Country Life

  Signs that winter is around the corner are all around! (and I haven't finished my fall chores yet!)  The trees are pretty bare, the deer have their dark winter coats, the bucks are posing in the field with their impressive antlers and the foxes have beautiful, vibrant red coats.  I rush to feed the dogs before the early darkness hits but do enjoy being lazy in the mornings while I wait for the sunrise.
  For the last couple of weeks, just as there was a nip in the air, I could see that something had been digging outside Jackson's kennel.   It was a small hole, which I covered up every time it appeared.  Sometimes, there would be a corresponding hole inside, which I would also refill.  Jackson didn't act like he was sharing his kennel with any stray creatures, but still I don't want wildlife in the kennel with their fleas and diseases.  Rodent bait is on the shopping list for the next trip to Home Depot.
  Yesterday, the hole had appeared again.  Once more, I filled it in, checked inside Jackson's kennel but no holes there.  I set about feeding the dogs their breakfast and checking on their water.  The last kennel, Gibson's and Gemma's, had a surprise!  A mouse in the water bucket!  Either it had attempted to escape from the dogs or it was very thirsty but for whatever reason it had climbed in the bucket, it wasn't able to get back out.  I had the unpleasant task of dumping the water with a floating body in it.
  However, it wasn't easy to do!  When I shrieked (pretty loudly, I would have thought one of the neighbors would have shown up to see what was the matter!) Gibson immediately came over to see what was wrong.  A pat on the head convinced him that I was o.k. and he could go back to eating breakfast.  I wanted both dogs to go outside while I picked up the bucket, but they could tell I was a bit agitated and wanted to be involved in the clean up operation.  I was afraid they'd either knock into the bucket, sloshing the dead mouse onto the ground, or try to grab it from the bucket.  Since David normally changes water during the mid day, the dogs took my picking up the bucket as a sign that they were going to be playing in the yards.  There was a lot of jostling as they tried to get out the gate with me.  Again, I was afraid they would knock into the bucket, but I didn't want to lift it above their heads, which would put the contents on eye level to me.  Finally, I shut my eyes, lifted the bucket and pushed myself in front of the dogs and out the gate.
  I've lived in the country for most of my life and I can deal with most aspects of it.  I work around the deer eating my landscaping, I don't mind my sleep being interrupted by fox calls, I don't even care that the overly fat raccoon eats the food we leave out for the feral cat.  But, two things I can't deal with are snakes and rodents.  It's something about their sneaky ways and surprise appearances, I guess. Or maybe it's because I don't like dealing with the aftermath of meeting them in water buckets, under the tractor, in the garden's bird netting.  Wonder if there's "an app" for that???