Speaking of dogs and my other dog in particular, I kept waking up Saturday night because I was having this reoccurring dream in which my sister ran over Bailey with my grandfather's old Ford pickup truck. That red and white monstrosity--the truck was so big that it had to have two gas tanks--hasn't been in the family for at least a decade. Even before my grandfather sold it, Her Highness wouldn't be caught dead in it. In fact, when my grandfather used to pick her up from school in it, she would slide down in the seat so no one could see her or make him pick her up a block over. Why she was driving it in this dream I'll never know, but she was.Anyway, in the dream, my sister gets in the truck, and suddenly all kinds of animals start running to get out of my sister's way. Do you remember that scene in Bambi where the forest catches on fire and all the animals run away from the fire in a big pack? Well, it was kind of like that, only Bailey and my sister's two miniature dachshunds, Hunter and Juliet, were running with them. As usual, Juliet and Hunter were outrunning Bailey and his bum leg, although he wasn't too far behind them. Then one of the forest animals cuts in front of him, causing him to fall down. Before he can get up, my sister backs the rear right tire over Bailey's face, flattening it, but not before Bailey gives me one last pained look. I would wake up ever time I heard the crunch of his facial bones.
I am still trying to figure out where the dream was set, as if the locale could somehow explain why I continued to have the dream all night long. I know that it wasn't at my house. This year is the first time since moving here that I have even seen more than two birds in the yard. I have yet to see the first squirrel, which is a odd but to be expected when the builders plow down every tree in sight.
If I had to guess, I would say that the hit and run occurred in my mom's yard. She has no shortage of animals living in and around her house. There is even a coyote that comes walking through the front yard from time to time. (Apparently, coyotes are not indigenous to the desert states.)
She also has plenty of squirrels. Although to her knowledge the squirrels have never made their way into her attic or her chimney, they do take a dip in her pool on a regular basis. From what my mom was able to tell from the few times that she was there to witness the events, the squirrels will take off across the yard, not realizing that the pool is there and that they can't really walk on water. They can't squirrely paddle either, in case you were wondering. If no one is home to fish them out of the pool with the net, the poor things drown. They then either float to the top or get caught in the skimmer, where they turn into a nasty, decomposing mess if not found in time. While I have never had the displeasure of fishing a dead squirrel from the skimmer, I had to remove a decomposing lizard from it last summer. If I ever have to scoop out another one, it will be too soon.
I'm sure my mom would like a way to keep the squirrels out of the pool. She just needs a way to do so that doesn't end up killing any more squirrels. My mom is a lot like me when it comes to animals, including squirrels. She slows down to keep from hitting them with her car and prides herself on her Baywatch moments, i.e. those times that she is able to save a squirrel or other animal from death by drowning. She also has four dogs living with her. Thus, she couldn't put out anything that is considered poisonous in the yard. The dogs would probably eat the substance before the squirrels did.
Havahart might have the solution for her. The company produces a squirrel repellent called Critter Ridder that uses oil of black pepper, piperine, and capsaicin to repel animals that smell or taste it. Critter Ridder is certified by the Organic Materials Review Institute and can be used in organic gardening. Havahart also carries a Spray Away Motion Activated Water Repellent that might be a safer bet since one of the four dogs is 15 years old and therefore may not have as good of an immune system or as high of a tolerance for the ingredients in Critter Ridder as the three younger dogs. Plus, the spray of water may stop the elderly dog, who is also blind, from falling in the pool as often as the squirrels. I think the dog does it for the attention, but that's the subject of an entirely different post.
If worse to comes to worst, I guess my mom could always rent a truck and have my sister drive it around the back yard. It worked in my dream. I just want to make sure, if she does go that route, that my dogs are safely out of my sister's path. I might want to be miles from her path as well.
