. Wiki Warrior Wonder Wiener has taken care of them...
Yes she is.
I could imagine the look on ones face when it realized it was in deep kimchi.
"I'm outta here!!!"
I'm terrified!! LOL.. I had a good laugh.
Great story and adorable pic.
Thanks Perrie...Annie was bored with the whole thing...LOL, they are quite the pair.
Finally Wiki stopped, as did who I thought was Amos. Amos rolled up in a ball and rolled down the hill...Oh no, there are coyotes and fox down there, Amos was in big trouble.
POOR AMOS's look alike
But, I guess he figured he stood a better chance with the coyotes than with The Dackel, eh.
The good news is that the Amos impersonator survived. It had a den there. Armadillo wedge themselves into their den with the armored back filling the opening. Damn near impossible to get to them when they do that.
Thanks for stopping by steve,
the Amos impersonator survived
Good, I was worried about the poor little guy. LOL
Funny story... now I'll bet not so much at the time though.
I sleep outside many nights with my pack of dogs. They love it but the little monsters do wake me up barking from time to time at like 2 AM. Monsters !
AND PS: Thanks for writing and posting the story, I enjoyed it as many others have as well.
AND PS: Thanks for writing and posting the story, I enjoyed it as many others have as well.
Thanks very much steve. Much appreciated.
Ha, the next day it was me replacing and replanting the flowers. Annie and Wiki lounging on the porch watching me work...
It' a dogs life.
Another wonderful story, Kavika. And written only as you can write it. 
And of course, Wiki looks fab. 
Thanks RW...Wiki is always on the cutting edge of fashion...
I am trying to insert a jpeg image. Would someone please help me?
Trout you can copy and paste it or download to your computer then click on the film icon, next to the funny faces and just follow the directions.
I think I see your problem the image is tiny in the one you posted. When you get to size it use 512px for the size that will fit perfectly in the comment box.
Thanks for the help. BF helped me, too. I learned something new today
I saw this on Face Book and it made me giggle when I thought of Wiki
Dear Brother Kavika: Half a dog high, dog and an half long.
Hebrew Nat.
Golem of MN.
Dybbuk of Duluth.
Shhhhhhhhh. I'm huntin wasscawe wabbits.
Moon wibbah, widah dann a miew.
I'm kwossin you in styew some day.
Moon wakah, you hart brawkah.
Where ebber yer goin, I'm goin yer way.
Two driftah, off to see dah word.
Der's such a wotta word to see.
We're aftah dah same, wainbows denn.
Waintin wound dah bend.
My huckewberry fweind.
Moon wibbash. and meeeeeeeeeee.
Peace and Baggin Wabbits.
Ewhmohr Enoch-Fudd.
Oh no, Wiki (AKA Hebrew National) is not happy with that video Galen...
In fact she just attacked my computer trying to get to the video...
LMFAO, Wiki, I'm sorry girl. Think of it like this little one, you can eat those dogs without ruffling your fur and, they go good with Ketchup.
LOL, too funny. The music is perfect.
That was too cute to leave alone, I had to share.
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