Today I had early morning meetings. On my leisurely Sunday morning drive home, I saw something that totally surprised me. On the left side of the road was a squirrel. A car was approaching. The squirrel ran at the car and between the front and rear tires of the driver side. It wasn't quite quick enough to make it all the way out from under the car. The back passenger tire caught the squirrel's tail...and it came off. The tail rolled across the road and the squirrel kept running. GROSS! Now I will always have to wonder, did the squirrel live? How bad of a wound is losing a tail? Hummm...
During our recent trip to Utah, one of our car conversations centered on animals. In Utah, you would have had to drive to the mountains to even see a squirrel. I thought of squirrels, fox, deer and the like as wild animals you only got the opportunity to see if you went WAY far away from civilization up in the mountains. The whole conversation started when we were driving to Uncle Brett's wedding in Manti, UT, a fairly rural community. We crossed the path of a skunk and Ben asked what was "making all that stink." We laughed, while we had definitely smelt the skunk, neither of us had thought much about it.
Brian and I talked with Ben about how animals are different in different areas of the country. In Virginia (and Texas and Kentucky and Michigan too) you will find squirrels running in your yard all day long. When we first moved from Utah to Michigan, we have tons of pictures of the squirrels eating right on our balcony. It was such a unique thing for us to see, we were totally amazed and amused. In Kentucky, there were fields and fields of thousands of fire flies. Again, we were TOTALLY amazed! The other interns taught us how to squish them and squeeze their light juice on your arms to have a glow in the dark tattoo. We have some fire flies here in Virginia, but not enough to squish and paint with. Ben loves to chase them and watch them at dusk before bedtime.
Last May we had a fox at our house. When we would come home in the evening, a beautiful red fox would be sitting on the porch. I called animal control when he didn't leave for several days and was hunting the tree for squirrels right outside the front door. It was like having Discovery Channel in my kitchen so see him pounce and eat a squirrel. Animal control said unless the red fox was sick, just let it be. Just keep a watch on my small children because, while it probably won't approach them, if my kid thinks it's a dog and approaches him, they will attack because they are small enough they aren't intimidated by someone Maddie's size. Comforting, huh?
We've also had a few turtles living in the front bushes and lots of frogs. One night when our porch light was out, I came out the front door and stepped on a poor frog. It did hop away, so I hope it was okay. Anyway, compared to where I grew up in Salt Lake City, sometimes I'm surprised by how many wild animals I see from my front porch.
Brian and I talked with Ben about how animals are different in different areas of the country. In Virginia (and Texas and Kentucky and Michigan too) you will find squirrels running in your yard all day long. When we first moved from Utah to Michigan, we have tons of pictures of the squirrels eating right on our balcony. It was such a unique thing for us to see, we were totally amazed and amused. In Kentucky, there were fields and fields of thousands of fire flies. Again, we were TOTALLY amazed! The other interns taught us how to squish them and squeeze their light juice on your arms to have a glow in the dark tattoo. We have some fire flies here in Virginia, but not enough to squish and paint with. Ben loves to chase them and watch them at dusk before bedtime.
Last May we had a fox at our house. When we would come home in the evening, a beautiful red fox would be sitting on the porch. I called animal control when he didn't leave for several days and was hunting the tree for squirrels right outside the front door. It was like having Discovery Channel in my kitchen so see him pounce and eat a squirrel. Animal control said unless the red fox was sick, just let it be. Just keep a watch on my small children because, while it probably won't approach them, if my kid thinks it's a dog and approaches him, they will attack because they are small enough they aren't intimidated by someone Maddie's size. Comforting, huh?
We've also had a few turtles living in the front bushes and lots of frogs. One night when our porch light was out, I came out the front door and stepped on a poor frog. It did hop away, so I hope it was okay. Anyway, compared to where I grew up in Salt Lake City, sometimes I'm surprised by how many wild animals I see from my front porch.
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