Dog Suicides At Overtoun Bridge

[Ashishin_no1]

Not sure where I read it but I remember something about the effects of the wind and the bridge causing high frequency acoustics similar to a dog whistle which probably played a crucial factor to this mystery.
Makes sence to me

 

[Naughty_Felid]

I reckon they're pushed. I suspect Cats are involved.

Cats prefer poison or a victim strapped to a table with a laser beam.

 

[escargot]

The Scottish connection makes me wonder if there are minks at Edinburgh Castle? I recall that the nearest we came to losing our wee doggie was on the ramparts there, when she took a sudden fancy to exploring the other side of a low wall, which could have led to her death. :beav:

Yup, minks are implicated. They have a strong scent which attracts dogs.

 

[JamesWhitehead]

She was a daft dog but a sturdy one. Holidays seem to have been her closest scrapes with the grim doggie-reaper. That incident on Edinburgh Castle was one I recall. The other was her decision to swallow a wasp in Bude. Or Tintagel. Or somewhere. She lived to be 19 and is often in my dreams still. Daft dog!

 

[Min Bannister]

Not Overtoun but Linn Park in Glasgow. Dog leaps over but luckily survives. There is no speculation in the article as to why he did it.


A pet labrador has been described as a "miracle dog" after surviving a 30ft drop onto a rocky riverbed.

Chino leapt off a bridge in Glasgow's Linn Park while out for a walk.

His owner Elizabeth Brydon thought he was dead as he lay motionless after landing on rocks, due to the low level of the White Cart river.

 

[escargot]

Yep I read the bit about doing it again I wounder if the wind
blowing through something on the bridge is making a noise
much like a silent dog whistle that we cant hear but dogs can?
but even then if true to run back and do it again?

There's a bridge over the river Dee on the English/Welsh border that 'whistles'. Well, it actually hums in the wind. We cycle along there and if there's a strong breeze I can hear it, but Techy can't. I can imagine a higher-pitched wind-induced hum being audible only to animals.

The bridge is one of those criss-cross metal ones and is famous locally. I only know about it because I happened to mention to a colleague that we were planning to cycle along the river at weekend.

He said 'Ah, that's near my house, across from the Whistling Bridge!'
Only then did I realise what I'd been hearing.
It's more of a vibration than a sound. I usually hear/feel it, but Techy never does.

 

[Bigphoot2]

The Scottish connection makes me wonder if there are minks at Edinburgh Castle? I recall that the nearest we came to losing our wee doggie was on the ramparts there, when she took a sudden fancy to exploring the other side of a low wall, which could have led to her death. :beav:

I'm not aware of minks there but there are squirrels in Prince's Street Gardens (a mate was walking through there once and a squirrel ran across the path - he shouted "HAGGIS!" and a bunch of tourists went wild trying to photograph it).

Another possibility, if the wind was in the right direction, the dog might have been picking up the delicate aroma of Edinburgh Zoo.

 

[RaM]

In general younger people and dogs can hear higher frequencies,
it's how those vandal boxes work they make a sound that only young
people here and it discourages them from hanging about near there.

 

[RaM]

Dogs do some at least to our eyes strange things, showing no fear in
deadly situations but dissolving into a quacking mass for no apparent
reason, daughter's dog would go anywhere and on anything with me
but was frightened to death on the ferry and it in a reasonably sized
boat just what the difference she noticed between the boat and a
bus I dont know but she hated the boat.

 

[Bigphoot2]

Dogs do some at least to our eyes strange things, showing no fear in
deadly situations but dissolving into a quacking mass for no apparent
reason, daughter's dog would go anywhere and on anything with me
but was frightened to death on the ferry and it in a reasonably sized
boat just what the difference she noticed between the boat and a
bus I dont know but she hated the boat.

My friend's dog was like that - a big Rhodesian Ridgeback that was fearless under most circumstances but would be a quivering jelly hiding behind the sofa when they...defrosted the fridge!

 

[escargot]

My friend's dog was like that - a big Rhodesian Ridgeback that was fearless under most circumstances but would be a quivering jelly hiding behind the sofa when they...defrosted the fridge!

Yup, we had a fearless and protective boxer/Staffie mutt who'd defend you to the death unless he could hear fireworks or thunder, in which case you were on your own, Pal, as Rocky was too busy trying to squeeze himself into the smallest available inconspicuous space.

 

[escargot]

In general younger people and dogs can hear higher frequencies,
it's how those vandal boxes work they make a sound that only young
people here and it discourages them from hanging about near there.

I gave my brother one of those gadgets as he keeps a pack of imported stray dogs which yapyapyap constantly so you can't hear the telly. Bonus: his whiny teenage stepson stopped taking over the lounge with his spotty friends because they didn't like the 'noise'.

'What noise?' asked Bro, clearly enjoying their discomfort. It really did sound like a racket to them.

 

[Bigphoot2]

I gave my brother one of those gadgets as he keeps a pack of imported stray dogs which yapyapyap constantly so you can't hear the telly. Bonus: his whiny teenage stepson stopped taking over the lounge with his spotty friends because they didn't like the 'noise'.

'What noise?' asked Bro, clearly enjoying their discomfort. It really did sound like a racket to them.

When I worked as an AV technician I had a call from a lecturer in a classroom who said the students were complaining about a really annoying sound. I went along and both the lecturer and I couldn't hear anything. Then I noticed an amplifier was turned up to the max. As soon as I turned it down the students gave a sigh of relief .

It made me and the lecturer feel really old.

 

[XEPER_]

The bridge in question:

Couple of years old those pics, we go up Overtoun every December to gather holly for our wreath. I used to do it with my gran when I was small and it's a nice tradition to carry on.
I also used to walk my dog up there and he never once tried to jump over the bridge although he did like to put his paws on the ledge and peer over.
IMO the whole story is a load of crap based on one or two dogs jumping over because they don't realise how high up they are and catch a scent of something on the other side. Plus, of course, a mentally ill guy threw his baby over it IIRC not that many years back (it's a story I try not to think about).
I'm sure I read something in FT that debunked the story by looking at the numbers of dogs the media were claiming jumped over. The figures are ludicrous and go up every time it's reported. Put it this way, I spent my first 7 years in the village there, walking up to the place every day with my gran and then lived there as an adult for a few years and my mum still lives there and I don't remember anyone EVER talking about dogs jumping over.
That said, there is apparently a ghostly grey lady attached to the house there (just like every old house, ever) and a friend of mine claimed to see a UFO there but he did like a drink and a smoke. :abduct:

 

[XEPER_]

I gave my brother one of those gadgets as he keeps a pack of imported stray dogs which yapyapyap constantly so you can't hear the telly. Bonus: his whiny teenage stepson stopped taking over the lounge with his spotty friends because they didn't like the 'noise'.

'What noise?' asked Bro, clearly enjoying their discomfort. It really did sound like a racket to them.

I can hear those things, and I'm 40. All those years listening to metal and I can still hear that!

 

[mikfez]

Pastor claims to have solved the mystery - Overtoun Bridge

Spoiler: TLDR

“The dogs catch the scent of mink, pine martens or some other mammal and then they will jump up on the wall of the bridge,” Bob Hill told The New York Times. “And because it’s tapered, they will just topple over.”

 

[ramonmercado]

Pastor claims to have solved the mystery - Overtoun Bridge

Spoiler: TLDR

“The dogs catch the scent of mink, pine martens or some other mammal and then they will jump up on the wall of the bridge,” Bob Hill told The New York Times. “And because it’s tapered, they will just topple over.”

Someone wearing a dog collar should know.

 

[Min Bannister]

Pastor claims to have solved the mystery - Overtoun Bridge

Spoiler: TLDR

“The dogs catch the scent of mink, pine martens or some other mammal and then they will jump up on the wall of the bridge,” Bob Hill told The New York Times. “And because it’s tapered, they will just topple over.”

He is way behind everyone else. That reason was given in the opening post of this thread and had been going on much longer than that!