We find it ironic that there is a breed of dog bred to “pot hole hunt” when our car finds virtually every pot hole on the road without any help from us, but we digress. We refer not to the “pot hole” one finds on a street, but to very small bodies of water often found in the midwest, particularly in Wisconsin, and the Land of Ten Thousand Lakes, Minnesota. Migrating ducks are fond of these “watering holes” that dot the region, as are hunters who hunt there. The American Water Spaniel was developed for this kind of hunting, and in fact, excels at “jump-shooting” in which a hunter creeps up to a small body of water, startles and shoots the ducks, and then sends his dog to retrieve it. The AWS’ small size and all-brown coat allow it to blend into the autumn foliage while the hunter makes his silent approach. The breed’s tenacity toward retrieving game and a great nose makes it a particular favorite when hunting in heavy reeds and cattails.
Image found on Wikipedia courtesy of the American Water Spaniel Club and shared under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic license
The pot holes you are referring to date back to near the end of the ice ages when random pieces of ice from the glaciers broke off the main body of the glacier. As the glaciers retreated, mud, dirt, boulders and debris surrounded and covered the ice chunks. Later the ice melted leaving rather straight sided holes like pots rather than nice sloped sides like saucers. Thus the name pot holes.
Great comment, Leslie. As we mentioned in the article, the “pot holes” referred to in the post are the very small bodies of water often found in the midwest, particularly in Wisconsin, and your comment explains the “how.” Thanks!