The Popcorn Stand: This edition is on the nose

Today’s installment of the Popcorn Stand deals with the fox and the hounds, so to speak.

There’s all kinds of challenges going on but this one caught my attention. The Snout Challenge.

It involves forming your thumb and forefinger into a circle or your hands into a circle depending on how big your dog is and then seeing if your dog will stick his nose through the hoop, so to speak.

Evidently most dogs can resist sticking their noses through the hoop. But not my dogs.

I have to admit I haven’t even tried it on Pete the Shih Tzu, but I’m pretty sure such a challenge wouldn’t pique his interest.

But I was a little surprised with Tuf Tuf (you know Sir Tuffington Something Or Other) the Jack Russell who generally likes to stick his nose into everything.

But I tried the Snout Challenge a couple of times with Tuf Tuf and each time he just sniffed my fingers and turned his head away.

Now if there was a licking a leg challenge, Tuf Tuf would win every time.

Which leads me to a fox that apparently licks his chops when it comes to golf balls.

One of my favorite movies is “Caddyshack.” In the climatic scene, Rodney Dangerfield loses his golf ball to the gopher that steals the movie after his shot and exclaims, “that kangaroo stole my ball.”

Well in a life imitates art moment a golfer recently had his ball stolen by a fox on a Massachusetts golf course. And it must have really upset the golfer because he did hit a really good shot onto the green.

The fox apparently mistakenly took the golf ball for an egg because it runs over and takes the ball like it has just found something good to eat.

I don’t know if the golf course wants to hire Bill Murray to deal with this problem. Then again knowing how “Caddyshack” ended, probably not.

And I’m sure this will lead to a new saying among golfers whenever a course has a problem with lost golf balls. They’ll say, “it’s like letting the fox guard the golf course.”

And it probably won’t do any good to try to train the foxes to stop stealing golf balls because you know what they say, “You can’t teach an old fox new tricks.”

I’ve never played golf (the windmill always gets in my way), but I understand it can be a difficult game, although don’t tell that to Tommy Lasorda.

Lasorda once was asked what was more difficult, baseball or golf, and he went on this hilarious (and profane) rant about how baseball was so much more difficult than golf.

Of course, Lasorda never had to deal with a fox on the course.

— Charles Whisnand