We have been chasing groundhogs from our property all season. We caught one that perished before we got to it and smoked a few in their tunnels. Kris has also played the role of Bill Murray in Caddyshack hunting them down and I have to say that seeing him out of the corner of my eye trying to sneak up on one was beyond hysterical. Just the other day, I came down the stairs and saw through the sidelight of our front door, a pretty gutsy guy snackin' away on the clover right in front of the house in the middle of the morning as if he owned the joint. What nerve!
This may be why when I got home on Monday night and saw one lying on his back in front of the mailbox, lifeless, I silently did a happy dance....and then hopped out of the car to take a pic and send it to Kris. No, don't go calling the UN on me. I merely 'documented the evidence for identification purposes'. This picture will not be found plastered on the enemy's news bulletin.
When I left for work Tuesday morning, the body had apparently been relocated as I didn't see it anywhere. I assumed a car had pushed it off the road into the ditch or another animal found it. I returned at the end of the day to find some thing (s) black blocking the road in front of my house. As I got closer, I was given the once-over by a venue (million dollar word right there) of turkey vultures. They had successfully located the remains and were having dinner right in the road. That's nature, right? Well how do you explain this to a curious almost-four year old?
I try to be as simplistic & honest as I can when I an asked explain things like this. In this case, I just reminded Giada of the dead woodchuck and said that just like people eat chicken and cows, these birds eat meat, they just get it naturally instead of going to the store. That seemed to be enough to satisfy her. About 10 minutes later, I saw her standing at the same sidelight where I noticed that nervy groundhog and she was just staring at the birds. She told me that when they eat, they stand right on the groundhog. Nice observation, G. A few minutes later, she walked into the kitchen and asked me if they eat the face first. "Umm....well....gee....I think they actually start at the belly and eat the organs first". Really,? That's the answer you give a 4 year old? What ARE you thinking? Hey, the kid acted as if that must be right so I'm not going back on my word.
Kris got home and since this was what seemed to be the highlight of the day, Giada gave him the 411 on the vultures and without waiting for what my response was to the face eating question, Kris told her that he thinks they eat the eyes first.
If I were an outsider, I might think that Kris and I are a bit too blunt with her. We are a bit sarcastic and inappropriate at times but I really think that it will help her in the long run. Unless she's tired, she takes things in stride and gives it back as good as it's dished out and her sense of humor is awesome. After some comment by Kris last night where Giada wanted to prove her dominance, she casually walked away and said, "look it up online". We've created a monster.
No comments:
Post a Comment