the shrewdness of apes

last night, the wife and i came home from the local pub to something curious. sitting on the couch, near the crack between the cushions was...well what was it? it was about 5 inches long, an inch thick and tubular, and closer inspection revealed it to be composed of >50% hair. dog hair. our dog wagged expectantly (he had to pee) as we looked at each other and wondered where on earth this...this....monstrosity could have emanated from. amidst the hair was a good amount of gunk - what we could only assume was digested proteins and the like. but it wasn't shit. it was like a hairball, only really, really long. could he have really coughed such a thing up? how long had it been inside him, slowly building up? what did it look like when he did it? is it any wonder he's been so wheezy and pseudo-asthmatic? he must feel like a new man. i should have taken a picture to post, but fortunately the wife decided to preserve it in a Ziploc to take to the vet, so the chance has not been lost. but great googly-moogly it's giving me the chills just thinking about it.