WARNING: the subject matter of this blog may be offensive to some individuals (I know it is to me!) If you are with PETA or the SPCA or any other of these do-gooder groups, please do not read the following post. I do not want to be blamed in any way for the destruction of critters. Thank you.
As I have discussed in the past, there are these wild dogs who live in the yard. They are not "feral" as they belong to the family and were asked to live here, but they are wild none the less. They roam about freely and have tendencies to bring things home to the farm. I am always finding strange items in the yard. Many times these things are: unknown toys from unknown origin; trash of various types; parts to appliances or cars; and most recently half of a jack o lantern left over from Halloween. I have no idea where these things come from. They are just random weird things that show up. I spend days walking around with trash bags picking up this detritus and putting it in the trash.
Unfortunately, these dogs are also hunters and I have am routinely freaked out with the dead things or parts of dead things that manage to find their way here. It was bad enough when they were killing chickens and leaving the dead carcasses in the yard for me to find and dispose of but now that we have managed to lock up the chickens they have taken to killing all sorts of other wildlife. I assume they are very proud of their kills as they bring them to the house and leave them for us to see. Sometimes the dead things are just left in the yard for me to inadvertently find. This always freaks me out. I am walking around picking up trash and suddenly there is a dead thing or its parts lying there. AAAIIIIEEEEEE!!! Nooooooo! I don't want to see this!! Ugh. So far I have found: 1) a dead mole (ok not too bad they are small), 2) a deer leg (?) can't figure that out-maybe was a road kill that they dragged the leg off, 3) a squirrel's head - just the head-oh yuck yuck yuck and 4) a whole dead possum AAAIIIEEEE!!!
I REFUSE to remove these carcasses. I will not pick them up even with elbow length rubber gloves. NO WAY! The possum was really gross. It was lying in the front yard. Dead with its little legs all stiff and everything. OH GOD! UGH! I hoped that overnight something would come and drag it off. Unfortunately the wild dogs must have decided that I deserved the possum somehow and they left it for me to find the next morning right by my car. AAARRRRRGGGGHHH! I had to step over it to get to my car! EWWWW! I did notice that they had dragged an empty feed bag into the yard so I used it to cover up the possum. Sort of CSI-like when they put a sheet over the body. At least I wouldn't have to look at the possum. I wondered if his possum buddies were looking for him. I hoped maybe they would get him and give him a decent burial. But maybe I shouldn't have covered him up. Maybe they would not come get him if they thought they might tamper with a crime scene. I imagined a chalk outline of the little possum body. Ugh.
I left to run errands praying that when I returned the possum would be gone. I was happy to note that when I pulled into the driveway the feed bag was gone and there was no dead possum lying where it had been. I was beginning to feel that it was safe to get out the car so I did only to encounter the dead possum lying near the foot of the steps to the house. AAAIIIIEEEE!!!! NOOOOO! This is getting to be too much but I still won't pick that thing up. Well, maybe if I get the snow shovel and scoop it up. But then what do I do with it? If I just put it in the woods the wild dogs will probably just bring it back out. Crap. Do I have to bury it? This is a lot of work. Where are the buzzards when you need them?
Once again, life on the farm not at all as idyllic as it is often portrayed as. Give me strength.
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