BLOODHOUNDS ON THE SCENT
Richard Conniff writes about the natural world and particularly about offbeat, fascinating, and sometimes faintly loathsome animals. But his subject today is bloodhounds and also the people who care about them. Bloodhounds start out adorably, like other pups. And then they grow up to be a hundred or so pounds of pure hangdog. Movies have typecast bloodhounds for decades as cutthroat monsters out of hell. But most bloodhounds are good-natured, and the people who fall for those floppy ears and sad eyes tend to fall hard.
