UNITED STATES—Thus Spake Lupe: This has been a trying time for my so-called master. For one thing, the chain that is the one way to grasp my neck and prevent me from running amok into the walkway that leads into the busy boulevard. of course, me being a pit-bull lab am nobody’s fool. And for that matter, the master is my fool, all mine.
I and the little Chihuahua have gone into paroxysms of barking. The master now knows to pay attention to our brain-piercing chorus, after initially dismissing it. Like the time after, burying his head in the pillow. Going outside to see what was the matter. And then the early rays of Helios, rising in the east, revealed a fella asleep in the old, orange lawn chair that was more an art object than chair.
A squirrel has shown up that jaunts across the ridge of the wooden fence. If provoked, squirrels can attack. This is what the master heard when there was a squeal and a squirrel barely escaped the clamp of my teeth. He became at once, very fearful for me. Even to chase the squirrel’s antic sprint to the porch deck, and midair leap from the end of the flat roof, whereupon in scampered up an old telephone pole in then scurried across a phone cable to the next pole.
The “master” entertains the delusional thought that this might be the very squirrel ultimately transported to Canyon Country. True, it has a scraggly look of an elder squirrel and takes long pauses on the part of the fence that runs outside the kitchen window.
This week a raccoon put the fear of rabies into both of us. Rabies shots are a real drag. Fortunately, the raccoon, with furry black mask and Davy Crockett tail got lost in the orange tree branches before any human did something rash like grabbing it by the tail with their bare hands. The “master” oughta take a hint and keep the crumbs and scrambled eggs off the floor, or we’re looking at some serious carnage. They can be nasty and leave a doggie wearing a cone of shame.
Possums are also in this animal gallery. These nocturnal creatures have scaly rat-like tails, so it would seem that either a rat or a possum could be a tenant in the crawl space. A possum was seen last week near a neighbors garbage can. They famously play dead when their scared. And they will bite and claw of cornered by a pesky dog. The “master” has been placated by the knowledge that most animals mind their own business.
Also, we live in an urban zoo. Who needs to travel to San Diego, right?
To be continued…
