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Webcurrents ... Today's Column ... Archive Index
9-23-00 Back from hiatus, Webcurrents resumes with some animal commentary. Ash's Gift We first noticed Ash wandering the neighborhood last Christmas. She was a gray manx and we called her Ash after a stray we had adopted a decade ago. This spring she seemed unusually fond of our yard in particular. We discovered why when the cable guy came to install a new Dish Network. He found her two kittens, one yellow, one gray and yellow, under the house. Not one to turn away a homeless mother and her children, I began leaving
food and water for Ash on the front porch. The kittens grew and gradually they moved to the other side of the crawl space. We could no longer see them, but we could hear them. Eventually they began joining their mother outside. A skunk apparently had taken residence under the house. I brought out a blanket and left it on the porch. They began to greet me each morning early when I opened the door to let out the dog. The grateful mother still often rubs her chin across my leg and meows in greeting. One day I was finally able to catch all three and off to the vet for shots we went. About $75 later I hoped they would not be running off soon. Yesterday I opened the door to find the mother in the stoop, her kittens curled up nearby in the morning's first light, and two dead baby squirrels laying tummy-up on the doormat. The bodies stayed there all morning. Finally, I realized perhaps the squirrels were an offering, Ash's own way of saying she was glad to belong somewhere. I went outside and thanked her profusely and went back in to work. The next time I looked out, one squirrel was gone, and the other soon disappeared as well. I'm not sure why Ash presented them to me. Maybe they were just her night's catch. Maybe she can spot a sucker a mile away. I am, after all, the family zookeeper. But once long ago my old dog, a Scottie mix we called MacDoogle, came inside and proudly dropped a rabbit head at my feet, on Easter weekend no less. I prefer to think there is more than meets the eye. --- Thanks for stopping by. Please visit again soon - Julie Wolpers |
Since
we already have two cats, a bird, a hamster and a dog who live inside
with our family of four and a Dalmation in the back, I thought it best
she and her kittens remain outdoors. They had cool shelter and apparently
a zone of safety under our house. Additionally, we could check on them
from a larger crawl space in the basement accessible from a closet door.