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Stinky Sata
Hola Carmencita!
My name is Luchita. I am also a sata who lived on the streets of Puerto Rico for too many years. I have lots of food issues, too, as do my four sato siblings. It makes for some interesting canine conversations around the kibble container.
But I want to ask you about dead stuff. We have five acres of land, and we are always finding cool things like dead possums, birds, and the like. Most of us like to roll in our "finds" first and then bring them in the dog door to our mamacita. Mamacita always does a little dance when we first bring in the dead stuff, and then she starts making faces and saying, "Oh, yuck. That is so nasty!" She never appreciates our efforts at finding the most fragrant carcasses! How come she doesn't know how good this stuff smells, and we do?
Mamacita knows a lot, and we're muy feliz here in Arkansas, but the dead stuff question is a big issue. Thanks for your help. Que te vaya bien siempre!
Stinky Sata in Arkansas
Dear Stinky Sata in Arkansas:
Before I can answer your question, it is very important that you realize how impaired humans are when it comes to being able to detect scents in the world. They have almost no olfactory neurons compared to us. If you saw their brains after death - chuleta! - they are virtually missing the part involved in detecting scents. Worse yet, no matter ho much we roll around to compound the fragrance, they STILL cannot understand. I think they are to be pitied, no? And because of this, I do not think that we can tell them the whole truth about why we roll in dead stuff. The full beauty of this explanation will be lost on them.
For now, I think that perhaps we can explain to them that by rolling we leave our scent and become one with the foreign scent. Humans are so focused on "ownership" that they may just be able to appreciate shared scents. Also, we learn about who has visited, what they ate, and possibly their health status. For those of us who have been on the streets, this is important information to have. Finally, by coating ourselves with scents and substances, we may be repelling parasites and predators. These are the simple parts that humans could accept. Tell your mamacita only this much. Sharing the information about why this makes us so happy would just be wasted and might even cause your mamacita to doubt your sanity. Here is a case where the less said, the better.
Yours in all things ripe and smelly,
Carmen
Translations:
Sato - Puerto Rican word for street dog. Sata is the female version of the word.
Mamacita - Little mother (expression of endearment)
Muy feliz - Very happy
Que te vaya bien siempre - That things always go well for you
Chuleta - Literally means meat cutlet. Slang for smack or slap.
Your companion animals can submit their questions to Carmen via regular mail or email. Due to the volume of mail, Carmen cannot personally answer every question.
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