Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 6-27-06

Country Gal by Vanita Blundell 6-27-06
We had moisture!! I hope everyone remembered to thank the Good Lord for the rain. It bothers me to hear people say it was not enough to help. I think any thing beats the hot wind and dry air. We had 3 nice showers and it gave us a little over 3 inches in the past two weeks. I am certainly grateful.
Yesterday when we came home from Woodward I noticed that Billy- Mom’s dog- was all muddy and Mutt looked extra tired and the two Danes were out of the back yard. The Danes had lifted the back gate off its hinges and since the gate was tied at the opening it was hanging all whopper-jawed. I was wondering what mischief they had been up to. This morning I found out- I have never seen one of these up close-but by the look of Billy he got a real good look. Anyway, by the horse tank there laid a very dead beaver. You maybe wondering why a beaver was this close to the house -I would like to know that as well. I have no ponds close or running water, except for the water that runs over the tank. And I do not think that it is enough water to make a beaver think he could have a nice home and raise a family. But maybe he was an underachiever, whatever the reason it was not a good one. I am sure that the beaver came to our house, because if the dogs ventured out and brought him home he would have been at the front door instead of leaving him by the tank. And I am not sure if they could have carried him as he looked like he weighed quite a bit. I found him interesting looking with that big flat tail and those large front teeth and those very sharp claws. I do not how the dogs got him without serious injury. When I first saw him I thought that it was a coon, then I thought that it was a porcupine I would have never guessed it was a beaver. Things like this make me realize how much I miss Dad. He would have been amused and enjoyed looking over this strange creature that God had made. When we would ride out in the pastures he would always comment how God had a beautiful paint brush and imagination. He liked the wildflowers and the birds especially.
Thinking of the beavers- I had a neighbor once who declared war on the beavers and blew up their dams. It was an ongoing battle. The neighbor won a a lot of battles but I am afraid that he lost the war as where he used to try to keep the beavers out they are back and building one dam after the other. But at the Blundell household the score is Blundells 1- Beavers 0.