The Overtoun Bridge is a rather spectacular feature of the Overtoun House in Scotland. It has become notorious, however, because dogs appear to keep committing suicide on it by throwing themselves over the edge. Since the 1950s, numerous dogs have supposedly leapt clean over the parapets and fallen 50 feet into the fast moving water below. The only things that seem to link the doggy suicides is that they usually jump off the same side, the weather is usually clear and they usually have long snouts. Even weirder, the dogs that survive the fall will often run back up and do it again. So what exactly are the poor pooches seeing that drives them to desperation? Perhaps it's a vision of Dog God, and proof after all that dogs do indeed go to heaven? Despite the claims that the bridge is "haunted" or "cursed", the explanation is probably a bit more earthly. Apart from anything else, the idea that a dog can "commit suicide" is a projection of human emotions. Dogs don't have enough self awareness to realise what "life" is, much less to take it into their own hands. We also tend approach the bridge from a human perspective. Humans build bridges and it is therefore absurdly obvious to us that jumping off it is a bad idea. Dogs, on the other hand, have no concept as to what a bridge is. The sides of the bridge provide visual and sound barriers to the poor dog, and the dense foliage beyond it hides most of the deadly drop. One expert in canine psychology reckons that the presence of animals in the surrounding woodland (he specifies mink, but really, it could be anything) would give off a tempting scent to an excitable pooch. and they would leap over the edge to investigate, not realising the danger until its too late. But what about the ones that survive and go back a second time, surely they now realise? Well yes, but they survived the fall, so theres nothing to indicate to them that it's deadly.
