Welcome to the 5th Annual Golden Tail Wags Awards, where we celebrate the weird and wonderful things we saw while exploring Dog Friendly Places. However, unlike other award shows where you get celebrity hosts, you get us, Chuck Billy and Asa, your intrepid explorers with active imaginations! Rest assured that these awards are not your average superlatives and definitely nothing to shake a stick at!
Favorite Fairy Restaurant: Be sure to stay alert and be very quiet while hiking the enchanted trails at Bellamy River Wildlife Area, because you may find where the fairies like to dine! Unfortunately, these diners heard us coming thanks to Asa’s singing and scattered.
Fast Or Furious: Also located at the Bellamy River Wildlife Area is a tree that Asa and I are still discussing. Asa claims the lines on this tree are like the lines drawn down the center of the road, and that the tree serves as a super highway for squirrels. I, on the other paw, know claw marks made from an angry fairy when I see one! We really shouldn’t have interrupted their meal with Asa’s singing.
Best Undercover Costume: It is important while hiking to always be aware of your surroundings because danger could be lurking anywhere, even in plain sight! Case in point, porcupines masquerading as a tree at Royal River Park.
Most Sinister Snake Tree: Since our first Golden Tail Wags Award ceremony, we have been warning dogs about sinister snakes hiding as trees. To the untrained eye this low hanging tree branch may appear harmless, but I’m vaguely positive that it transforms into a slithering snake when no one is watching at Royal River Park.
Best Blast from the Past: This year not only do we see the return of the historical objects category first introduced in 2017, we also have a tie! While exploring Sebago Lake State Park, we came across this primitive piece of technology from the era before cell phones. Yes, pups there was a time without cell phones and pay phones were used! It’s not just an urban legend told at camp fires to scare puppies.
Tied in the Historical Objects category is another artifact from how dogs communicated before the age of cell phones. At Royal River Park, we came across this fire hydrant from 1880! Yes, before there was social media, before there were even pay phones, dogs kept in touch by visiting daily their local fire hydrant. A charming tradition that still continues in many communities across the country.
Judging, Not Judging Award: In this age of security cameras and cell phones, we have grown accustomed to having our every move watched while in an urban setting or among people. However, when out on a secluded trail at Pawtuckaway State Park don’t let your guard down! Mother Nature’s trees are also watching! Look closely and you can see there are two beady eyes and a puckered mouth on this tree!
Don’t believe me? Look again!
Most Menacing Mutant Rock: Act natural, and don’t make eye contact, but rest assured that tree isn’t the only one watching you at you at Pawtuckaway State Park! To the untrained eye, this appears like a giant boulder…
…But if you look closer you can clearly see it is an extraterrestrial spy ready to spring to life! Just look at its big nose, sinister eye, small ear, and menacing grin!
Scariest Sign: And finally, the weirdest, most troubling thing we saw on a hike in 2021, was this sign at the Massabesic Experimental Forest! What “Refuses to Die”?!!! What kind of experiments are they doing here?! We didn’t stick around long enough to find out!
Thus concludes our 2022 Golden Tail Wags Awards! If you would like to congratulate any of our winners in person, or explore our findings, you can find the locations by clicking on the highlighted names. Stay tuned as we continue our quest to explore new places, because one never knows what weird and wonderful things we will find along the way!
