It was an interesting morning today! While Doodle (our 1 yr old Golden Retriever) was outside, he started barking and growling. I was upstairs, but could still hear him. You know, until we got Doodle, I didn't realize that dogs have different barks just like babies (and kids) have different cries. This one was mean and meant to me that there was another animal moving in on Doodle's territory. I flew downstairs as Noah was running to get me saying that he, Felecia and Eli had managed to get Doodle in the house, but there was a stray dog on our porch. I recognized it as being the beagle belonging to the people behind us, but there was no collar and I haven't met the dog. I was not about to try to catch it to take it home. I felt bad about it, but I don't want to get bit. Despite the fact I knew whom it belonged to, I do not know if it was friendly or not.
About an hour later, both dogs were eager to get back outside to check things out. I stepped onto the back porch with them so I could watch for that dog again and everything appeared to be fine. I noticed that my neighbors had a live raccoon trap under their porch. Which was about the time Foxy (our Papillion/Pomeranian) started growling and staring in that direction. This really alerted me because she rarely barks at anything - unless Doodle does first. I couldn't see into the trap because of how it was sitting in relation to where I was, but I could see that it was "sprung" and it seemed like something furry was in it. We have TONS of "wild" cats around this neighborhood so I figured that was what was in the trap. I took the dogs in but couldn't resist grabbing my cell phone to snap a few pictures and headed back out. Lo and behold! It WAS a raccoon! I ran in to get the boys who came out to look and reminded them that "Billy says that even though raccoons are cute, they are mean and usually very rabid, so we can't go any closer." (We were about 10 feet away. All those episodes of 'Billy the Exterminator' suddenly made me an expert on all creatures wild. ;-) As the boys talked and gawked, I felt the need to "keep watch" around us - as if the rest of the raccoon family was watching from nearby trees or bushes and was ready to attack us. The boys thought it was really cool to see a raccoon "in real life for their first time". About then, my neighbor heard the commotion we were making and stepped onto his porch. We chatted for awhile and he said that he caught it in his garage yesterday and was taking it to his property in the country to release it.
About an hour after that, Doodle kept whining and hitting his head on the doorknob wanting to go out. I went out with him again and the neighbor's little boy told me he was going to the garage to check for chicken eggs! Apparently this is why they needed to catch the raccoon - they are actually keeping a chicken in their garage! I did not know they had a chicken, but I find this strange because the garage is not nice. It's very dirty and filled with junk, car parts, etc. I have never seen the chicken in the yard, which seems weird to me. I am guessing it's not "free range" since I've never seen it. Also seems funny to me that they have a chicken in the city. Don't chickens need to be able to walk around and peck the ground? Yes, I am very much a city-slicker and this was indeed a strange morning for us.
Chalice
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My Mood: Relaxed
Listening to: The sounds of my kids laughing and talking while playing on the PlayStation. :)
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