It's funny how nature reveals itself, especially when the leaves fall and old branches die off. The fence line of the pasture is thick with honeysuckle, weeds and birds now and again. When I took a closer look, I discovered some beautiful bird nests, one made with horse hair from the neighbor's barn (how cool is that?).
Last week a mouse went bounding in the pasture when I turned on the flood light. For a moment I thought it was a frog. It jumped four times, then stopped. I could see it in plain view and watched it's ears twitch at the sound of the dogs barking as they played, then poof! Under the barn stall door. I tried to get Sweets to get "hot" on his trail, but she had no interest. Bullying her brother and eating rabbit poop seem to be top priority these days.
Then today on a hike, their noses went right past a dead mouse, smack in the middle of the trail. So, as part of their "home schooling", I called them back to have a sniff, then tossed the mouse off the trail. He seemed to be all "intact", perhaps a death from "natural" causes? Why not?
So, on we go, over wet leaves, marking here, there, sniffing tall branches and spots where leaves have been visibly moved by what we don't know. Sweets stops to full on snarf, snort, smell a small branch.
"She's on to something", I think.
So, I pull up the short branch she snorts again and I hear a high pitched shriek!
A grey mole pops up and scurries under the leaves. That's a live squeakie toy (and a big moment in Sweets and Tater-dom).
I watch as the little guy blindly wobbles over wet, fallen leaves and branches to find another hole to climb into. He finds refuge under a larger branch and Sweets and Tater in their excitement seem to have missed the big get away. I watch to see if they will track the little guy and they get close, begin to dig and I end the party. I had no intention of letting them kill him or her. Though I may employ their services in the barn this winter.
