Okay, Listen Here

Okay, Listen Here

Thursday, July 12, 2012

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?

6 comments:

  1. Heehee! Don't you just love nature? ;)

    Lesia, you have the most amazing adventures!! I'm in awe and, I must add, quite thankful my Main Coon isn't an outside cat. :D

    Oh, she's a great protector of my home. She'll snag any bug that comes along, protecting me from bug bites. She takes away the spiders too. Gotta love those instincts!

    And here I sit laughing at the image of a bird flying through your house. Reminds me of the bird that flew into our store not too long ago. Ick!!!

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    1. Yes Karhy! It's always an adventure around here! Ha! I don't think I'd have it any other way though....I love it! Love Maine Coons, too! <3

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  2. I am not so much on the nature unless I can look at it through a window.

    I am enjoying the rain. I love a rainy day!

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    1. Oh! I completely understand, Stephanie! Someday, I'd like to remove the exterior wall of my living room and replace it with a bank of windows that give me a beautiful view (rain or shine) of the river.....for those times I just don't want hands-on interaction with nature. ;)

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  3. I am all about this rain. I set my ferns in the yard so they can get really drenched.

    I have a word to say about vermin. There is a really disturbing mouse incident in The Great Escape, Susan Elizabeth Phillips's new book. I know you love SEP so get ready, if you haven't read it already. It was gross. The mouse. Not the book. The book is wonderful.

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    1. Oh Lordy! Thanks for the heads-up!

      I once read a book by Sandra Brown that had the absolute worst in it....a sssssNaKe! YiKeS!!! It scared the bejesus out of me so bad I can't read anything else by her. It's sad. I used to really love to read her books. But nope. Can't do it. There could be a slitherer, or rattler as it were, hiding inside those pages. Gives me the shivers just thinking about it......

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