Rodents

There are some things a girl never has to worry about until they acquire a piece of land in the country. One of those things would be Ground Squirrels. Now, I consider myself to be an Iowa girl, born and raised (if you ignore the fact that I lived in 6 states since high school), as well as considering myself to be a fairly intelligent individual (luckily spell-check just let me know I spelled ‘intelligent’ wrong), but never in my life have I heard of a Ground Squirrel. They kinda look like a Chipmunk, but once you see what the little scoundrels do to your yard, you find them FAR less cute. They tunnel underground and create holes, nay craters, in the yard. So large that if you accidentally step into one, you will surely break your ankle. This is enough to make my soft-spoken husband practically have an aneurysm. Which brings me to the fact that, among MANY other hobbies, Nick has taken up hunting. He has borrowed a 22 from his boss that lives down the road… and is now obsessed with killing the little bastards. I don’t even get a “hi honey, I’m home” anymore. I know he’s home when I hear a gunshot, and look out the window to see him in his business casuals, shooting the enemy. Seeing that we don’t have television, this provides me with unlimited and free entertainment. There are photographs of the slain ground squirrels, but I thought I would spare you all… they are a little graphic.