Monday, July 25, 2011

A Sad Tail

Yes, I spelled that correctly.
I will get to that in a minute.

I was a bit under the weather
this weekend.
Who ever heard of getting the flu
in the summer!
I mean really!

Anyway,
nothing too major,
just had to stick close to home
so I did get a lot of cupboards
cleaned out.
Won't last,
but I'll enjoy it for a day or two.

Also, I forgot to add a note
to the rhubarb bread recipe.
For the topping,
the recipe calls for
1/2 cup sugar and 2 tbl. cinnamon.
I never put that much on top
of the bread.  Do what you want
when you make it...
it just seems like an awful lot to me.
I'm so happy some of you plan
to try it.  I hope you like it!

Anyway, onto
my sad tail.
Early this morning, well
early for a summer
vacation kind of morning,
I was on the deck with my daughter.
We were visiting when I noticed
my dog circling a tree.
This isn't unusual for him
as he is always smelling
where the squirrels have been.
All of a sudden, I noticed he was
actually putting his nose ON a red squirrel.
Now, Max is fast but he's
never caught a squirrel.
My daughter ran down to
investigate
which led me down to
investigate.

Now, you all know I
am not a fan of the squirrels...
unless they live at
TexWisGirl's house
or someone elses house
and they post
cute pictures of them.
However,
I was sickened by what I saw.
Apparently,
the squirrels back legs
were broken.
It was the saddest thing I've ever seen.

I knew I should put it out
of it's misery but I couldn't.
I don't even have a pellet gun anymore.
I was crushed.
Becky wanted to nurse it back to health
but I also knew that wasn't
an option.

Therefore, being the coward that I am,
we went into the house.
I silently prayed that it would
go off into the woods
and die a peaceful death.

The day passed and evening arrived.
Becky and I sat down on the deck
to play our nightly game of Skip-Bo.
I always glance down at the
birdbath to see
what beauties might be bathing.
My heart sank
when I saw this:

Right after taking this shot,
he flipped out and onto the ground.
I called a girlfriend up
in hopes she'd give me the courage to do
what I needed to do.
But...
I
STILL
could NOT
do it.
Becky was pleading with me
to let her go down to save it
when all of a sudden
I glanced up and saw a man
on my roof!
I screamed and almost
had a heart attack
(men are scarce around these here parts).

Thank goodness!
I am having my roof replaced
and my contractor popped on
out and up to take some
final measurements.
He was like
a knight in shining armor...
silhouetted against the evenings sun,
standing proud upon my roof
as he observed our carrying on
about what to do when he
valiantly called out...
"I AM MAN.
I WILL take care of it!"
Well, it wasn't quite like that
but BLESS his heart...
he took care of it!

So Becky and I said a little prayer
and our hero of the day
took the squirrel
with him in the bed of his pick-up truck.

It was a sad day
but we are so grateful
for a gentleman
caller contractor.

29 comments:

Bonnie said...

I'm one of those who love (most of the time) my squirrels. In fact I have pictures I'm posting soon. My heart aches for the poor little thing.

Debbie said...

that was alot....i had to read it twice.

i have a love, hate relationship with my squirrels....i act like i hate them but really i love them.

texwisgirl is gonna love this!!!

Paula said...

Oh I couldn't have done the right thing either. Thank goodness for your knight in shining armour so to speak.

Lisa said...

Oh, how sad! That really WAS a sad tail!

I don't know if I could have done it either. Hooray for your knight in shining armor.

TexWisGirl said...

oh that poor little one!!! my heart goes out to him. i couldn't have done anything with him either (maybe a shovel to the head is about the farthest i could go) but my dogs would have put an end to him for me. thank goodness for your contractor man... men do come in handy sometimes...

Anonymous said...

Aww, I'm so sad for the squirrel. :(
I can't blame you, if I were in that situation, I couldn't have done it either.

I'm glad he was there to help you.

Reena said...

Oh, I hate situations like this. I simply could not have done it! I would have had to go find a man. I wonder how he got injured? Car?

Anonymous said...

That scene must have just broken your heart hon :(

((((Jill))))

Ellie said...

Oh, poor wee thing! I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to do anything either. So lucky you had someone there to help.
Hope your flu has now gone and you are feeling better.

Anonymous said...

That is heartbreaking.... I, too, hope you're feeling better.

Unknown said...

Awe.......very sad!

Lisa @ Two Bears Farm said...

Poor squirrel. RIP to him.

Darla said...

Okay, my husband shoots squirrels every chance he gets!

Young Adventures... said...

I felt miserable on Friday as well, but then it just went away...weird! O that poor squirrel. I couldn't do it either, thank goodness for the knight in shining armor!

Dar said...

OK, so men really do have purpose sometimes. LOL
Bittersweet day.
Oh, what you call Prairie Smoke, we call Queen of the Prairie...it grows rampant along our cabin drive and by my barn as a transplant. Cool plant if the deer don't get to it first.
BlessYourHeart

Samantha said...

While I don't like squirrels (the damage they have caused here), I would never wish that on any animal. I'm so glad your contractor showed up when he did!!

Donna said...

Oh Jill!
This VERY thing happened at our house as well!! SAME thing! Broken back legs! Thank God Hubby was home to find it...He said it happens from falls...
SO sad...
hughugs

My Mind's Eye said...

We hope you are feeling better...
What a sad story about Mr. Red Squirrel. Wonder how in the world he broke his legs?
Hugs madi and mom

Furry Bottoms said...

Aw, poor squirrel! I hope he's out of his misery now in one way or another.

Leontien said...

oh that really was a sad story! i have troubles too putting animals out of their missery. i know it is better, but somehow i always call Bastiaan.

Glad the "man" came and did it for you!
leontien

Nancy said...

That's always hard to see an animal suffering. So glad that "he" came by and saved the day. :)

Tiggeriffic said...

THat was a sad tail~ poor squirrel.. Glad that the He-man came and saved the day..I don't have any squirrels here any more.. They come and go...I love to play Skip=bo...
Have a Tiggeriffic Day~! ta ta for now from Iowa:)

Michaele said...

I seriously don't know what I would have done. I guess if it were at the farm I would have hauled him to the trees and turned him out. I couldn't have killed it. I have tried to kill things like that before and it has turned out more horrible than it was to begin with. The man on the roof must have been an angel.

~Kim at Golden Pines~ said...

This is very sad...I had something similar like this happen last summer when I was coming home. Someone in front of me hit a baby raccoon and it was still alive--I stopped and didn't know what to do, when a gentleman stopped and told me he'd take care of it too. I said prayers of thanks that night just as I'm sure you did.

Jackie said...

I'm a girl who used to trap gophers and didn't have any trouble putting them out of their misery, but now I'm right with you Jill. I couldn't have done a darn thing about that squirrel. I'm so glad that man showed up. I think it's a "God thing"

forgetmenot said...

Jill, Your rhubarb bread sounds great (and different)and I will try it. Your poor little squirrel--thank goodness someone came along to help you out. We just aren't equipped to help wild animals recover, but it is heartbreaking to see them in pain. Hope you are feeling better too. Take care and TRY to have a calm, uneventful day once in a while!!!!

Sharon said...

I had to do the "right thing" once, I will never, ever forget it. It was dreadful. Fear does have a smell, and I stunk!

Anonymous said...

It is sad that wildlife has to be injured by vehicles. I see a lot of deer killed on highways.

Betty said...

Oh Jill, how sad for the squirrel. How ever did it get up into the bird bath? Thank goodness your roofer happened along.
We raised two baby squirrels in a parrot cage once. They were hairless and hadn't even opened their eyes yet when they apparently fell out of their nest in a pine tree during a storm. We didn't let them get too tame and turned them out when they were full grown.
That was one thing, but if I was in your situation I don't know what I would have done, we have too much the maternal instinct. Hope you're feeling better. Hugs,