Critters
Balancing out the trash issues, repairs, and robbery is the fact that we have a lawn now, and in said lawn are critters. At least two of the neighborhood cats like to hang out in our yard, probably because of the vast squirrel population.
A big, fat groundhog was spotted earlier this week, and just last night four racoons. One of them charged at darthsatyr as he was getting the trash ready for pickup -- he came bursting into the house saying, "We have racoons! Possibly rabid!" then charged back out wielding a sword. After a bit of observation, though, he determined that the racoons were not in fact rabid, but that he'd interrupted a dominance display. (It's also possible that that racoon was a mama and the other three, which were younger and smaller, were her partly-grown...what do you call young racoons? Kits? Pups?) So he called me out, and we watched them wrestle and chase each other, all bandit-masks and stripy tails, and wish we'd had some sake to leave for them. They probably would have kept it up all night, but the neighbor's dog started barking and they all bolted up trees.
This morning, there were two dead mice in the kitchen. It's a little confusing as to what happened to them, as they weren't mangled, and the last time Daisy caught a mouse she brought it over to me. Maybe she couldn't get into the bedroom and so she left them there.
A big, fat groundhog was spotted earlier this week, and just last night four racoons. One of them charged at darthsatyr as he was getting the trash ready for pickup -- he came bursting into the house saying, "We have racoons! Possibly rabid!" then charged back out wielding a sword. After a bit of observation, though, he determined that the racoons were not in fact rabid, but that he'd interrupted a dominance display. (It's also possible that that racoon was a mama and the other three, which were younger and smaller, were her partly-grown...what do you call young racoons? Kits? Pups?) So he called me out, and we watched them wrestle and chase each other, all bandit-masks and stripy tails, and wish we'd had some sake to leave for them. They probably would have kept it up all night, but the neighbor's dog started barking and they all bolted up trees.
This morning, there were two dead mice in the kitchen. It's a little confusing as to what happened to them, as they weren't mangled, and the last time Daisy caught a mouse she brought it over to me. Maybe she couldn't get into the bedroom and so she left them there.