Tag Archives: Longshore entrance

They’re 2 of Westport’s quirkiest figures.

They’re visible to every golfer, jogger or walker at Longshore.

Yet almost no one notices them. They’re literally hidden in plain sight.

They’re the tiny yet intricately carved little figures, one of each hunched behind the 2 large marble globes at the entrance on Compo Road South.

One foo dog … (Photo/Ken Palumbo)

Actually, they’re “foo dogs” (also spelled “fu”; others call them “Chinese guardian lions”). They traditionally protect entryways.

,,, and the other.

Traditionally, the male holds a ball; the female holds a puppy. The ball represents the world; the puppy, nature or a nurturing spirit

One more view.

Actually, everything I wrote above should be in the past tense.

The foo dogs are gone.

Exceptionally alert “06880” reader Joyce Barandiaran noticed the disappearance.

Missing foo. (Photo/Joyce Barandiaran)

The one on the left (facing the globes as you enter Longshore) disappeared several months ago, she says. The one on the right vanished more recently.

So here are today’s questions:

• Who took the foo dogs?
• Where are they now?
• And who put them there in the first place?

If you know the back story — or the current one — click “Comments” below.