How to save a life

On Halloween Eve, Jarom and Alixa found themselves watching some TV after laying Jenna down for the night. As they were watching the Lakers play the Mavericks, there was an odd sort of squeaking sound that mixed in with the sound of the basketball players running up and down the court. After muting the TV, they determined that it was an animal sound, and that it seemed to be coming from outside. Ever the paranoid mother, Alixa thought that it was probably a colony of bats that had broken through our bedroom window to roost in our room and eat our daughter. As he is wont to do, Jarom humored her and trundled up the stairs to fight off the echolocating beasts. You may recall that this is not the first time Jarom has been called upon to fight off winged mammals. But alas, he opened the door and found nothing but a happily sleeping baby. He checked the window for any structural weaknesses that could be taken advantage of, and it was then that he saw Caspian sitting in the backyard. Caspian is a white cat that belongs to some neighbors of ours, who happen to be coworkers of Alixa’s at the Olive Garden. Being kindhearted animal lovers, we have offered him wonderful treats of tuna in the past. As the result of what I am about to share with you, Caspian will never get tuna from Lixi again.

Jarom came back downstairs to share his discovery with Alixa. They went out the back door to see what Caspian had managed to catch. The cat was immediately startled by their presence and backed away from his prey, which they saw was a baby squirrel. Caspian is clearly a well-fed cat, because he wasn’t particularly interested in eating the SquirrelBob, but was basically just playing with him and scaring the bejeepers out of the poor little guy. After a cursory examination, Jarom declared that although probably in shock, Bob had not sustained any major injuries and seemed to be functionally fine. However, due to the shock he wasn’t running away, so Jarom proposed that maybe the circle of life should be allowed to run its course. Alixa was vehemently opposed to this, even though it had been less than one hour since she guiltlessly watched a mouse be killed by yours truly. Confronted with this inconsistency, she replied, “I don’t mind the circle of life, I just don’t want to listen to it taking place outside my door.” In her defense she did scold the mouse that I had eaten for not dying quietly enough. I guess she has very sensitive ears.

So she grabbed the mouse box from the pet store, and Jarom did his best Steve Irwin and rescued the little guy. They brought him into the house to take some pictures and make sure that he wasn’t too injured to be released. Jarom, having once had a pet squirrel, considered keeping him for a little while, but an unfortunate incident in the Hegewald household years ago convinced them that it was a bad idea. A gray squirrel had come into their house via the fireplace and left a trail of sooty footprints everywhere and chewed through one of their couches. So they took some pictures of Bob and let him snap out of his Caspian-induced stupor, and then took him back outside and watched him scurry up a tree. Apart from a bloody nose, Bob didn’t seem any worse for the wear and now has a particularly valuable life lesson that will hopefully let him live to be old and gray (badoom-chhh!)

The scene of the crime, with a shellshocked Bob

He was a little reluctant to leave the safety of his box

Lix, happy to have rescued SquirrelBob

Isn't he so cute?