Where is Sarah When You Need Her?

As much as Linda loves nature and wildlife, she really isn't very brave or able to deal with critter emergencies.  Years ago, a baby deer was trapped in our backyard.  We have 6' tall fences. Somehow the deer got over the fence but couldn't jump out.

Linda and Tierney were freaking out.  They laid bread pieces out in a path leading from the fence to the open gate so the deer would find his way back out to the woods.  It was hysterical.  Eventually, it was able to get enough speed to leap the fence.

Then there was the chipmunk fiasco.  She found a nest of baby chipmunks in the tall grass under the deck.  She pulled the doghouse over the top of the nest and covered the hole with branches. Every morning she put food (bread, lettuce and milk) at the door of the nest.  They all lived! (or maybe ended up in a possum or raccoons belly, they were just gone one afternoon.) It was hard for Linda to sleep because she was constantly worried about them.

Probably the same generation of chipmunks chewed a hole in the garage door.  She has watched them come in and out.  Again, she is waiting awhile before she fixes it.  What if she puts the new rubber strip on the door and the babies are trapped inside without their Mom?

Once Chip Cat bought a half-dead mouse upstairs and hid it under the couch cushion.  Ugh, that was terrible.  Linda didn't get a photo of that because she was hyperventilating wondering if she should kill it and put it out of its misery, or just lay it outside and hope it got better.  

It's amazing that today she cleared a bird nest out of the dryer vent.  When she turned the dryer on this morning, she heard all this racket from the plastic vent pipe.  Dumb birds pulled the wire cover off the siding and started building their nest.  Seriously,  Linda thought about waiting a few weeks to clean it out.  She was just going to go to the laundry mat because she didn't want to disturb eggs or yikes! maybe baby birds.  Instead, she took off the vent and cleaned out the nest.  (She ducked down like a ninja and poked a stick in the vent.  It wouldn't have been good if the Mama bird came flying out in her face.)  There wasn't any eggs or baby birds.  She caught it in time.  All this straw and dead grass came out.  If Sarah was with Linda in all the above situations, she would calmly and swiftly deal with them.  Growing up a farm girl has its advantages!

(In case you think Linda is a wimp, she really isn't.  She does all sorts of brave things and hardly ever gets scared.  She has saved both Chim and my life from giant charging dogs.  She rescued two big pit bull mix dogs from the very busy road near our house.  She used to have a 4' long pet Ball Python named Rocky that she would drape around her neck and sun on the deck.  ((For some reason, feeding Rocky live mice never bothered her.))  Linda has vacationed alone in Mexico and gone explored exotic jungles by herself in a jeep.  Just never ask her to take a fish off the hook.)