Thursday, August 26, 2021

Excitement In The Afternoon!

You will not believe the excitement we had today! This is Cujo reporting, by the way. Let me set the scene for you ...

It was just a normal day here at the park, well if the temperature of over 100 degrees is normal. Mom was up early and mowing, getting her chores out of the way. When she came in she was wet. Not just sweat, though. Dad asked her why her hair was dripping. She stuck her head under the hose! Dad said that the water from the hose must have been freezing, but she said it felt good. Mom and Dad do not agree on temperature.

Mom went to shower and Dad fixed their lunch, this is not normal either. Not to worry, though, he did not clean up the kitchen afterwards. That really would have been out of the ordinary! Mom said she was really tired and her ear was hurting, so she swallowed some pills and Eddie and I followed her to the bedroom where we had the nicest nap. Bo likes to go to bed with us, but he won't stay for a nap. Eddie and I don't care as long as he leaves quietly.

I woke first and then Mom and Eddie got up. We all followed her to the back door. Mom opened the door and I saw a blur of gray fur run past Mom. At first I thought it was Martha, the boy cat. But I caught a whiff of wild animal and Mom yelled for Dad. Us three boy dogs took off after the wild creature and while Bo and Eddie had him in a corner and I went in for the kill!

I bit down, expecting to get a taste of flesh and ended up with a wad of fur in my mouth. Mom was still yelling for Dad, who was yelling back, "What is it?" What is it, indeed? Mom screamed then for him to come help her. Dad and Toni Louise came out together and Toni came running to help us boy dogs. The wild creature started to run again and Mom picked up Eddie.

That wild thing was running straight for Mom and Eddie!! Dad kicked at it and Mom took Eddie inside and came back out and grabbed Bo while she yelled at me to STOP. My mind was on this creature in MY yard. I was going to defend my territory, I tell you! I was prepared to fight to the end! 

Toni Louise and Dad kept getting in my way. The creature was quite ugly with buck teeth that he kept clicking at us. Why did he do that? Barking is so much more efficient! Toni Louise is not as brave as she would have us all believe. She let me take the lead! Scared, I think she was scared of the creature. I bet Martha, the boy cat would have helped me! I know he would have, he is not scared of anything!

About the time I was thinking about Toni Louise being afraid, Mom tossed Dad a bucket and he really got in my way then. I think this is when Mom saw her chance and she scooped me up with one hand. Mr. BoJangles was occupying her other arm. Mom must have gained a lot of strength from being afraid because she keeps telling me I am fat and makes a big deal out of lifting me with both her hands. 

She dumped Bo and me inside and Toni obeyed dad and followed her in. We left Dad to defend himself against the intruder. Dad came in and headed towards the bedroom! Did he really think this would be a good time for a nap? Where was this invader of our yard? Suddenly he came out of the bedroom with a shotgun!

No, I am not kidding! He headed to the back door and I was hot on his heels. I wanted to see this. Mom yelled "TREAT" and we all stopped in our tracks. Dad got out the door and we were all looking to see what our treat was. Mom said our treat was not being accidentally shot and to stop looking at her like that.

We heard the gunshot! Twice. Dad came in and put up the gun. Mom asked if he had killed it. When he said that he had she told him to remove the corpse from the back yard. We were all disappointed about that! We could have determined what the creature was. Dad said it was a beaver, then maybe a woodchuck. He didn't have a beaver tail and beavers like water. There is no water in our yard.

It turned out to be a really big groundhog. Mom went out to investigate how he got in our yard. It remains a mystery. I might need another nap now! Mom says that these are the dog days of summer and that animals do strange things. She was afraid for us dogs being bitten by that groundhog with his buck teeth that click. Why do they call it dog days? That doesn't seem right to me. I will need to sleep on it.

Until next time, this is Cujo signing off. 

 

6 comments:

Kathy G said...

Wow! What an afternoon.

Anonymous said...

Dang. I'm actually shaking from just reading about it! I'm so thankful no one was hurt. A cousin had to have rabies shots after a bat attack; he described how painful they were, in detail. You are gonna have an amazing memoir.

Y'all stay safe.

River said...

I'm glad none of you got hurt!

Val said...

Wow, Cujo, I am on the edge of my rolly chair, heart pounding! You certainly are a brave dog to go after an unknown critter. At first I thought it might be a beady-eyed possum. They used to come up on our back porch and EAT OUT OF THE DOG DISH! I'm sure you would not stand for that. As for your treat... heh, heh, your mom is pretty clever with her distraction tactics. I don't mean to make you jealous, but my dogs' treat today was four-day-old spaghetti with sausage and mushrooms.

Donna. W said...

What a story! We have killed mostly opossums that killed our chickens, never a groundhog.

Linda O'Connell said...

My goodness what a fright that must have been. They say those groundhogs are blind as can be. Your poor fur babies!