Critters Everywhere!

Saturday, the dog was serious about his duty as guard dog. Not that we got him to be a guard dog, but he's a dog.... It just comes naturally. For most of them anyways.
After being gone all morning and half of the afternoon, we were lazing about. Nathan was nursing his way toward a nap, and Paul fell asleep on the couch. We had the windows open and the fans going, but I thought I heard the dog barking. But I passed it off as noise from the fan.... Sometimes the noise sounds like Nathan's crying.
Paul woke up and went to get a drink, then said, "The dog's got something." So I had heard the dog barking.
We went out to investigate, and Herc was circling some rodent in the yard. It was chirping menacingly at him. We didn't know what it was for sure, but we knew we'd seen one before. About this time last year, a dead one showed up in the yard.
Well, as soon as we came out, the dog went full-on protector mode and went in for the kill. He grabbed it and shook it vigorously.... Killed it pretty much instantly. I know animal lovers would be sad either way, but it's better than chewing it to death. Trust me.
We looked it up online, and it turns out it was a muskrat. No clue where it came from.
Then Saturday night, Paul was taking out some trash and came in. "The dog's got something under the car." I just figured it was a cat.... Under the car is one of the few places the dog can't get to. (The cats are too lazy to run as far as a tree or the shed.)
After several minutes without a report, I went out to see what it was. I find Paul perched on the steps, 20 feet from the car, beaming his flashlight under it. "What is it?" I asked.
"It's a snake."
Paul's not too fond of snakes. Despite his occasional brave front, he's really kind of a pansy about them. Not that they're my favorite of God's creatures, but at least I don't jump three feet backwards when one twitches an eyelid while I'm looking at it.
(I love you, dear. :P )
So I traded him Nathan for the flashlight and I go over for a closer look. I think it was a bull snake, but I'm not sure, because it didn't stay put long enough.... It slithered itself up into the undercarriage of my car. Paul took it for a drive, hoping to shake it loose, while I amused myself with visions of an Indiana Jones-like moment where all the sudden there's a snake in his lap. I would have laughed. Provided he didn't wreck my car.
I'm not sure if it shook loose or not, but we haven't seen it since.
No critters showed up Sunday, although we did have to haul off the by-then-bloated muskrat. Ew. We had Charlie and Carrie and Brooke and Justin (and all accompanying munchkins) out for a belated Independence Day celebration. I tried not to laugh when nearly all members of the Evans family flipped over the hammock on themselves. And Paul put on a great fireworks show, while we all sat back and heckled him as he scurried away from lighted fuses.
Monday was also rather uneventful critter-wise.
But then we have today.
Nathan woke up at 4:30. Then, since I am the epitome of perfect wifeliness (ha), I made Paul french toast for breakfast. I stayed up and visited with him while he ate, and after he left I was just crawling back into bed when he called.
"Umm..... There's two horses coming up the road."
What. The. Deuce.
Because the sight of horses (an animal he's only seen once ever) would probably make the dog go schitzo, I brought him in and tried to amuse them as they meandered up the road. Then came in the yard, walked right up to and around the house, then wandered across the garden, taking a nip at this and that as I muttered curses under my breath. Then they wandered back out of the yard and on down the road.
At this point, I figured that going back to bed would be pointless, since Nathan would wake up just as I was falling asleep, which would make me cranky. So I went out to water my flowers.
I forgot how much I enjoy that early-morning watering. It's light, but the sun's not up yet, so it's not hot yet. It's quiet except for the gentle sound of the water flowing. You get a close-up view of the beautiful colors of the blooming flowers..... I guess it's really been two years since I've done any of that, since last summer I was working at the donut shop every morning, so I did my watering in the evenings (if I did it at all). And this summer, Nathan's been up at the first hint of light, and I can't do the watering with him awake.
I was thinking about how it may look, watering wand in one hand, cup of coffee in the other. I'd say it looks like the picture of perfection.
I got to enjoy three cups of coffee, point the owners of the horses in the right direction (klassy people, let me tell ya), hang two loads of laundry, and make a birthday "I'm 3!" crown (out of a Pepsi 12-pack box and tinfoil) for Dallas. All before Nathan woke up.
Figures. The one morning he slept past 6:30.
Oh well.... I enjoyed the morning.