Body Count

The body count in my backyard has risen once again.

You may remember that 6 little creatures died in my yard already...well...one day when the boys were mowing the lawn, they found a big, fat crow dead under the tree in the front yard. So, we were up to 7.

I was a witness to the most recent death in the yard. Just yesterday, while enjoying the beautiful, autumn weather on my lunch hour, I was taking my lunch outside & Sadie was soaking up the sunshine.

Sadie is a German Shepherd, and I've never seen her catch anything. She stalks, but she is always too slow. She never makes her moves fast enough, so any bunny rabbits she chases have always gotten away.

Yesterday was a new day. I watched as a squirrel walked around in the yard like "I own this place." I could see Sadie had spotted it, and she was slowly stalking it, just like she usually does. The squirrel did notice the dog...it looked up and saw Sadie, but kept doing whatever it was doing...walking around the yard. All of a sudden Sadie took off and the two were in a game of chase around the tree. At one point I think they must have bounced off the fence...or perhaps the squirrel tried to get under and didn't make it, but all of a sudden the squirrel was in Sadie's mouth!

"Drop it! Drop it! Put it down! EW! Sadie! No!" Shocking enough, Sadie DID drop the squirrel and slunk away like she had done something very, very bad. The squirrel had a few little spasms, and then it stopped moving.

"Get up! Get up! Go...GO little squirrel!" But, this guy was no Lazarus. He was not only merely dead, he was really, most sincerely dead. In.my.yard. Ew.

If there's one thing I just CAN'T do, it's pick up dead animals. My dad suggested that I "just pick it up with a shovel, put it in a plastic bag, and put it in a dumpster." Um...HELLO?! Have you ever seen the movie Tommy Boy?! I had to keep the kiddo and the dog away from the definitely dead squirrel after work, and of course, Asher always being a "very good helper" offered to scoop it up with a dustpan for me. Oy!

Thankfully, Doug & "Uncle Josh" came to our rescue. They even brought their own box to put rigor mortis squirrel into. You wouldn't have even known it was in there had it's big, bushy tail not have stuck out of it! EW EW EW!

So, the body count is up to 8. Please? Please....no more dead animals in my yard?!

~Emily