Furry creatures

First of all, thank you for your kind words on my previous post. I really appreciate them. Bettina was diagnosed with chronic renal failure about ten years ago and we knew it was a steadily progressive disease, but it still came as a shock how quickly her condition deteriorated in the end. We're just sorry she got to spend only a little over three weeks in our new home. She loved the backyard garden and went for walks on leash, even on the last day. No-one would believe she was 18 years old. If you look at the picture in my previous post, she was sixteen at the time. She got a few grey hairs and got skinnier over the years, but that was all.

Finally, here's one of my favourite pictures of her when she had been with us just a little over a month.

Notice the chewed up plant on the left, with two young cats and one kitten there wasn't a live plant in our household for years. (More cute pictures in this old entry.)

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Last week I noticed some holes in our tiny front yard and said - half-jokingly - to my SO that two animals dug such holes, rabbits and rats. He didn't pay any attention to it at the time, but on Monday morning when he was ready to leave for work, he opened the door and saw "something big and dark" (his words) scurry into the hole. He was quite shaken by the encounter and was soon contemplating between selling the house and buying a shotgun. With his *cough, cough* comprehensive knowledge of biology, I knew it could have been anything between a field mouse and a beaver, but I must admit that the idea of a RAT made me a tad nervous. A friend of ours said that it could be a water vole, which sounded much better. It's also called a water rat, but it is a vole nonetheless. I wanted to see the culprit, so for the last few days every time I've gone out, I've followed this routine: I slam open the door and eye the ground suspiciously, then I cautiously step out and stomp my feet a few times. I've had no luck yet on seeing the RAT rodent, but the neighbours are starting to eye me suspiciously. I'm sure it's just some harmless creature (who really needs to get a snorkel ASAP with the rains we've had lately, the holes are full of water), but the idea of RATS furry creatures skulking on our doorstep gives me the creeps.

Comments

[twig]

Ah that picture of Bettina looks like she's planning the next mischief to get into.

[Debbie]

The holes on our property are manned by groundhogs. Big furry animals. They like to chew on our garage door. Makes hubby made. He painted the spot with hot sauce. Evidently it liked hot sauce. We trapped them with a live trap we borrowed but then had to find a place to let them go. Then hubby tried killing them different ways. I finally told him to leave the things alone. Our groundhogs, even though we live in PA, do not tell whether we will have a more winter.