Critters, Fowl , and Vermin….

Yes.  I chose to move to the country.  I wanted it.  That’s what I keep telling myself.  Take me to the river, I said.  Let me be near nature and all things growing, rivers and land.  Just no more concrete.  No next door neighbors I can hear from my dinner table.  No traffic or sounds of the expressway.  Yep.  My choice.  Imagine my delight when I discovered the cows months after moving here!  Love those girls <3

But every so often I get a little uncomfortable out here in the country.  Take yesterday, for instance.  It was finally raining after that stint of 100+ temps.  And it had been raining all night with no end in sight.  I settled in for a long day of reading and writing enjoying the pitter-patter of raindrops against my office window.  That is, until Veezer squeaked….”Mom???”   I waited, just in case it was a false alarm.  She can be dramatic.  Go figure.  But no, she gave me the follow-up “M-O-M!!!” and off I went running.  

And what did I find?  Well, I don’t speak Cat so I can only guess at the translation of…. “Meow…Look how much I LOVE You Ma…Meow….Oh the Fun I’ve had in the rain today….Meooowww! I iz hunGRY! Yum-NomNomNom-MeOoOow” 

Chali2Na, my Maine Coon Cat, had spent the rainy night snuggled close to my feet.  At mine and his usual 4:15am awakening, I let him outside to go on his “rounds”.  He really DOES think he’s the King of the Land!  And he must’ve gotten stuck in the rain or he’d been at this “opportunity” for a while because he was dripping wet, curled up with his food bowl munching away.  But to the other side of him was a gift for me!  Aww.  He loves me so!!!  It was a bird just for me.  Oh!  I praised him and told him what a wonderful hunter he was (all the while thinking of how I was going to discard it without hurting Chali’s  feelings and then disinfect the place!).  I should’ve known something was up by the guardian eye he kept giving the bird.  But no.  I just kept telling him how wonderful he was.  Until the bird took off!  Here’s where everything went into triple-slow motion…Oh Lordy!  It was ALIVE!!!  And that’s when the adventure began of flight, chase, toying, disinterest, removal, and finally a catnap.  For the cat, not me.  I was disinfecting.

I’ve endured many a catch now.  Birds, squirrels, moles, rabbits, snakes, crickets and various other buggy critters.  The worst catches are the snakes, but the worst fight was the attack ON the cat by the skunk.  Ick.  Yuck.  Ouwy!!!  Not pleasant, poor baby.  Can you say “I’m having fun bathing a cat”?  The vet laughed at me.  I did not reciprocate.  And then there’s the often corralling of opossums.  Ugh.  Nasty creatures.  

I like the deer at the water’s edge at dawn.  I enjoy the woodchuck from my porch scurrying along.  And the quail are even fun to watch.  But I’d like to think I’ve met my quota of birds now and can finally enjoy reading/writing that good book while the rain falls steadily down.  

 So how did you enjoy the much awaited rainfall?  Ever catch a mole or a woodchuck before?