What I didn't tell you yesterday (potentially not for the queasy)

I remember sitting with a few other bloggers over a meal, and in that we all had this thing in common, it was a topic we easily turned to. I can't remember how exactly, but at one point I said, "I don't write about everything I could." but I can guess where it came from: no niche.

Truth be told... nah.

Yesterday morning DW had a question: "You know that animal... it's not a gopher..."

"A vole?"

"No. What did you say you scared up the other day?"

"A shrew."

"Maybe."

"A pointy nose..."

"Yeah, but how big?"

"They're tiny. Maybe three inches with the tail."

"No. Bigger, but with the nose."

"A mole."

"Yes. There's one laying by the yews. Well, between the yews and the spruce, alongside the drive."

"Dead?"

"Yes. Annie was smelling it but I pulled her away."

"I'll take care of it when I go outside." And I did. I threw it into the bed of my truck. And dimes to donuts, that's where it will stay for the foreseeable future, 'cause I'm kinda that way. I'll want to see the bone structure.

"Did you find it?"

"Yes."

We take turns walking Annie. DW has the morning "poo" shift and I have the evening. I'm often still sleeping when DW walks her, so I don't know the route they take, but I imagine they stay pretty close to the house. My walks might be bit more wide-ranging, and they give me a chance to check a few things around the place. For instance, the gophers are doing a number on the fields I haven't mowed. And I walk this same route everyday, so I see the speed at which they are lengthening their burrows. (They've also moved up on my to-do list.)

Two days ago I saw something that took me by surprise.

It's a cat. In fact, I know which cat, for there are clumps of hair still attached that match one that has some history on the farm, and on this blog. It's the female that had her kittens in one of our sheds last year. For those of you who retain such things: yeah, that one. Need some help? Think oil pan. Still need a nudge? Nah. Don't really want to revisit that day.

What I didn't know is how what's left of it got strung up on the fence, folded over as it was. Nor was I clear on how long it had been there, although I was fairly certain that I am observant enough to notice something so contrasted by its pastoral surroundings. I did know it couldn't stay there.

You see, it hasn't been all that long since we put down DW's favorite feline. And this one here, well, DW'd been trying to feed it cooked egg yolks for a few months. And then the bowl stayed full. So, her heart was in it too deep, and that heart's been pretty close to the surface for the last several weeks, meaning that it didn't need any more of its strings pulled just yet.

But just like that mole laid to rest in the back of my rig, I had to get a few photos of the cat. Well, more than a few, but this is the only one that worked for me. And even then, I couldn't see putting it up here in color.