What I failed to mention in my last post about critters is that Buddy loves them. Kind of ironic, I think considering he spends so much time with me.
Remember that mole I told you about? We've been trying to catch the darn thing -- much to Buddy's dismay. G took Buddy with him to the store to buy a trap. G had the good sense to just tell him we were "catching it," so Buddy thought we were catching it to play with or look at or something. I don't know what I was thinking but, but at dinner I spilled the beans. We were catching to kill. I know, that was a serious lapse in judgement. But in my defense, I thought he already knew.
I can not express in words how angry Buddy got. His face turned red and he spewed disgust at me like I've never heard before. He does NOT believe in killing animals apparently (even if they're destroying the yard).
So then we headed outside to set the trap. A good friend said they're pretty easy to catch. They hate sunlight in their holes and tunnels, so if you expose the hole, they'll quickly come to fill it back in -- getting caught in the trap in the meantime. That evening Mole came and filled his hole in several times but he managed to do it without getting caught. Oh, and Buddy was thrilled.
So Saturday morning Buddy came and told us he was awake. I told him to go color because we weren't ready to get up. But a few minutes later, I had a "feeling" I should get up to make sure Buddy didn't go outside to check on his dear friend, Mole. Buddy doesn't have good judgement and I was really worried he'd put his hand in the trap (even though we've reiterated repeatedly that he's not allowed to touch the trap). So I got up and laid on the couch. Buddy hadn't noticed I was up, and about a minute later, sure enough, I hear Buddy fiddling with the back door to high-tail it outside.
Excuse me! What are you doing?
But he was already outside with his face near the hole with the most victorious and joyful look on his face. Buddy/Mole were winning this battle.
The same scenario repeated itself every day since last Friday. Every time G sets the trap, the mole fills the hole in again. And Buddy is so pleased.
... but it's not just moles. Buddy loves all animals and critters. He knows more about birds of prey and sea creatures than most people. He wears his eagle t-shirt from Aunt Myndi with pride every time it gets washed. And he is constantly building "eagle's nests" in our yard out of rocks and sticks. I'm actually a little surprised he hasn't insisted on a "Save the Whales" sticker for our Sub.aru.
I think I mentioned the nature refuge up the road from our house. We just went for the first time, and it has now surpassed the zoo as his favorite local hangout. He is obsessed. We promised him that if he was reverent at church Sunday we'd go for a picnic after church. Let's put it this way: We had two people tell us that he was "outstanding" during primary and they both inquired what had changed with him. He found out about the refuge, that's what changed.
Remember that mole I told you about? We've been trying to catch the darn thing -- much to Buddy's dismay. G took Buddy with him to the store to buy a trap. G had the good sense to just tell him we were "catching it," so Buddy thought we were catching it to play with or look at or something. I don't know what I was thinking but, but at dinner I spilled the beans. We were catching to kill. I know, that was a serious lapse in judgement. But in my defense, I thought he already knew.
I can not express in words how angry Buddy got. His face turned red and he spewed disgust at me like I've never heard before. He does NOT believe in killing animals apparently (even if they're destroying the yard).
So then we headed outside to set the trap. A good friend said they're pretty easy to catch. They hate sunlight in their holes and tunnels, so if you expose the hole, they'll quickly come to fill it back in -- getting caught in the trap in the meantime. That evening Mole came and filled his hole in several times but he managed to do it without getting caught. Oh, and Buddy was thrilled.
So Saturday morning Buddy came and told us he was awake. I told him to go color because we weren't ready to get up. But a few minutes later, I had a "feeling" I should get up to make sure Buddy didn't go outside to check on his dear friend, Mole. Buddy doesn't have good judgement and I was really worried he'd put his hand in the trap (even though we've reiterated repeatedly that he's not allowed to touch the trap). So I got up and laid on the couch. Buddy hadn't noticed I was up, and about a minute later, sure enough, I hear Buddy fiddling with the back door to high-tail it outside.
Excuse me! What are you doing?
But he was already outside with his face near the hole with the most victorious and joyful look on his face. Buddy/Mole were winning this battle.
The same scenario repeated itself every day since last Friday. Every time G sets the trap, the mole fills the hole in again. And Buddy is so pleased.
... but it's not just moles. Buddy loves all animals and critters. He knows more about birds of prey and sea creatures than most people. He wears his eagle t-shirt from Aunt Myndi with pride every time it gets washed. And he is constantly building "eagle's nests" in our yard out of rocks and sticks. I'm actually a little surprised he hasn't insisted on a "Save the Whales" sticker for our Sub.aru.
I think I mentioned the nature refuge up the road from our house. We just went for the first time, and it has now surpassed the zoo as his favorite local hangout. He is obsessed. We promised him that if he was reverent at church Sunday we'd go for a picnic after church. Let's put it this way: We had two people tell us that he was "outstanding" during primary and they both inquired what had changed with him. He found out about the refuge, that's what changed.
Buddy at sunset at the refuge. Check out the joy on his face!
Even our little one enjoyed the refuge. I wish you could see the 'recycling' t-shirt he's wearingAs a side note: we had a great time at the refuge. Buddy can spot an animal quicker than the rest of us, so we saw all sorts this time. We watched the sunset, saw a couple cranes, a field mouse (yuck!), heard several frogs plop into the water, saw a whole huge flock of geese land on the pond at dusk, saw a deer, and three beavers. It was totally cool, I have to admit. But Buddy was in animal heaven. And the best part about the refuge for him (not me) is the possibility of seeing other wild animals like bobcats, elk, eagles, hawks, snakes, foxes, wolves, etc. They're all in there according to the map we got at the entrance! In fact, he insists we saw a bull last time we we were there. We didn't, but his little imagination dreamed it up so we DID.
One of the beavers Buddy spotted
Buddy and me watching the geese land on the pond at sunsetHe also loves recycling (I taught him that!), the great outdoors, and interestingly enough, his favorite color is green.
And he'd be the happiest boy on earth if we lived on a farm. (This was at my sister's house.)I think I'm going to have him talk G into replacing all our light bulbs and getting us a new high-efficiency washing machine so I can go green too.
5 comments:
Hate to break it to but you already know - moles are hard to catch/trap. Good luck!
Alright, first we have another animal lover in the family and second, join T and I in going geen...nice!
I'm glad the boys still love their shirts. The Recycle shirt is my favorite one to have H wear; I later bought him one that says, "Save My Planet." Apparently Jared was able to catch moles while on his mission--I'll get back to you with advice from him on how to.
Well, at least the tree-hugger is a resident of Oregon so he's not completely crazy. Remind me sometime to tell you about the kid we know that aspires to be a garbage man when he grows up. He is seriously obsessed with the garbage man, garbage trucks, is big into recycling (hooray!) and will volunteer to take your garbage out as the highlight of a home visit. Love it!
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